Steering box rebuild

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James Fountain

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Joined
Sep 25, 2020
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Location
Stamford CT
Hi looking for info on where to get a steering box for a 1966 Barracuda rebuilt. I live in Fairfield county CT. Any info or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
I dealt with some guy in the mid west several years ago. He was going in for knee surgery soon, but he was going to send me a "rebuilt" fast ratio steering chuck for my Dodge truck. Well, he sent me a chuck, alright, but it was just a repainted steering box out of a wrecking yard. It had rust in it, FFS. At the time no one was doing steering boxes for trucks, and I got his name out of a Mustang magazine, who did a big article on this guy rebuilding their steering box. Anyway, I'd double check references and make sure this isn't the same operation.
 
From my research Steer and Gear and Firm feel are the best, but very pricey. The Rock Auto and other stock rebuilds are a gamble.
 
You can diy it's not hard. But slant six cars have non replaceable bushings iirc. Worked out awesome. I think mopar action had an article years back
Forgot to mention this was manual steering
 
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Yes very easy and effective. I went to the dealer and got a pkg of reaction springs. I put two in right away, and several days later added 1 or maybe 2 more.
I have a very small steering wheel with a thick rim. The new set-up takes more energy to turn the wheel, but less than a manual box, and has the faster 3.5 turns lock to lock. And the on-center feel is better with less wandering and slightly later boost. I really like it.
The FSM lists several special tools but the only tools I needed were a BFH and regular wrenches.
The trick is to not lose any parts; I worked in a low-walled tray.
There is not much in there that wears out, A rebuiild kit covers it all. I doubt I spent $25 in 1998.

As to my small diameter wheel;
it is about 12 inches. I think the oem was 15ish. That makes every revolution require about 10" less palm travel. On 3.5 turns, from lock to lock, that comes to ~35inches saved, or 20%. That's a pretty big deal.
So much so that the Federal Pump could not keep up. I swapped in a Saginaw, which seems to be doing ok.
 
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