Here's what I know so far:

I have about 15° of play in my steering wheel before steering action happens. The wheel is free to move within this but after the 15°, it encounters resistance and starts to steer.

I have checked the steering componentry while someone else is turning the wheel in this 15° window, and none of the components are moving. The pitman arm, the tie rod ends, the idler arm, nothing moves. Once you get past that window, however, they start to move.

I have tightened up the box multiple times from the cross-shaft adjustment screw, thinking that maybe it still wasn't tight enough. I finally got to the point where it was almost impossible to turn the wheel, so I backed it back off to a better position, but still there's play. Also, the play has been there since I bought the car.

There is no pump pressure to the box right now, but looking at the cross-section of the steering box, it looks like the pressure just makes it easier to steer (read: after the 15° window), not actually tighten the steering up.

I think it's time for a new box, but I wanted to get the opinions of others first. Thanks in advance!

is the 15 deg of play w it running or not running?

both.

certainly shouldn't have that kind of play running but cant tell if the cross shaft adjustment is off or if the box as you suspect is bad

my W200 is the same way. Everything seems tight, but the wheel is sloppy. I don't like driving any faster than 60mph due to it. My wife won't drive it at all.

I got a rebuilt box, that was either bad also, or they're just sloppy by design, as the new box made no difference

is the frame cracked around the box or the bolts loose? dan

To start with, what vehicle are you working on? Check out your coupling

It's my 71 Demon. The box isn't moving within the 15º window. It also doesn't move after the window. I can check the coupler, but the splines on the box that connect to the coupler move whenever the steering shaft moves. So they seem to be in alignment.

I think OLDMAN has one for sale. Maybe shoot him a PM

If the overcenter adjustment has been made and all else is tight, the play is in the worm gear - time for a rebuilt box.

That's what I figured, too. We've gone all the way from the loose end of the spectrum to the tight end with the only difference in the steering coming after the 15° window.

Sounds good. I'm going to try the box out at the parts store and make sure that it doesn't have play before I even take it home.

I know it won't feel like my MINI Cooper. I haven't ever felt the steering on another Mopar (never driven any other in my life), but it steers fine when it's past that 15° window. It's supple, moves me exactly where I want to go, and it rebounds just fine. However, it's that small window where it's bad. This is just annoying on the street, but on the highway it's downright scary. My car tends to float back and forth in its lane after 60MPH, which I realize is a suspension problem and will be fixed as soon as I make some $$, but my steering should be able to correct it for now, and it cannot because of that window of play.

The only thing that could be bad in the steering at this point are my idler arm and pitman arm or the LCA bushings. The TREs are all new, the ball joints are all new, and the UCAs are all new.

I don't know what the specs were on my alignment, but I had it aligned to stock.

But like I said, within this 15° window, we're talking it feels as if the shaft isn't connected to the box. Only when I get out of this window does it actually get some resistance on the wheel.

Mine did the same thing. Got a Firm Feel stage 2. Big difference. No play and drives super straight!

Mine does it too, where do you get a firm feel 2, and what kind of $ do you need to spend. I have realy been considering to go to rack and pinion.

Quote:

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where do you get a firm feel 2, and what kind of $ do you need to spend ?

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www.firmfeel.com
Another satisfied Firm Feel customer here, stage 2.