FINALLY, i have the answer.
believe it or not, the box itself was the problem.
a new box from summit, a 500 series CCP box [same as the old one] was installed over the weekend.
the car goes down the road and steers as it should have with the old box.
the pump, lines, and remote reservoir were cleaned and flushed, but prior to that, a magnet was inserted into them to see if there were any metallic particles floating around.
previously, before getting the box from summit, i was on hold for over THREE hours, trying to talk to a tech at CCP in california.
when i finally got to talk, [after listening for all that time about their "lifetime" guarantee] the tech suggested it could possibly be the box itself. BUT, in order to honor the warrantee , i would have to ship the box back, have them either repair or replace it, then have it shipped back. he had no timeline on how long it would take, although he kind of alluded it probably would be 6-10 weeks.
after figuring it would be roughly $200.00 in shipping costs, plus the time being down, we decided to get the same box from summit for $379.00
took three days to get, an hour to install [we had everything cleaned, flushed and ready], and down the road we went.
everything is good now, and all is well !
now to tear apart the old box to see if anything jumps out as to why this old box is so tight !
thanks all who offered suggestions and encouragement !