1989 EZGO PCX-954 -- Steering Box Parts

[MauiHoss]

I've got a problem with my old passenger carrier. The steering box seems to have gotten very sloppy over the years. I tried to correct this problem by tightening the adjustment screw as per the manual. This sort of helped reduce the slop but the steering is now a bit tight feeling.

As far as I can tell, there are no replacement parts available for this old steering box from the cart shops. Has anyone found a vendor who carries parts unique to the PCX?

[yurtle]

Try shopezgo.com They have many parts that apparently aren't on their online catalog. You might also try eBay.

[MauiHoss]

Thanks. I called ShopEZGO but they don't have the parts for the steering box. The part number is 30544G1 which they kindly offered up but finding this part seems next to impossible. Disappointing as this cart has been a trooper for the farm.

I'll keep an eye out on e-Bay but I don't have high hopes.

[MauiHoss]

Paying it forward.

This topic will be of little interest to most of you since a twenty-five year-old golf cart is reasonably rare and rarer still if it’s a passenger carrier. That said if I had found a post like this when I needed it, it would have been a big help. Here’s to keeping these old carts working.

The steering on our 1989 EZ-GO Passenger Carrier became nearly unusable. I tried searching the web and contacting ShopEZGO.COM for a replacement but there were no parts to be found. I did find an expanded diagram in a parts manual which is available at the following link:

http://bennettgolfcars.ca/upfile/man...4_12_58_32.pdf

See attached photo of the steering box diagram from page I-1 of the parts manual.

I decided to open the steering box to see what I could do to improve the sloppy steering. I started by removing the adjusting screw for the lever shaft and to my amazement water poured out of the steering box. This is never a good sign for something that should be full of grease.

I removed the bolts securing the housing cover from the side of the steering box. There was one bolt that could only be loosened due to the close proximity of the fiberglass body of the cart. I did manage to get that last bolt out after unbolting the housing from the frame, jacking the frontend up and removing the steering shaft through the bottom of the housing. This allowed me to flop the steering box housing for access to that last cover bolt.

By now, most of the water had emptied out of the box and I started wiping out gobs of old grease. Along with the grease came several of the ball bearings which had become dislodged from their plastic retainer. There should be 16 ball bearings but I could only find 13 – hopefully, they are all out of the steering box! The plastic bearing retainers were compromised, the ball bearings dislocated and the bearing races were severely damaged. The steering shaft itself isn't perfect but it’s perfectly usable still. The tube surrounding the steering shaft was bent at the steering column brace and the steering column brace had rusted through. The steering shaft bushing at the top end was destroyed and the dust seal was missing. What a mess.

Trolling the usual cart parts vendors I searched for new bearings. Most of the vendors carry a bearing kit remarkably similar to what I removed but none of the sites indicated that these were correct for my EZ-GO – but they are correct and they do fit. I believe that this kit was used by several companies for their steering shafts back in the 1970’s/80’s. To find these, search for “Worm Shaft Bearing Kit”. The kit includes two outer races, two bearings and a thrust washer. The inner races are machined into the steering shaft at either end of the worm gear. See attached stock photo of the bearing kit.

The top bushing and dust cover are still available at most vendors and are also in an attached photo.

I found the steering column brace (P/N: 30056-G1) on e-Bay but you could probably make your own if you had to. There's another photo of that attached.

Since most of the other parts are no longer available, I had to improvise a bit. I made a new gasket for the housing cover on the side of the steering box using gasket material from an auto parts store. I ordered a piece of tubing 24.25” long, 1.5”OD, 1.43”ID from OnlineMetals.COM. This replaces the bent tube coving the steering shaft and will help keep the steering shaft properly located with the new top bushing.

The U-bolt that secures the steering tube cover to its brace sheared off when I tried to remove it. This is a unique item which won’t match anything at the hardware store. In place of the U-bolt, I made a tube clamp using a piece of 2x3 wood. First, I cut a 1.5” hole through the 2x3 then drilled 5/16” bolt holes and cross-cut the 2x3 through the center of the tube hole. There is yet another picture attached that will help make sense of the word description above.

