MOXIE62

This is the first C2 car I've own and the steering seems to take a bit of effort to turn when car is stop, backing up, turning wheel and such. I went through the steering box and put in new grease/oil and seals. In adjusting box, there seems to be only one adjustment once the endplay of the shaft is taking out, and that's the top screw. If I turn top screw to where the steering is a little easier, there is play in the steering. Turn screw other way, get rid of play but harder to steer. The damper cylinder appears to be new. Maybe that's just the way they are.

66jack

Need to fix/beef up your "arm strong"...

The damper/shock it just that and has nothing to do with how hard it turns...

Frankie the Fink

My steering in the stock 63 is not onerous but the car has gotten a little 'wander' to it lately - prob time for a steering box rebuild. I assume you have stock sized tires on your car - right ?

Dave Tracy

There are two holes for the tie rods to attach. If you have conventional steering, the steering would be easier if the end holes are utilized rather than the inner ones. the change would require the front end to be realigned.

morly1963

I have factory power-steering in my 63 and its fine-not hard or loose.

Bluestripe67

Tire type and pressure may also play a part in this. Dennis

MikeM

I'm not sure of your age but I'll say this. Most of us older guys here learned to drive and drove many, many miles on cars without power steering. Power steering was only found on luxury cars when I learned to drive. That being the case, we also learned to make sure the car was moving at least a little, either forward or backward before you even attempted to turn the steering wheel. It makes it so much easier and saves wear and tear on your arms.

That said, my '63 is very hard to turn at very low speed. There's no play in the wheel, it tracks extremely well on the highway and drives like a dream. I has radial tires 205's. The guy I bought it from was a tinkering nut and also ran a service dept. at a Mercedes dealer. Be my guess he has dialed in extra caster to make it track better. Don't know, I've never had it checked and probably won't as long as the tires continue to wear evenly.

My '65 steers very easy at low speeds. Low steering wheel effort. No play in the steering. Front end has never been aligned and still has all original front end components. Runs down the road very straight considering the bias tires that are on it. They might be Kelsey's. 7.75's.

GTOguy

Bias plys will steer easier that radials at low or no speed. Inflation and tire width are huge factors, as is the car being at a dead standstill or moving just a tiny bit. Increased caster settings will make steering at low speed a real bear. My '61 steers easily at very low speed, not so much at a standstill. I have old bias ply 6.70 15's on it now, but plan on getting a second set of mag wheels (old Americans) and running radials as all around running gear.

MikeM

Maybe I should add that before I put the bias ply tires on the '65 I had fiberglass belted radials on the can and it steered easy as well. Tire size was E78 X 15 but I figured after about 30 years, it was time to replace them. They still steered good when I took them off.

lib

If you steering wheel is smaller than stock it will cause you to use more force at low speed/parking to turn the wheels.

DansYellow66

I would be careful about tightening that top lash screw - if you tighten it to the point that it increases effort around the center of steering wheel travel, it's too tight and binding the sector, gears and ***** - possibly causing damage. You should not feel any binding, tightening or additional resistance of any kind when turning through the center of travel where lash is the least. These cars do take a little effort for low speed steering - probably due to the design of the steering box. My Cobra Replica with about 600 lbs less weight and rack and pinion steering is light in comparison. If it's a problem and if the tie rods are in the outer holes of the steering arms, then a power steering conversion may be in order.

MOXIE62

What would this accomplish, Less force to turn wheel but require more turns of steering wheel to turn car. Unless I've over looked it I can find no mention of the change of tie rod holes in the 63 shop manual.
I have an all stock car with 17" bias tires and original steering wheel.

1snake

I do all my own alignments and the amount of caster has EVERYTHING to do with steering effort. That's why cars with power steering have a lot more caster than manual steering cars.

63 340HP

I agree with these guys.

Caster is everything.

The manual steering box is difficult with the factory 0.5 degree caster setting, with the tie rod ends in the outer holes that provide more leverage, and with the factory steering wheel. You need to be rolling to reduce the effort.

Change caster to more modern settings, or move the tie rod ends to the inner power steering holes, or fit a smaller steering wheel, and you increase the effort.

Increased caster is great for improved handling and more stability. The caster and toe-in alignment settings are critical to a good steering feel and ease with the manual steering box. The best for each driver is a compromise between steering effort and stability.

I personally liked the inner, harder effort, steering holes and 1.5 degree caster when I had a manual steering box. I put up with the difficult low speed steering wheel effort because the car handled much better at speed.

I changed to a Borgeson power steering box, a much smaller 14 inch steering wheel, and 2.5 degree caster to make the car handle better than I could have ever imagined. If you want modern car handling and feel, with light effort parking manners, a tight suspension and this steering upgrade will deliver.

tbarb

In post #5 you reference a power steering car, is this the car you are working on. If it is, keep in mind P/S is power assist only and the pump and cylinder will strain if the car is stationary, it's not like today's P/S systems.

Proper steering box adjustment is done with a in lb torque wrench and it's value is approx 10-15 inlbs while turning through the high point.

There should be no play at the high point (straight ahead) and the turning effort should feel snug turning through the center then get loose as the gears move to the ends. This gives the return to center when you go around a corner but at straight ahead the wheel will feel slightly snug if that's the right word to use and will have no play.

Dave Tracy

With the power steering, the inside holes are used. The outside holes would allow less force to turn the wheels but reduce the quickness of the steering.

MOXIE62

I think I've found part of my problem. As you see in the picture the inner hole for tie rod is used and not the outer. I know if I change to outer I will have to have a new alignment. I wonder if it will make a noticeable difference.

63 340HP

Noticeable as in easier, yes.

The only change is toe-in.

If you have lifetime alignment somewhere, swap the holes, and take it in for fine tuning.

MOXIE62

WOW, changed the tie rod ends to outside holes. Feels like I have power steering.

MikeM

Don't be surprised if you toe-in isn't still in spec.

Somebody with a slide rule calculated where to stick that other set of holes.