I have a 91 fb lo3. About a year and a half ago I decided to get a used quick ratio box. I got one, put it on and noticed the diffrence. It was stiffer, less turns side to side, much better feel. Now last weekend I damaged the new (used) "Z" box and decided to put the original back on. It is original, my dad bought the car new and we never changed it. I noticed it had the same number and the "Z" cast into the side!? So I put it back on and they are not the same. The original is 2.5+ stop to stop and has a much softer feel Now its not loose, just softer, like a buick. So what did they do, use the same case with differnt inners, or can they adjust/tune the box for different feels?

 

Yep, looks that way to me too. I just bought a used Z box too. As I am getting my firechicken back together, I wanted to fixup the sloppy (really really sloppy) old 186,000 mile box. To my surprise, when I took it off, it has the same exact markings as the new (used) box - same as you. My old box is from 1986 and the new one is from 199? - not that I think or know that it matters. Anyway, the old box took 2.5 turns stop to stop. The new box is 2.0. That's with it connected to the center link. With the center link not connected, it was 2.5 turns.

OK, so I wonder the same thing as you. But, I had talked with a power steering guy a while ago (www.powersteering.com) and he claims that you just cant tell from the outside what's on the inside. Further, depending on the car, the internal stops may be set such that you think it's quick ratio based on the number of stop-to-stop revolutions, but it really is not. You'll find this out when you try to park, I think.

I don't know anything about the soft feel part. My suggestion is to call up that guy at powersteering.com. He was very informative.

gene

 

Cool. Thanks for all the info..