Can Power Steering Excess Wheel Play Be Adjusted?

[Mariposa Mike]

On my 66 Charger with power steering there is about two inches of wheel play each direction when driving at higher speed. Can the stock steering boxes be adjusted? I only see one bolt on the top and the slotted ring which I assume is to tighten/adjust the assembly but maybe not to make wear adjustments. So is this unit adjustable or do we replace/rebuild it to get the correct steering wheel free play?

 

[copper67sat]

Your experience is typical. The steering box is adjustable, but you are unlikely to get rid of the dead zone without upgrading to a modern box - I haven't done that, but others have and there are threads on this.

You can try adjusting yours. Procedure is in the FSM. You can download electronic versions here
Service Manuals – MyMopar

I bought a rebuilt factory unit and it had less play than my original. Not everyone here has had that experience with rebuilt boxes.

Also check your suspension for worn bushings, tie rod ends, etc.

 

[Mariposa Mike]

Thank you for the advice. I did check the suspension and the car has over 100K miles but is fairly tight. However I do need to go deeper into that and get some real pressure placed on the parts other than tugging on the tires while on a rack to check for excess play. The car tracks well at speed but has that excess play that causes a little drifting back and forth. Very responsive when correcting and no rattles or clunks. On rough roads the shocks are a bit weak but still pass the bounce test. They look to be original though because the car was factory undercoated and some of that is on the shocks. Some of the rubber bushings need replacement including the torsion bars but no evidence of play there. Just dry rubber bushings.

 

[copper67sat]

Thank you for the advice. I did check the suspension and the car has over 100K miles but is fairly tight. However I do need to go deeper into that and get some real pressure placed on the parts other than tugging on the tires while on a rack to check for excess play. The car tracks well at speed but has that excess play that causes a little drifting back and forth. Very responsive when correcting and no rattles or clunks. On rough roads the shocks are a bit weak but still pass the bounce test. They look to be original though because the car was factory undercoated and some of that is on the shocks. Some of the rubber bushings need replacement including the torsion bars but no evidence of play there. Just dry rubber bushings.

I highly recommend replacing any original suspension parts if you plan on driving it. I just went through the suspension on my 67 for the 2nd time. Parts I replaced during restoration 30+ yrs ago needed to be replaced again due to age. The rubber dries out and starts breaking down.

 

[Ron H]

There's an old trick, but not really so nice by adjusting the worm gear, basically putting more pressure on it torqueing the bolt. Gives a tighter wheel feel, but may find the wheel return is no longer complete on turns w/o using hands on the wheel to return to straight. The wander effect won't go away either. As posted, worn suspension, bushings, maybe new ball-joints are needed, or more, depending on the extent of wear. Going this far, get yourself a FF box or reman, or there are other boxes members have liked. I was totally amazed how the FFII worked on my ride, likely better than when it came off the assembly line. Add there are alignment specs adding radial tires, necessary, NOT being OEM specs. There are many threads on this in the forum, if you want to do further checking.

 

[Rishi]

The play we feel in the power steering can be worn suspension parts. And this may be the more common cause, on these 50+ year old vehicles.

I would recommend adjusting the power steering box, only AFTER, some diligence was used to eliminate obviously worn suspension joints, bushings and bearings.

 

[Macdon221]

If you get the nerve up....replace your upper/lower control arm bushings, diligently check the tie rod ends, upper/lower ball joints, and steering idler arm and Pittman arm. Any of these worn parts cause slop in the steering. It may not; and most likely not all be "in the steering box".

 

[Mariposa Mike]

I looked for some links but did not see exactly my issue. I have no idea what a FF or FFII is but might be able to google it. Good info here and I will be asking a friend over to help with having one person on the wheel and one with eyes on the suspension. One working a pry bar under a wheel off the ground and one with eyes on the ball joints, etc. As tight as it feels otherwise, if there is wear on the steering box there must be wear elsewhere as well. The other factor in this is that I have only had the car for about three months so I don't know what has been done in the past. If anything. Once again thanks to all for the advice.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

FF = Firm Feel... A company that does quality rebuilds of OE Mopar Steering boxes..

FFII = a stage 2 rebuilt box from Firm Feel... They rework the valving to reduce the assist creating a box with more road feel...

 

[Macdon221]

Firm Feel.

Different levels.

Firm Feel Inc. Steering and Suspension for Chrysler Plymouth & Dodge

 

[RJ Squirrel]

I rebuilt the front suspension and replaced the steering box on my Polara just to figure out it was not enough positive caster causing the problem. Lots of threads on this but the quick fix for me was taking out the rear upper A arm bolts and replacing them with smaller diameter to give me 3 degrees of caster.

 

[ckessel]

According to what I read on the "other" site, Firm Feel was sold by Dick. If they have no inventory to hook you up with, there is also Red Head[ redheadsteeringgears.com] out of Washington. They have a very good rep especially with the truck gents. Also there is Steer and Gear[ steerandgear.com] in Ohio. Don't waste your time putting a "reman" unit in from a parts store.

 

[Don Frelier]

I don't think anyone has mentioned but the coupler itself between the box and the column can get sloppy.
with the car off you can just reach down and manually turn the column shaft and watch the input shaft on the steering gear for movement.
If you choose to put in a remanufactured steering gear I recommend Steer and Gear. (I have 2 of theirs)

 

[Mariposa Mike]

Interesting that the rebuild can reduce the, shall we say, notorious lack of road feel from the MOPAR line. I had forgotten about that constant steering since I have not had one since the 60's.

 

[toolmanmike]

Interesting that the rebuild can reduce the, shall we say, notorious lack of road feel from the MOPAR line. I had forgotten about that constant steering since I have not had one since the 60's.

THere are mods to the pressure valve to reduce the loose Power steering feel. No issues with the manual gears. Excessive play is what we are talking about here. Loose steering components and a mis adjusted gear can cause this.