Fixing over assisted power steering

[willj]

adding caster to the front suspension set up helps a lot with stability of the car & adds load to the power steering as well 

Chryco can u explain how u do this? and could u also explain how this doesn't wear tires? any and all info is muchly appreciated, thanks, Will.

[Chryco Psycho]

by tilting the upper control arm & ball joint rearward , this increases caster the more you tilt it the more the car wants to go straight & the harder the car becomes to turn & the easier it will correct to straight after a corner , this has zero effect on tire wear assuming the camber & toe are corrected after adjusting the caster  , at high speed the increased castor helps the car not feel like it is wandering as well

[willj]

thank you Chryco 

[oldkimmer]

Give Bill a call at Reilly Motor Sports............www.rms.com            He has a kit for changing the pressure to your liking...........He can be found on ...bigblockdart.com.............a very good site.........Kim

[Bullitt-]

rms.com not correct shoud be http://www.reillymotorsports.com ? has lots of suspension parts.
 oldkimmer are you refering to Power Steering Pump Pressure?

[oldkimmer]

yes

[PlumCrazyChris]

Go find yourself a power steering gearbox off an Diplomat/gran fury cop car.  Swap it in with a new pitman arm and you'll have a great cheap firm feel steering gear.  I did this in both of my 70  challengers and it is really one of the best upgrades I've done on them.  I got the box for about $35 at a local yard.  There are a lot of good parts on those cop cars, especially if your running a smallblock.  Check out the radiators, heads, disc brakes and kickdown linkage too, very nice.

[dodge freak 2]

adding caster to the front suspension set up helps a lot with stability of the car & adds load to the power steering as well 

That and also all new ball joints. I replace just my uppers this summer and notice the steering wheel was a bit stifer. Not sure how long it last but if I would have change all 4 it would have been even more noticable. Don't know if tie rods get easyier to move as they get old too.

[Bullitt-]

From what I can gather the difference in the Firm Feel box as well as the Cop box & stock is the pressure allowed, which Firm Feel states is accomplished by using different springs in the box. Maybe oldkimmers guys kit is for these?

Give Bill a call at Reilly Motor Sports............www.rms.com            He has a kit for changing the pressure to your liking...........He can be found on ...bigblockdart.com.............a very good site.........Kim

Also the faster ratios, at least on the AAR & T/A, is accomplished by a longer pitman arm, which also causes the wheel to turn more & can cause wheel to fender clearance issues.

[71_340Challenger]

As a note, I talked to a guy this last summer that built a cobra kit car and had a similar problem. His is based off the 90's Mustang and with the cobra fiberglass body and shorter wheel base, there was just too much power steering. Anyway, he mentioned that he bought a kit somewhere that bolt in a meetering block with a check valve that reduced the line pressure and therefore the amount of steering assist. He said it worked great and only took a couple of hours to install. Unfortunately, I don't remember where he said he got it. I will see if I can get a hold of him again and see where he got it and pass it along.

[r15303]

Try a company called Firm Feel.  They have a web site and can re do your gear box for a firmer feel and also sell tubular upper control arms to easilly adjust your caster.  I have not bought from them yet but probably will.  The guy I talked to is Dick and seemed to know his stuff.  He is recommending 3 - 3.5 degree caster to make the car want to run straight as it comes out of turns.  Their phone # is  360-546-3633.