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Gary, I understand that the rag has a flat to mate to the input shaft and can only go on one way. However, there is nothing stopping you from taking out the 2 bolts shown in my photo and rotating the input shaft 180 degrees and then putting the 2 bolts back in. (I know this as I accidently assembled my rag joint 180 degrees out of the correct position yesterday and had to then re-do it). Since as I understand it the steering box has a ratio of 16 to 1, 180 degrees rotation of the input shaft would give 11 degrees rotation of the pitman arm and the thread starter said his steering is currently about 15 degrees off centre, so doing this would line it up pretty well. My guess is that either the input shaft has the flat 180 degrees off, or the thread starter hasn't lined things up correctly. Either way I don't see why my suggestion won't help.
I’m curious. You replaced the entire steering system but I didn’t see anywhere in your post that you had an alignment done? You also stated it’s had left front end damage. A good alignment shop can measure out the car and a real good alignment tech can look at the ALL the specs, camber, caster, toe/ cross toe, s.a.i, setback, thrust angle, toe out on turns and see if you have may have further damage. I have customers come into the shop all the time with overhauled steering systems only to find out they have damaged control arms, arm mounts, spindles, tweaked frames, etc, after I measure it out on my rack.
Gary, I understand that the rag has a flat to mate to the input shaft and can only go on one way. However, there is nothing stopping you from taking out the 2 bolts shown in my photo and rotating the input shaft 180 degrees and then putting the 2 bolts back in. (I know this as I accidently assembled my rag joint 180 degrees out of the correct position yesterday and had to then re-do it). Since as I understand it the steering box has a ratio of 16 to 1, 180 degrees rotation of the input shaft would give 11 degrees rotation of the pitman arm and the thread starter said his steering is currently about 15 degrees off centre, so doing this would line it up pretty well. My guess is that either the input shaft has the flat 180 degrees off, or the thread starter hasn't lined things up correctly. Either way I don't see why my suggestion won't help.
The unknown is where the higher lash is so moving the rag 180* may not make a difference.
If I had the box to check I would know in a minute but that’s not reasonable to do considering we’re about as far apart as we can be. However I do have my work in Australia and have for years.
So my all spline input shaft is from an earlier Corvette. Say 68 or earlier. I am not surprised. It has at least one other 68 dated part on it.
My thought was an all spline version would solve his problem. But I guess that would mean a new box, parts, or rebuild anyway. So not really much help.
The unknown is where the higher lash is so moving the rag 180* may not make a difference.
If I had the box to check I would know in a minute but that’s not reasonable to do considering we’re about as far apart as we can be. However I do have my work in Australia and have for years.
Well yes, if the flat has been put in the wrong place, it could be that there are also other issues with the parts. If it were my box, then for the 30 minutes it would take to disconnect the rag joint and rotate the input shaft through 180 degrees, then I would do it and see if it fixed the travel in both directions and also how it felt.
63-E69 were full spline input. L69-82 were D-Flat, all were the same ratio- with the exception of the 1963 Grand Sports. I like the full spline better than the D-Flat.
Update
I pulled the rag joint out and pulled the pitman arm off and the box does a bit more than 3 3/4 turns lock to lock. In the middle of travel and the input shaft is about 180 degrees out and the pitman arm is in the wrong position by at least 15 degrees.
Gray was right and the box internals are wrong and I’m not able to correct this.
Thank you everybody who has commented on this and I would not have been able to figure this out without the input.
So basically your problem is that you've put an Australian rebuild kit into a northern hemisphere steering box and ended up with the input shaft flat upside down
So basically your problem is that you've put an Australian rebuild kit into a northern hemisphere steering box and ended up with the input shaft flat upside down
Excuse me sir. But he states that he put a Flaming River kit through it.
Pretty sure that's not made in Oz.
If the parts were manufactured in Australia they would be, A. Spot on perfect, and B. Cost more than the car is worth.
Last edited by 4-vettes; Jan 11, 2026 at 04:04 AM.
Here are two steering boxes, or steering Gears which is the real name of the unit.
The one on the left is the new box shipped to me a month or so ago. The one on the right is an original.
You can see the lash screw is different and extended, the cover bolts are different, the casting has no Saginaw logo or casting numbers. The D-Flat was so far out the box would not dial- in. The customer was pulling his hair out trying to figure out what was going on. His original box was worn out after 55 years, not unheard of. The logical thing was to buy a new one, one shot installation, not worry about rebuilding it, and continue driving. If the box was good that would have happened, but it didn't. The box is junk. I don't know whose box this is, I can take a guess, but I'll leave it at that.
The original box was blueprinted and dialed-in perfectly.
