Hey everybody, My car's front end was completely re-built with a poly front end kit, I think I put about 10,000 mi. on it since it was done (Was done like 4 yrs ago) Anything that could be replaced was, other than my steering box. My car is rarley driven, I'm lucky I put 5,000 mi. on it in over a year and a half!! The steering seems to not be as tight as I expected with the rebuild, I remeber when I first bought the car, If you tap the wheel left or right, the car would respond. I noticed on this site, some people mention to adjust the play in the steering box with the allen screw thats on top. My question is, how much do you adjust, Is it like one full turn of the screw is enough, how sensative is the adjustment screw?? What is the exact way to make this adjustment?? Hopefully this will take out some of my steering play, If that doesn't work, maybe next I'll try the rag joint. Thanks in advance to anybody who helps!!!!

 

It'll likely be a trial-and-error deal with the adjustment.
Make a reference mark on top of the Allen-head screw, and loosen the lock-nut. Turn the Allen screw in, maybe 1/8 of a turn, tighten the locknut and test it out.
If the box were completely out of the car, there is a method using a torque wrench to turn the input shaft and tight the screw until a specified torque figure is reached, but I'm not sure if there is any method to determine it while on the vehicle.

Pete

 

I was thinkin of tryin that on my car is it a good idea or can u mess somethin up??? Just as long as i mark the original location and if nething goes wrong i can go back to that it should be ok right.

 

There's another way to adjust it, I read about it briefly in my Helm. It involved removing the gear box, and taking out some snap/ring-clips to take the box partially apart. I really dont remember the details, I never tried it, but it looked pretty complex compared to the allen wrench technique.

 

I've seen some posts before about about how you can mess this up so I'd suggest doing a few searches if you don't get a detaied explanation on this thread

 

yeh i seen some on that also i just heard if u tighten it to much the wheel wont straiten back up on its own

 

I too, have heard mixed things about this subject, But Im at my witts end!! My car only has 70,700 orig. mi. on it. The car sat for a little over a year, lucky I put 800 mi. on it. The rebuilt front end is lucky its got like 10,000 mi. on it. (got a bike, neglected the ROC) I still made sure I took it out once a month, just to keep things moving. After all the front end work I did, I am still un-happy with the steering. If your on the x-way, and you make minor "swerving" movements with the wheel, you can feel the delay between the wheel, and actual reaction from the car. I remember when I first bought the car I was amazed at how these f-bodies handled and their steering reaction. Now, with all the front end work, with poly bushings, I cant even get the stock feel back, this is why Im thinking a loose steering box. Thanks for the relplys and comments everybody!!

 

...Loosened the locknut, tightened the Allen setscrew until it "felt tighter", backed off that Allen a tiny bit (less than 1/8 of a turn), tightened the locknut (while keeping the Allen in position), drove the car, checked for self-centering, didn't get enough, returned home, loosened the locknut, loosened the Allen a bit, tightened it all up in the above fashion, drove it again. Repeated this once more and was done. ALL the slop is gone. Feels like a new car, especially since I had already rebuilt the steering linkage and added a TDS steering brace.

HTH, peace

K

 

My steering linkage is new also and i have the tds peice ima try that. Now what did u mean until it felt tighter the steering or the allen screw.

 

...I was making a service call @work as I typed...

The Allen screw feels tighter when the adjustment is close. Something about tightening the ***** in the box itself was mentioned by one of the more experienced folks on here. You do NOT want this to be tight, just slightly snug. I went further knowign I would back off the adjustment after driving for a short square block.

Also, the steering will not self-center when the wheel is released if that Allen is too tight. So I guess the streering could be described as "too tight" when it will not return to center after a turn.

So, to answer your question, both Again, my apologies for any confusion.

Peace,

K

 

i was readin another thread about this and some1 said i will cause uneven wear is that true ne1?

 

You can try talking to the guy at powersteering.com for info. It's been years since I talked to him last, but he advised AGAINST adjusting that allen screw. Something about how it sets the preload on the gears, and you can ruin the box if done wrong. At that time, he seemed extremely knowledgeable, and offered a whole lot of his time over the phone.

 

Yes you can ruin the box if you adjust it too tight. What are you alignment specs? The alignment specs will affect steering response. Are the bearings packed with grease and snug?

 

mine was aligned at tire disconters and all the bearings r done right.

 

My tires were alligned to stock specs for the car. I took it for a ride the other night. I live in Staten Island, The highways here have ruts in each lane from the excessive amount of traffic out here, I had to fight to keep my car in the lane, as soon as the car started to catch a rut, It felt like it wanted to jump in a different lane. I am just baffled, with a new front end, alignment, and othe misc. work, why does there still feel like theres too much play bwtween the steering wheel, to the tires????? Should I try the rag joint, maybe from sitting a while, it needs to be replaced?? I just kills me that I can put 2 motors in this car, do all the suspension work in my driveway, but cant figure out this damn front end sloppiness!! Im starting to go crazy!!

 

Try this:

Turn your key to the run position (engine off) to unlock your steering column. Lift your hood and slide back the plastic cover over your intermediate shaft going to your steering gear. Grab hold of the rag joint and twist it back and forth while watching your pitman arm movement (should move almost instantly with just a little twisting motion at the rag joint). You should be able to quickly determine if you have excessive play in your gear box with this simple test. If this looks good, then get some help from another person. Have him sit in the car and turn the steering wheel back and forth, within the range of the felt sloppiness (usually within an 1/8th turn), engine not running, while you check the various steering joints for the point of "play".

 

My car has had slop in the steering wheel since I have owned it. At first, I thought it was the steering linkage. Well, I have checked and rechecked numerous times and the only play in the joints is on the center link. However it is not enough to cause the amount of slop my steering wheel shows, it is barely noticable if you are staring at it with someone else rocking the wheels. The bearings are very new, I put new rotors and bearings on it less than a year ago. I have tracked down the slop to being in the box itself because I had someone rock the wheel in its "slop zone" as I call it and I saw no movement of the pitman arm...Do you all think adjusting the box's allen screw can help me? I don't want to pull it off and rebuild it or replace it now, but I do want the slop gone...

 

You can try to eliminate gear box play by adjusting the screw in the top of the box. The proper way to do this with the gear installed in the car is to jack the front of the car up enough so that both front wheels are off the ground. Then, disconnect the intermediate shaft from the steering gear at the rag joint. Loosen the jam nut and turn the screw while turning the input shaft on the gear box back and forth from stop to stop. Turn the screw until resistance is felt while turning the input shaft, anywhere within it's range of travel, then back it off slightly until the resistance is gone. This is the optimum set-point for the screw adjustment. If the play cannot be removed from the box after doing this adjustment, then it needs to be overhauled.