steering gear box

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jw97neon

jw97neon

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i am looking to replace my steering gear box. i want a 16:1 box. i seen p-s-t is now selling one. i believe it is for a 67 and up car. what is the difference between a early box and a later a body car?
 
Since you mention 16:1, you must be asking about a manual gear box. I haven't heard of mounting holes changing, since power steering gears use the same holes and nobody mentioned that for them. I recall 1973 was the year both manual and power gearboxes changed to the large-sector shaft, used in all years on B,C,E bodies.
 
The bolt locations and box housing are the same from 63 all the way to the 80's.
 
jw97neon said:
i am looking to replace my steering gear box. i want a 16:1 box. i seen p-s-t is now selling one. i believe it is for a 67 and up car. what is the difference between a early box and a later a body car?
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They are the same except pitman arm
 
So I just went through this first hand. Bought the Flaming River box but didn't realize it was for 72 and earlier. The link off the column is different as well as the pitman arm. You would also have to go with the earlier idler and drag link as well. A pain but possible.
 
Original-equipment steering gearbox interchange is '62-'72 A- and B-body. There is no split at '67 or '66 or '63 or any other year within that range. Of course you have to use the correct pitman arm for the car you're working on: '62-'66 A-body, '67 A-body, or '68-'72 A-body. The nonpower boxes originally installed on 6-cylinder cars have sleeve bushings; V8 boxes have roller bearings.

I put a 16:1 box in my '65 and hated it. Even with a lightweight aluminum-block 225 engine and a careful alignment, it drained most of the fun out of driving the car: too twitchy on the highway, too hard to steer around town (especially when parking!). I wouldn't do it again. I put a 20:1 box in my '62 and absolutely love it: perfect under all conditions; the way the factory should've done it.
 
slantsixdan said:
Original-equipment steering gearbox interchange is '62-'72 A- and B-body. There is no split at '67 or '66 or '63 or any other year within that range. Of course you have to use the correct pitman arm for the car you're working on: '62-'66 A-body, '67 A-body, or '68-'72 A-body. The nonpower boxes originally installed on 6-cylinder cars have sleeve bushings; V8 boxes have roller bearings.

I put a 16:1 box in my '65 and hated it. Even with a lightweight aluminum-block 225 engine and a careful alignment, it drained most of the fun out of driving the car: too twitchy on the highway, too hard to steer around town (especially when parking!). I wouldn't do it again. I put a 20:1 box in my '62 and absolutely love it: perfect under all conditions; the way the factory should've done it.
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thanks. I thought about that as well. were did you find a 20:1 box?
 
For Manual and Power boxes, 66 and earlier had smaller mounting holes for 7/16" bolts. 67 and later switched to 1/2" bolts, so bigger mounting holes. All manual boxes are small sector (even after 72) except for C-body and vans.
 
I know that 1969 used 1/2" mounting bolts. I fought one bolt all the way in my 1969 Dart slant w/ p.s. I finally found the factory had installed a 7/16" bolt where 1/2" should have been (they do look very similar). I guess the worker just turned the dial up on the impact wrench to get it in as the line rolled, and probably had a whole bin of wrong bolts. Have installed gearboxes in both my 64 & 65, but didn't notice the bolt size other than they went in easy.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure what the cutoff dates are or anything. All I know is my 66 Dart K member uses a different size bolt than the K-member in my 68 Dart and the steering box mounting holes are equally different sizes as well.
 
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