Power Steering

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haole

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I have a 66 dart with power steering. It is almost like too much assist. There is no road feel. I had the car aligned, rebuilt the front end, new shocks, and tires. Is there any way to get the feel of the road back?
 
The only way to get rid of the lightness is to change the spool valve (sorry about the GM name for it). Mopar is known for very low effort P/S. In the 60's a fly could land on 1 spoke of the wheel and turn the car.

A 1975 Cadillac and Trans Am use the same box. The Trams Am will require more pressure on the steering wheel before the hyd boost is applied compared to the Caddy.

Give Firm feel a shout. They are a HUGE Mopar fan.

Until then, drive with 1 finger on the wheel and don't sneeze.

http://www.firmfeel.com/powerst_abe.htm
 
Yellowdartdave is right. The only way to do much is to reduce the hyd. pressure. But there is one other little trick that helps moderately. Change to a smaller diameter steering wheel. I did and it made a noticeable difference. Really surprised me. I don't remember the exact size of the stock wheel and what I have now but I remember there was 2" difference.
 
Brings back memories of driving my '68 GTX up and down I-95 35 years ago. It has power steering and I just sat back with my left arm resting on the door, steering with a couple of fingers on the wheel. Of course, that was when there were no other vehicles nearby.
 
If you are still working on the PS question...I had my PS box rebuilt last year by FFI FirmFeel, in Vancouver, Washington state. They offer three levels of firmness; all of which are "police" spec or higher. I took the lowest and it's perfect for me. They also rebuilt my PS pump. It's in my 67 Barracuda Convertible, 273-4 AT, with front sway bar and polygraphite bushings in the suspension. Web page: www.firmfeel.com; 'phone 1-800-347-6426; TechLine 1-360-546-3633. Good luck with your project. Tony
 
I don't see how adjusting the pressure will help. If the pressure is too low, the steering wheel gets very hard to turn and just slows down the rate of rotation of the wheels. When you turn the steering shaft, you can see the shaft move in and out of the steering box. This movement slides the spool valve for and aft, and sends fluid to the appropriate side of the power piston. The pivot lever connects the steering column to the spool valve, and looks like a steel clothes pin. The reaction springs (I'm sure you've heard of them) are what control the "firmness" of the box, and resist the movement of the pivot lever, and that is the force that is translated to the steering wheel that you feel.

I haven't experimented with it, but some of the pumps have an adjustment screw on them for the pressure. Maybe adjusting it would do something beneficial. There are different pressure specs for different car bodies.
 
Can't remember if the '66 steering box mounts the same way as the later steering boxes do. If so, find a cop car box and pump set up. Looking under the hood, the full cop car rig will have a cooler loop on the pump.

The low tech solution is to go to a smaller diameter steering wheel. It will reduce the leverage you have over the steering box and make things a little less touchy. The Tuff wheel was 13 inches in diameter. Compare that to what you're running now as a reference point.
 
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