I have a 1982 coup. My problem is the wheels will shift on me. When driving stright, my front end wants to shift to the side, like I was turning the wheel. My front end is all new parts, except The pitman arm, and steering wheel down. By this I mean the steering box on down has not been touched.
I'm thinking its the steering box. And it does have power steering.
Anyone got Idears ??

 

It usually gets down to the tires. These systems were designed for old bias ply tires which were kind of "squishy". Radials want to run straight. The problem is the roads aren't flat so the tires tend to want to run up the sides of the groves in the road.

That being said, have you checked the slop in your steering box? There is some adjustment possible but often the need a rebuild or replacement. There are a lot of posts about conversion to rack and pinion or Borgeson conversions. Both have their pluses and minuses.

 

First, you have to inspect the whole suspension for any sloppy parts, front and rear.
Including but not limited to:
Wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, all front and rear suspension bushings, halfshaft U joints, steering box, power steering control valve, pitman arm.
Then get a GOOD four wheel alignment. By a pro. Poor wheel alignment can scare the pants off you, especially at highway (and higher) speeds..
If the factory system is in good shape, it will work fine. You don't have to throw it all away. Unless you like having a thin wallet.
You can spend gobs of cash, and make the car different. It's not so easy to make it better.
Good luck. Have fun.

 

Hello;
All of this has been done. Is there any way to check the steering box.
Thank You;
Moesvet

 

the stock steering box is known to be very sloppy.......
one way to check steering box play is to move the wheel from side to side (with motor off) and see how far it can be turned before there is any movement in the steering linkage.

my old '77 corvette had a crap load of play in the box... it would wander back and forth on the highway all by itself, I even got pulled over once because of it.. LOL!

 

balance the p/s control valve?

 

I guess we need a little better description of the problem. As you are driving, does it CONSTANTLY feel as if it is pulling one direction all the time?

If it is 'pulling' then you need to adjust the screw on the end of the control valve under the car. There is a cap staring you in the face when you look under by the driver's side wheel. Pull the cap off with a pliers and adjust the screw L/R as required until it stays straight. Do with wheels in the air. That's a 5 minute proceedure. If the car is jutting side to side with slop in the steering wheel, then it's your steering linkage or steering box. Steering linkage issues could be a loose ball stud in the control valve (it's adjustable/rebuildable), or steering box. Need to get underthere with a pry rod and/or have someone violently shake the tire while you look it over.

I thought my steering box was pretty decent, but once I got it off the car and on the bench, I realized it was far from acceptable. It needed to be rebuilt. First off all, the lower bushing was worn. Therefore NO AMOUNT OF ADJUSTMENT of the adjusting screw would have made a any real difference in side to side tracking because it's not a tapered bushing. It's a sleeve bushing. That could well be the issue you are having. The other issue I had with mine is the top bearing on the steering box input shaft (where the steering column hooks up) was very rusty and the action was rough. I believe mine had a couple broken ball bearings too. It's not noticable with a large steering wheel. The reason this happens is if a person was to wash the engine compartment a lot, water could easily migrate past the seal and lay in the bearing. I supposed normal driving would heat the box and drive that moisture out, but if you wash the car and put it away for long periods, this could happen.

Rebuilding the steering box wasn't very difficult, but I found it a lot of fun and very satisfying. You'll need some uncommon tools to do it, like a press, maybe a torch, and some bearing drivers. You really don't NEED an inch/lbs wrench like everyone says. I mean, you can tighten it reasonably tight with a wrench and you'll be just fine. The stated torque range is pretty wide, actually. Only a fool or mechanical idiot would tighten the crap out of it. A reasnable mechanic can pretty much feel when it is reasonably tight. And then after a few months it'll need to be tightened a little again anyway. For me, I look at it as a learning experience because I always wanted to rebuild a steering box the "right way". But even if you HAVE all the tools, when you consider the time it takes, the cost of the parts, etc, you would better off buying a rebuilt one from a Corvette vendor. And at that point, maybe consider a borgeson box. I wanted to keep mine all original, but if I am not satisfied with the steering (when I'm back on the road) I might go the route of the borgeson too.

Ok, good luck. Hope it helps.

 

If you have power steering, the engine needs to be running when you check the box. While parked, stand outside the car and reach in and turn the steering wheel very slightly left and right while you carefully watch the front tires. There should be no or almost no lost motion.

 

All 82s have power steering. You can tighten the steering a little by adjusting the lash.