It’s all back together now and working well. BTW -- it didn't take me several months to fix the cart -- just took me that long to post this for the next EZ-GO PCX-954 owner.

[GOBLACKHAWKS]

Thanks for this info!! I just got a 1986 model like yours and need to rebuild the steering because mine is also sloppy. I have noticied that when at a stand still, its pretty hard to turn the wheels but once I drive it is easy. Did you happen to experience anything like that and how much of a improvment have you seen? Also I see on the Manual it says Oil Fill but you mentioned Grease. I was not sure if the box was supposed to take gear oil like the rear differential or get packed with grease. Thanks!!

[MauiHoss]

Sorry for the delayed response. I used wheel bearing grease to pack the bearings and steering box. This seemed like the right thing to do given the location and that I re-installed everything in situ. Anything other than grease wouldn't have stayed in place with the side cover open.

The steering is practically impossible until you are moving on our cart. You can get a little movement but until things are rolling it's limited at best.

[Senorclavo]

Your paying it forward thread has really helped Maui! Thank you.

I have the same symptoms, nearly unusable steering, gritty/grinding, and with water coming out of gear box when I pulled of the adjustment screw. I have a mid 80s Pargo/Eagle personnel carrier. It is a 954xxxxx model. I think Ezgo bought Eagle and it is basically the same cart. Anyway, the manual I found and your link are virtually identical as far as the steering box breakdown and illustration. I ordered the worm shaft bearing kit and as you say, they fit the housing nicely.

My question to whomever may know: this worm gear kit has a single "thrust" washer. But neither illustration I see has it depicted. When I opened my steering box, there was one in the box but everything was so mangled that I don't know where it was installed. Where does it go? I assume the bottom bearing but on which side? Between the race and bearings or between the bottom of the shaft and bearings?

Additional information: the steering gearbox in my cart is labeled Ross T122964 G1. I also believe it was made in 1983 as there is a marking on the casting I believe to be man for date code. I believe Ross to be the manufacturer. Also, the thing was full of grease not oil. This seems reasonable to me and I second Maui opinion that it's probably supposed to be grease not oil even though there is an oil fill plug.

[Senorclavo]

Well, I re-assembled the steering box today. I put the single thrust washer / bearing on the bottom bearing. I put it between the bearing and the bottom of the worm gear. Re-packed with grease and reinstalled. The adjustment screw took some fiddling, but I was able to achieve satisfactory results... considering the age and how chewed up the worm shaft, follower / cam, and housing are.

So to answer my own question - I went with this sequence in the bottom bearing assembly, from bottom to top: race, bearing, thrust washer...

And yes, I agree with the others. The steering box on these old carts is very hard to turn compared to new carts. Even after the rebuild it is much better than it was, but it'll never match the newer designs.

[MauiHoss]

I'm a little late to the party again. Just read through some of the new comments and wanted to add that my bearings are shot again after only three years. Just pulled the bottom cap off and all the bottom-end ball bearings were free from the plastic cage. This is probably due to the fact that the passenger-side kingpin bushings are toast. I have not been able to find the correct replacement bushings and would probably need to pull the axle to press them in. By now, the kingpin/hub assembly is likely ruined. The clock is ticking for the old PCX-954.

When I put my steering box back together, I put the thrust washer under the bottom bearing race. So -- from bottom to top -- bottom cap, thrust washer, bearing race, ball bearing in cage. The steering shaft has an integrated bearing race and does not appear to be replaceable. I don't see how the thrust washer would have worked on the top of the ball bearings as it would be located between the ball bearings and the upper race but perhaps that's what caused the early failure. I'll have to take a closer look this time around to see if there's a seat for that washer on the steering shaft.

BTW -- I'm really glad that this thread has been helpful for some others with these increasingly rare carts. The only reason I came back to it myself was to refer to my own write-up and found useful info from fellow owners. Thanks for that!