Hey everyone!
Ive had a 1977 corvette for about 6 years now, and one issue i have never been able to resolve is the slop in my steering wheel. There is about 3 inches of play left and right before stiff. As you can imagine hitting a bump on the highway is a little sketchy. Last year i had it at a shop and was quoted a gross amount for tie rods (600$) and decided to do the whole front suspension myself and steering system. Things i have done myself to the steering include.

Brand new rubber suspension rebuild kit, (control arm bushings, tie rods, idler arm, ball joints, springs and shocks, bearings)
rebuild kit for PS pump
rebuild kit for control valve (not including the ball shaft) (was loosing 1QT of fluid a day)
New cylinder.
and i put a used steering box off of a 1972 vette in.
Everything was torqued to spec and had an alignment done, but now everything outside the 3 inches of play is extremely stiff (almost too stiff). I was told by my mechanic that the control valve has a tiny amount of play in it and the steering box is as tight as it should be.
Given that the steering box and rag joint (which doesnt have play) are they only 2 things that are not rebuilt or new, i cant help but blame them. Before i go and buy a steering box, does anyone have an opinion on this? Should i buy a rebuilt box off of corvette depot? buy the bearing kit? rag joint? control valve again? I cant figure it out for the life of me and dont want to throw more money than i need to. Thank you so much for those who have read it and helped.
Happy driving.

 

Loosen the lock bolt on your steering box, turn the screw 90 degrees clockwise, and then re tighten the nut. See if that made any difference.

 

Let me throw a couple ideas at you.

First. Never touch the adjustments on the box unless you know what you are doing. Usually, the above suggestion does more harm than good. I have done it that way decades ago and wish I hadn't.

There is an expert on the subject named Jim Shea. I would suggest Googling his name along with "steering".

Also, early C3s had two holes in the end of the knuckle for the Tie-Rod ends. One was for manual steering, the other for PS. Having said that, perhaps that used box you bought is for the wrong app. Different ratios maybe? IDK

 

send your box to Bairs

 

Steering should be consistent, if it's not you have issues with the box or the valve. My 77 was twitchy even after installing a borgenson box until I switched to 235's on the front. I also rebuild the entire front and rear ends. I would start by checking over the valve and making sure it's centered with the tires off the ground. If you are close to Montana I still have a good box and valve in the shed. I mostly went borgenson for the ratio.

 

The 72 box is probably as bad as the original, but both may still have good gears. Can't say until they are checked by an experienced tech, are there any threads over the jam nut in the cover?

There should be -0- play in the box on high lash, few are even close to that. Many don't understand the difference between high lash, arm center, and true center which all play a part in a quality build rather than just a slapped together one with a kit.

 

Some thing else to check would be your rag joint

 

I'll say this about your situation. I also have a 77. And the steering and handling is bloody amazing.
A. fire your worthless mechanic, find one who knows what he is doing.
B. Pretty simple to check this yourself with the car on jackstands and your wife or child turning the wheel back and forth as you check what isn't moving with the steering wheel.
C. Best guess without being there checking it myself. I'm with Gary, most likely your used box is no better than the one you took out. Send one or both to Gary and have one Extremely good one made up.
D. who did all this front end work? You? Or the worthless mechanic that can't seem to find the play in the steering?
The steering control system in these cars is NOT rocket science.

 

I’ve been researching this topic for a while now. I would think your box is the culprit as stated.

 

I'll second the endorsement for sending your steering box to @GTR1999.

Even better than jackstands, put your car on ramps, or a 4 wheel lift, and watch what happens when a helper turns the wheel.

I bet the play is in your steering box. It may even be in your steering column. But a quick video from your phone will make the problem very apparent.

There is play in the steering valve. It should tighten up when the pump is flowing, but try to do the experiment with the engine off.

 

4-vettes

Did you ever stop to think that in some instances the mechanic is the O.P. but would rather be anonymous?
Did you ever stop to think that the O.P.s mechanic could be a son, a father, a brother or best friend?
Adding insults and calling people worthless is not helping the bloody situation.

 

the problem with most mechanic's today is they are no more than parts changers that do what the computer tells them to do the art of diagnosing then rebuild a said part is a thing of the past. then you got the people who catalog engineer their car from companies who have no clue what they are doing but have great marketing teams who know how to sell ice to an eskimo. a proper rebuild of the oem parts can make these cars drive great and will be a pleasure to drive

 

Sadly Bairs is pretty far from me, thank you anyway!

 

I appreciate the reply. I was the one whom installed the entire front suspension and rebuilt the PS system. I then asked my trusted mechanic to look over it. Sadly he cant do alignments and thats where i went to the only shop that was willing to do one on an old car in my area and was quoted the 600$ tie rods prior to me starting this project.

 

UPS, Fed EX, and USPS go there every weekday

 

That's good advice, bc the first adjustment you need to do to the steering box is the 'pre-load' adjustment which is made from the bottom of the steering box (can't do in the car). The top bearing on the steering box is cheap, like an import bicycle crank bearing. They get rusty and the main shaft can get some slop in it. You could adjust the top screw all day long and not make any real difference if the main shaft has looseness in it (due to a corroded bearing). How do bearings get corroded? People washing their steering box for one and putting the car away cold (exh manifold heat evaporate moisture out of nearby parts). Another main wear area on the steering boxes is the lower bronze bushing. And no adjustment can fix that.

Put a vise grip pliers on your steering box's input shaft (not so tight it digs into the shaft) ...and tie the vise grips to the frame, or exh manifold such that it won't move. Then go in and *gently* wiggle the wheel. That'll tell you if you have steering rag-joint sloppiness.

It probably IS the steering box as they were knows to wear and become loose soon after the cars reached a ffew yrs old. Get it rebuilt or do it yourself (if you're handy). You'll love the system afterwards.

 

If you rent a steering removal kit from like OReilly's or Autozone, the steering boxes are pretty easy to remove. Send it off or rebuild it if you're handy. I wouldn't buy a rebuild. Too many complaints across a lot of forums on rebuilt steering boxes.

Address the rag joint unless it's been replaced. They can look good and still have a micro-amount of slop in them. These kits are really handy to have:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/174574383690