Saginaw steering box adjustment?

[swissarmychainsaw]

So I did some work to my 1973 K10 Suburban, but it looks like I'm not finished.
Here's what I did:

Axle u-joints, Axle seals
Ball Joints (upper and lower) -- Steering knuckles would turn by hand pretty easily, though I did not measure it.
Brake Lines (rubber)
Master cylinder
Replaced Steering Gear box with re-built unit
(bled the system by going left-right-left w/engine off about 20 times)
All the tie rods are the old ones (they all came off, and torqued to 45ft. lbs)

The issue that I'm having is that the steering feels "stiff". It's a bit hard to turn, and the "return to center" is poor. Meaning you take a turn, let go of the wheel, and it should center the wheel so that you go straight again.

Tracking on a straight line feels "sticky". Like going going down the road, if you steer a little left, it says left, so then you have to adjust right, but then it stays right, etc.

I adjusted the Gear box by loosening the lock nut on the "sector shaft adjuster" and then turned the adjusted out (counter clockwise) a bit more than a quarter turn. Did not seem to make any difference. Before I go fooling around I thought I would ask for some advice. Seems that this is not uncommon. Thoughts appreciated! Happy Thanksgiving!

Nick

[bnoon]

I usually have my steering boxes adjusted so that there's maybe 1/16th to 1/8th play at the center of steering wheel movement before any movement is detected at the steering arms. Any tighter than that and you're just wearing out the gear prematurely.

[KQQL IT]

Sounds like an alignment issue almost. Maybe needs more caster

[v30crewcab]

sounds like you don't have enough toe-in. should be around 1/8th inch. if its less than that it won't track down the road straight.

[swissarmychainsaw]

Would new ball joints change the alignment?

I'm going to play with the Sector Shaft adjuster and see if that will help any.

[Cape Codder]

To little caster will cause wandering and poor return to center. It shouldn't make steering harder though. Did you have the same feel before the parts replacement?

[swissarmychainsaw]

Well previous to the work I did, the steering was REALLY light. I mean one finger to turn the wheel, no joke. Since it had bad ball joints its hard to compare.

It would and still wanders a little, which I believe means it needs tie rods (worked on previous rigs).

[v30crewcab]

its possible the new steering box has a diff torsion bar in it. my 88 crewcab had a real stiff feel to the steering, until I swapped the box off my 84 on it, now its much lighter. the 88up boxes have a stiffer torsion bar, like the 88-94 bodystyle. made it hard to drive for me.