Tightening up power steering

[900dragon]

Is there any way to tighten up the steering on a 73 cuda? It's somewhat like hearding cattle down the road at the moment, not horrible, but would like to have it tighter. Thanks in advance.

[Bullitt-]

max positive caster
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=43922.0

[Supercuda]

You might want to check your sector shaft adjustment. Start with a tighter steering box, then concern yourself with alignment angles.

[GreenFish]

How are your idler and pitman arms? Also if your tie rod ends are bad they will make the steering feel lose as well.

I went though a firm feel steering box and was still unhappy, then i realized I had a 30 year old idler on still on the car. Once I changed that it was night and day.

[rockymopar]

There is an article in the latest mopar action magazine about building a shim to put on a spool inside the saginaw power steering pump to lower assist pressure. I did it the other day, took about 15 -20 minutes to install, and I can say it works. I probably have more time involved in making the shim by taking an old washer to the belt sander than the actual install. It does work, you will likely steer better

[Aussie Challenger]

Have you got any pic's or more info about this problem fix.   

[Supercuda]

It's not a fix of a problem, but an improvement of the steering system. You shim the spring in the valve, so that the assist pressure is lower. If you are using a slant 6 steering pump, the shim is already there. Right now, the best pics and explanation are in the Mopar Action article.

[Talkwrench]

I dont think Dave and I can get Mopar Action that easy in Oz.. CAn someone scan the article?

[Aussie Challenger]

I dont think Dave and I can get Mopar Action that easy in Oz.. CAn someone scan the article?

I had a look at the tech section on Mopar Action and couldn't find any reference. I thought that shimming a spring would increase pressure, is it just another restrictor in the outlet side of the pump?   

[arcticmopar]

 The Mopar Action article showed it was the thickness of the shim pack in the valve at the inlet fitting. By going to larger shims they reduced pressure from 1200-1400psi down to around 800. They added approx .062? to the thickness of shims that are there now.

[Strawdawg]

Here is a pic from the shop manual.  Remove the flow control valve from the back of the pump.  Disassemble the valve.  Don't mess up the lands on the valve.  You can grip it between the lands with vise grips and unscrew the end cap nut.  Add a shim to the shim pack and reassemble.  Shim needs to be  3/8" inside and 1/2" outside....you can take a washer with a 3/8" washer and grind the outside down to 1/2" or take one that is 1/2" diameter and drill the hole out to 3/8".  Brass, or such, will work as well as steel.

[Aussie Challenger]

Thanks for that pic, shim goes in a different place to what I imagined.