bunch of power to manual steering questions.

[SirDan]

so im dead set on going to manual steering. this power steering is great if you just cruise but id like to feel the road.

anyway i got a box from a friend thats allitle crunchy feeling and leaks. im going to take it all apart before i order anything but id like to know of some good places to order stuff so i dont get ripped off.

also i was reading another post about how the 24:1 stock ratio is a bit slow and heard the 20:1 or something like that was better. can i make mine into a different ratio? whats a good ratio? this car is going to end up being a 4 speed car and id like to enjoy driving it.

also is there any power to manual steering column adapters that arent a rippoff?it would be easier to just have an adapter since ive allready got a floor shift column.

any tips or tricks for rebuilding? i cant imagine it being too hard. i think the one guy said to put a grease fitting on top in one thread i had read. also what should this thing be filled with? grease?

also what pitman arm should i get? were there different manual boxes for A bodies?

thanks in advance FABO.

 

[Dusterdude72]

My 72 duster has manual steering....the previous owner bought and installed a close ratio gear box...(and the ratio is????)...its like having power steering but without having power steering lol.

I with no engine in the car I know I can turn the front tires from clock to clock almost with my pinky.....so I am sure once the engine is in the car there will be a little more resistance but I cant imagine it being very much.

I would suggest opting out for the close ratio gear box but I am not sure they are cheap to buy.

and I am not sure if anyone makes a rebuild kit to convert a factory gear box to close ratio? but I would think so.

good luck

 

[dartley]

I admittedly have a strong opinion about this, but it goes without saying that you can and will do what you like, so take it as advise - I do mean it to come off as strong advice though. Here goes ...

The stock manual boxes from the era were 5 and a half turns lock to lock. 5.5!!! That is sloooooooooooooooooooooow any way you cut it. Back in 1970, people didn't drive as nutty as they do today, and cars weren't as sharp edged to allow them to do so. If this were 1970, and you were driving a /6 with this box I'd say, weeeeeeeeell, maybe it's not so bad.

But it's not and you're not (are you?). five - point - five turns lock to lock is too slow for a car with power, with the way people drive. It's the steering equivalent of having 9" drum brakes all around - not desirable. I wouldn't even recommend it for drag car - it's bad, it's slow, it's obsolete - good only for shows, for primo restorations.

3.5 turns quick ratio manual steering is another story. It wouldn't be my first choice on a street driven 4spd, but on an automatic it can be very nice.

There are good ways also to firm up the 3.5 turns L2L pwr strg too - check out FirmFeel.

HTH

 

[SirDan]

these guys sell worm gears
http://www.mopartsracing.com/parts/dtrain.html

little pricy.

dartley you make some good points. i changed to a slightly smaller steering wheel and that helped slightly. dident really change it to get a better feel, i just wanted a tuff wheel cause its cool, also i like the horn button being in the middle, you use it alot in newyork. which you also avoid alot of people in newyork that cut you off. so having less turns lock to lock would be a good thing. is there anything simple i could do to my power steering to get a better road feel? i mean its allready in there if there was a cheap modification to get a better steering feel id probaly give it a shot.

also how many turns would the 20:1 ratio be?

my toyota has power steering and that thing has excellent road feel. im not really against power steering i just want to be able to feel the road. im actualy afraid to push the car hard at all into corners with the current steering, and my entire front end has been rebuilt probaly under 100 miles on it. i just cant feel whats going on with the car.

 

[dartley]

Hmmm ... Over the years I've had five of these cars, two with the 5.5 mnl and four with the 3.5 pwr (one car was change from mnl to pwr, so my math ain't that bad LOL). I've never noticed any meaninful difference in road feel that couldn't be attributed to the condition of components or the WHEEL ALIGNMENT (no I'm not yelling at you, just making a point).

If you are having such a problem with road feel that you don't know what the front end is doing - and you have a properly (re)build front end - then I suspect you either have a problem with your alignment or your steering box.

Mopar Action did an entire series over the last year on identifying problems with, setting up, repairing and modifying the steering in our cars - I highly recommend your reading it if you can get a hold of it - it's about 3, 4, 5 issues in length.

I have not dealt with them myself, but I hear and read a lot of very good things about FirmFeel - and I don't think their stuff is too expensive either. You probably know that they offer firmer feeling power steering boxes.

There is another company that offers the quick (3.5 or so L2L) manual gears - can't remember the name off hand, but it's a well know company - but I can't vouch for it - never did business with them.

I tell you I had a '75 Dart /6 and a '74 318 Charger that had excellent steering boxes and good road feel. If set up right, they are really quite good, even by today's standards in my opinion.

 

[oldkimmer]

...............U can also change the pressure spring in the pump to get a better road feel, or change to a different pully size..................kim.............