Turn radius to the left

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davidcribbs

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I just rebuilt my whole front end on my '67 Dart GT convertible. I bought all the products from QA1 and Hotchkiss for the front. I also put on Wilwood discs up front and in the back, just to give some background. With the new front end pieces I had to use a drag link from a '73 A Body, which fit great. I also added a quick turn radius pitman arm and idler arm from Hotchkiss. I just got the car back from the alignment, and the turning radius to the left only goes about a 3rd of the way, but turns great to the right, any thoughts? I thought it might be the quick turn radius items from Hotchkiss, but all the reading I did prior to buying those parts, no one ever mentioned it. I didn't just want to start replacing all my brand new parts until I found the solution, so I wanted to reach out to anyone that may have done this swap in the past to find out if they have had any problems. Or if someone else knew what I am missing that can fix this?
 
did you center the box shaft before you installed the pitman arm? Not sure if the new fast turn pitman arm is clocked or is it universal. take the pitman arm off, turn the box lock to lock and count, divide by 2 and return to true center. then mount pitman arm to straight suspension. should be pretty close to centered. Then you can adjust minor difference by tie rods
 
You’re going to have to inspect for interference when you’re turning the wheel so get a helper to turn the wheel while you look for what it’s hitting.

You mentioned the fast ratio steering arms. If you have headers installed, I can almost guarantee the pitman is hitting the header. On an A-body the fast ratio arms interfere with pretty much every header currently available.

Another thing to check is the lower ball joint bolts. If they’re new they may be too long, and acting as the steering stop against the lower control arm when turning. That would effect both sides unless different length bolts were used side to side though.
 
did you center the box shaft before you installed the pitman arm? Not sure if the new fast turn pitman arm is clocked or is it universal. take the pitman arm off, turn the box lock to lock and count, divide by 2 and return to true center. then mount pitman arm to straight suspension. should be pretty close to centered. Then you can adjust minor difference by tie rods
Pishta - I believe I got that right before I put it back together, but I will try it again. I believe the Pitman Arm is universal though.
 
Race on NASCAR tracks that only turn right.... :steering:
Are those in Australia?

The quick turn boxes had a stop built into them to limit their new 'quick' turn radius...wonder if a hybrid stock box with a quick turn pitman is actually performing as designed except its missing its stock stop/limiter on the short radius side? Wonder where the AAR stops were located?
 
I would raise the front of the car up BUT rest it on the suspension (not the tires) and do as others have said rotate the steering wheel and look for interference, if the suspension is checked at full droop you might not have interference issues.

I would do this with the engine off if you have PS as the extra assist could mask a binding issue.

My vote is interference or gear box not centered on pitman arm
 
Shoot; my regular pitman arm scraped the TTIs, and I had some work to do to fix it.
I started with swapping out the 68 to 72 steering, in favor of the 73 up style.
Btw, you can get a similar to fast-ratio steering, by installing a smaller steering wheel. It's still 3.5 turns lock to lock; but 3 inches smaller is 9+ inches less circumference for your arms to have to scramble thru. That's about 20%......pretty close to what the Quick ratio does.
Make it a custom built power-steering box and a fat foam deep-dish rim, and yur one hand steering all set. Now you can shift in mid turn, without having to think about getting the timing right.
Good Luck.
 
Thanks for all the reply's. I will make sure the Pitman Arm is clocked correctly first, then check for other interference. It does not currently have headers installed, although when i went to redo the engine I was going to install TTI's, so I may switch back to normal ratio Pitman Arm if there is going to be a clearance problem. It was touching the exhaust tube when i first put the front end back together, but have since had a bent pipe welded in to place so it doesn't interfere with the steering.

The lower ball joints are brand new, so once I change the Pitman arm I will look at those as well if the steering isn't resolved.
 
Shoot; my regular pitman arm scraped the TTIs, and I had some work to do to fix it.
I started with swapping out the 68 to 72 steering, in favor of the 73 up style.
Btw, you can get a similar to fast-ratio steering, by installing a smaller steering wheel. It's still 3.5 turns lock to lock; but 3 inches smaller is 9+ inches less circumference for your arms to have to scramble thru. That's about 20%......pretty close to what the Quick ratio does.
Make it a custom built power-steering box and a fat foam deep-dish rim, and yur one hand steering all set. Now you can shift in mid turn, without having to think about getting the timing right.
Good Luck.
Honestly I never thought about a smaller steering wheel, but that is pretty interesting. I was trying to keep everything in the cab of the car original, but may look at that if the quick ratio components won't work.
 
You’re going to have to inspect for interference when you’re turning the wheel so get a helper to turn the wheel while you look for what it’s hitting.

You mentioned the fast ratio steering arms. If you have headers installed, I can almost guarantee the pitman is hitting the header. On an A-body the fast ratio arms interfere with pretty much every header currently available.

Another thing to check is the lower ball joint bolts. If they’re new they may be too long, and acting as the steering stop against the lower control arm when turning. That would effect both sides unless different length bolts were used side to side though.
the fast ratio (longer)Pitman arm interferes with headers on E-bodies, too.
 
the fast ratio (longer)Pitman arm interferes with headers on E-bodies, too.

For B/E-bodies there’s some header options that do work, at least according to Firm Feel. Especially for a B/E with a small block. From their website
Firmfeel Mopar Suspension and Steering

A056DF1E-E386-4E76-A21A-E702FCACB149.jpeg
 
I don't want to hijack the thread, but there must be something special about the AAR/TA fast ratio steering, more than just the long Pittman arm, because the words "fast ratio" are cast right into the steering box. Does anyone know the difference?
 
I don't want to hijack the thread, but there must be something special about the AAR/TA fast ratio steering, more than just the long Pittman arm, because the words "fast ratio" are cast right into the steering box. Does anyone know the difference?
Different gears inside the housing.
 
I just rebuilt my whole front end on my '67 Dart GT convertible. I bought all the products from QA1 and Hotchkiss for the front. I also put on Wilwood discs up front and in the back, just to give some background. With the new front end pieces I had to use a drag link from a '73 A Body, which fit great. I also added a quick turn radius pitman arm and idler arm from Hotchkiss. I just got the car back from the alignment, and the turning radius to the left only goes about a 3rd of the way, but turns great to the right, any thoughts? I thought it might be the quick turn radius items from Hotchkiss, but all the reading I did prior to buying those parts, no one ever mentioned it. I didn't just want to start replacing all my brand new parts until I found the solution, so I wanted to reach out to anyone that may have done this swap in the past to find out if they have had any problems. Or if someone else knew what I am missing that can fix this?
Are you talking turns to lock going both directions? Have you counted the turns? You can do the same thing when you repair or replace your steering joint.
 
You have the wrong pitman arm would be my guess. Set it next to the original and you will see some have a slight bend . I have seen them straight used on a B and E body. That could be your issue . look at your original

Steve 122 - Copy.JPG
 
did you center the box shaft before you installed the pitman arm? Not sure if the new fast turn pitman arm is clocked or is it universal. take the pitman arm off, turn the box lock to lock and count, divide by 2 and return to true center. then mount pitman arm to straight suspension. should be pretty close to centered. Then you can adjust minor difference by tie rods

I think it is splined so that it can only go on one way
 
I think it is splined so that it can only go on one way
I think the later/reman boxes had a few ways to place the pitman arm to fit multiple applications. The cast in "Fast Ratio" boxes had the internal limiters along with the ~15:1 gears.
 
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