Power steering.- Can you tighten up?

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Cleary67

Cleary67

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Is there any way to tighten up the power steering on a 67 Barracuda? It's so easy to steer it's scary to drive at 40 mph + expecially going through an intersection. - Gear box is brand new and getting alignment done tomorrow. - Thanks for any help.
 
There is a screw and a nut on top to tighten it up, use the FSM procedure.
 
If by "tighten up" you mean lessen the power assist, that can be done quite easily. You can lower the oil pressure going to the PS box, which will make it harder to steer. Right now with the car sitting still and idling you can probably turn the wheels with one finger. That's too much assist. By placing a couple washers on the regulator inside the PS pump, the pressure can be dropped. Rich Ehrinburg of Mopar Action had written an article on this. It might be on line somewhere.

This can be done without taking the pump out of the car. All you do is disconnect the high pressure hose from the back of the pump. Unscrew the fitting and assembly it was attached to. Mount the assembly in a vice and and disassemble. By placing between 0.050 and 0.100 inches of washers onto it you will lower the pressure by a third. Pop it back on and try it. You can change the pressure up and down by adding or subtracting washers.

Try the one finger test again. It will be noticeably harder to turn the wheel. This is a zero dollar fix that shouldn't take more than one hour.
 
If the alignment has the caster well into the negative, it will practically take the wheel from your hands and head the direction You started steering,.........get the align 1st,
then see how she handles B4 messing w/the box.
 
Cleary67 said:
FSM procedure?- and tighten the screw with the allen head down and then the nut?
Click to expand...
Factory Service Manual, and no it's not that simple.............................
 
Cleary67 said:
FSM procedure?- and tighten the screw with the allen head down and then the nut?
Click to expand...

That is for tightening the play between the internal gears, and I understood that your new box steered to easy.
There is an article called "Pump it down" that shows how to lessen the power assist.

Here is a post showing the procedure, and I'll see if I can find the actual article for you.
Pump It Down....EASY

Here it is.
 

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TrailBeast said:
That is for tightening the play between the internal gears, and I understood that your new box steered to easy.
There is an article called "Pump it down" that shows how to lessen the power assist.

Here is a post showing the procedure, and I'll see if I can find the actual article for you.
Pump It Down....EASY

Here it is.
Click to expand...
Very cool! Thank you!
 
Will the gear box have more play in it with no fluid going thru it ?
 
Rd2Scamp said:
Will the gear box have more play in it with no fluid going thru it ?
Click to expand...

What an odd question. Can you elaborate?

Open the hood, engine off,reach down and grab that coupler thingy. Rock it back and forth. Notice how far the worm shaft crawls up out of the box. This is one form of play.
Next notice how far the worm shaft rotates before the sector shaft moves. This is another form of play.
Next, jack one front tire off the ground. Grab the tire at 3 an 9 o'clock, and attempt to turn it left ,then right. That is another form of play.
Next grab the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock, and attempt to **** it by pushing and pulling the top of the tire. This is another form of play.
Next jack the one side up under the LCA, until the tire is about 1.5 inches off the ground. Then lever the tire up and let it drop back down. Hyup,another form of play
Each of these different forms of play requires a different solution.

And I agree that these cars are over-boosted. However, too much toe-in, or too much toe-out, will make your driving experience miserable.
The sector shaft play gets tightened up by the pump-pressure. It can be quite loose with the engine off,before it gets aggravating.
The in and out play of the worm shaft is the biggest PITA, and also the hardest to reduce. But when you tighten that up, well now, that is something!When you mod the reaction springs, this delays the onset of boost, making driving in a straight line, a lot easier. And yes it will require more energy from the operator to initiate a turn. The more springs you add, the stiffer the feel. I can't recall how many I added but I do recall that on the first attempt, it wasn't enough. It mightabin 3 discs, or maybe 4 that I added.Chrysler used to sell a kit with quite a few discs in it.
 
Last edited:
I just put the steering column back in the car. The steering wheel seems to turn to much to me before the wheels start to turn.
 
TrailBeast said:
That is for tightening the play between the internal gears, and I understood that your new box steered to easy.
There is an article called "Pump it down" that shows how to lessen the power assist.

Here is a post showing the procedure, and I'll see if I can find the actual article for you.
Pump It Down....EASY
Yes, thanks Tb. I made the' pump it down easy ' thread a sticky in the steering and suspension section.
Here it is.
Click to expand...
 
Rd2Scamp said:
I just put the steering column back in the car. The steering wheel seems to turn to much to me before the wheels start to turn.
Click to expand...

Ok that may be the box adjustment then, or it may be something else.
Play like that can be caused by any of the parts from the steering box to the tie rod ends, and there are ways to tell.
I would start by getting under the car and having someone turn the wheel back and forth within that play and see if the shaft (sector shaft) on the bottom of the steering box moves.
If it does indeed move back and forth, you need to follow the steering linkage to find where one part moves but the rest of the linkage doesn't.
This is where your play is and the related part needs to be replaced.

If you move the steering wheel back and forth and the shaft on the bottom of the steering box does not move, then there is a real good chance the problem is in the box and might be adjusted.
You also want to make sure the box isn't moving when you turn the wheel, due to a cracked or broken mounting surface on the frame rail.

There is a nut 5/8 I think, on the top of the steering box with an allen screw down through the center of it.
This is the boxes gear lash adjustment.
The way I adjust them when needed is to hold the allen screw and loosen the nut 2-3 turns.
As the steering wheel is turned lightly back and forth within the play I tighten the allen screw just until it starts to resist.
The amount of pressure to turn the allen screw should be about the amount of pressure you can easily get it to with the tip of one finger used in a motion like stirring a cup of coffee with your finger.

It can easily be gotten tighter, but that's not usually what you want.
You want to bring the gears inside the box together but not in a bind, and that bind first shows up as a tight spot in the center of the steering (as if you were driving straight)
If you tighten it enough to feel the tight spot in the area where the steering wheel is centered, then it needs to be back off a little.
(like maybe 1/4 turn looser on the allen screw.)
Once you are satisfied with the adjustment, hold the allen screw in place and tighten the lock nut down.
Tighten it good and snug, because it will leak fluid if it isn't tight enough. (there is probably a torque spec in your manual for that)

You can do the box before or after checking the other connecting points for play in them, but checking those other parts is mandatory for questions on loose steering, or too much play in the wheel.
 
When I got the car the PO had disassembled the whole car. He did rebuild the whole front end. Ball joints tie rods ect.... So im not sure how the steering was before he took it apart. I just started thinking if gear box is bad it would be easier to replace before I put motor in. I will look deeper into it and see if I see anything moving down the line.
 
Did u check to see if the coupler is the culprit It can be put together wrong and will have lots of play. Is the dishing in the bottom of the column good. Kim
 
With the engine off,yes, there will be a lot of play. You are driving the reaction discs, with no hydraulic pressure in the system so there is no internal hydraulic resistance.
Just be sure you assembled the coupler correctly, cause that would be a HUGE source of play,lol.OOps I see Kim already covered that.
 
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