Another Steering Play

[Rob79er]

Hi,
I have a couple of inches of slop in the '79 steering wheel when driving. I've replaced everything you can think of steering wise (except the PS hyd. cylinder). The slop happens when I change direction of the steering wheel - at the top center area of steering wheel.
So I put the 2 front wheels up and with the car OFF I moved the steering wheel back and forth to check things out. I noticed that there was significant slop at the PS Control Valve. I have read that this is normal when the car is off but it is definitely more than the 1/8" that I saw specified in an old post on here.
As soon as I turn the car on and move the steering wheel back and forth there is no slop at all - the dead spot at center is gone.
I had the car aligned about 200 miles ago and had the problem before and after the alignment.

I've read of all the different possibilities under the front end and even have heard the rear (T/A bushings, rear shocks etc.) can cause "darting" - but I wouldn't think that anything in the rear could cause a dead zone in the steering wheel.

Do you happen to have any suggestions?

 

[WHEELS 81]

Steering play

hi,
i have a couple of inches of slop in the '79 steering wheel when driving. I've replaced everything you can think of steering wise (except the ps hyd. Cylinder). The slop happens when i change direction of the steering wheel - at the top center area of steering wheel.
So i put the 2 front wheels up and with the car off i moved the steering wheel back and forth to check things out. I noticed that there was significant slop at the ps control valve. I have read that this is normal when the car is off but it is definitely more than the 1/8" that i saw specified in an old post on here.
As soon as i turn the car on and move the steering wheel back and forth there is no slop at all - the dead spot at center is gone.
I had the car aligned about 200 miles ago and had the problem before and after the alignment.

I've read of all the different possibilities under the front end and even have heard the rear (t/a bushings, rear shocks etc.) can cause "darting" - but i wouldn't think that anything in the rear could cause a dead zone in the steering wheel.

Do you happen to have any suggestions?

Got to be in stering gear or control valve (not likely) as you suspected. Most likely in gear cause "slop" not present when wheels are off the ground.

 

[TimAT]

From the bottom with the wheels off the ground, look up at the steering linkage and push the front of the wheels apart with equal pressure on each side and see if and where anything moves. Then have someone turn the steering wheel while you watch the distance between the pitman arm and the bottom of the steering gearbox while you hold pressure on the wheels. If the shaft moves up or down, the problem is wear inside the gearbox. The end play on the shaft is somewhat adjustable, but use the EXACT process in the factory service manual to do it. ANY other method will destroy the gears, or at the least, render them unuseable at rebuild time.

Also take a close look a the rag joint at the top of the steering gearbox. All combined, along with some possible problems in the control valve, could be adding up to your play.

 

[SR'71]

Hi,
I have a couple of inches of slop in the '79 steering wheel when driving. I've replaced everything you can think of steering wise (except the PS hyd. cylinder). The slop happens when I change direction of the steering wheel - at the top center area of steering wheel.
So I put the 2 front wheels up and with the car OFF I moved the steering wheel back and forth to check things out. I noticed that there was significant slop at the PS Control Valve. I have read that this is normal when the car is off but it is definitely more than the 1/8" that I saw specified in an old post on here.
As soon as I turn the car on and move the steering wheel back and forth there is no slop at all - the dead spot at center is gone.
I had the car aligned about 200 miles ago and had the problem before and after the alignment.

I've read of all the different possibilities under the front end and even have heard the rear (T/A bushings, rear shocks etc.) can cause "darting" - but I wouldn't think that anything in the rear could cause a dead zone in the steering wheel.

Do you happen to have any suggestions?

Google ....... Jim Shea. Ex steering Engineer at the Saginaw plant. I used his advise and my 41 year old steering is dead on. Used the in car adjustment.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

So I put the 2 front wheels up and with the car OFF I moved the steering wheel back and forth to check things out. I noticed that there was significant slop at the PS Control Valve. I have read that this is normal when the car is off but it is definitely more than the 1/8" that I saw specified in an old post on here.
As soon as I turn the car on and move the steering wheel back and forth there is no slop at all - the dead spot at center is gone.

The above is perfectly normal- look elsewhere.