78 camaro front end - steering

[kpdalton]

Have a truck with a rebuilt 78 camaro front end, new steering box so I was told , but the steering has a lot of play in it. I know rack/pin is the way to go but is there anything i can do to improve this? Aside from replacing the front end to a mustang2.

[Speedbumpauto]

A properly built Camaro clip will steer very well, especially with the close ratio P/S box. One of your "rebuilts" has a problem. Manual steering boxes wear the sector shaft bushings rapidly and don't have a "tell" because they don't leak power steering fluid all over the ground when it happens. Start with the steering shaft/rag joint, then the gear box where the pitman arm goes to the center link, then the center link idler arm then the inner and outer tie rod ends. With someone turning the wheel back and forth and you looking at the parts, you will find the slop and the defective part. Loose or bad wheel bearings can also cause sloppy steering but the brakes will usually be funny too.

[Maximus]

what speedbump said...

a camaro/firebird clip in proper condition will handle extremely well, heck the 1978 firebird outhandled the corvette in 1978

check for obvious damage in the tie rods/idler arm then go with speedbumps recommended replacement plan. my 78 firebird clip handles great, and I wouldnt change it.

Something is not right with your "new" camaro front end and rebuilt steering box, or the steering shaft connection between the shaft and box is not tight and has play

if everything is truly in top shape, than maybe your best option is to get a quick-ratio steering box. My 1978 firebird formula front clip that I used has the quicker ratio, but I havent driven the "slower" ratio steering box so I couldnt tell ya how much 'quicker' it is...

[mknittle]

check the shaft from the column to the box first.O even the coulmn if it is a tilt. start with the simple stuff first. Ithink we all have taken somthing apart just to find that theproblem was elsewhere