Street Rodder Chassis and Suspension Handbook, page 38, states, the typical street rod equipped with a straight axle, a cross steer setup, and a 14 inch steering wheel, can have from 1-2 inches of side to side movement from center. This amount of free play is not excessive, and will not turn the front wheels in a situation where a 22:1 gear reduction (Vega box) is used. What's your thoughts?
when i first resurrected my A it was about 8" of a white knuckle death ride. thats an F1 box. since rebuilt and cut down to within an inch. i can almost drive it with one hand. hah
That book was written or published in 2000 and I am not sure who wrote the article but that much slop in the steering wouldn't be acceptable to most guys with decent rods today. Also they are most likely talking about a rig with no panhard bar on the front axle. A lot of guys went to cross steering and didn't add the panhard bar at that time.
Agree. I have this set-up with a panard bar but excessive slop. I'm thinking that I have a bad vega box or at a minimum it should be adjusted.
I feels this would be alot of slop regardless of steering configuration. Disconnect your linkage to your pitman arm then have a buddy hold it from moving then turn your steering wheel back n forth. This will show the box's slop, it could be a combination of the steering components you just never know till you isolate every component.
Interesting topic. I have a Corvair box, not a Vega, but I have a little slop. I've adjusted the box per instructions and without the drag link hooked up, no slop. But with everything connected, I get about 1 1/2" to 2" of slop. i just figured it was a manual box thing and have gotten used to it. I'll be following to see the thoughts.
Yup. Centered. Everything is tight. The alignment is perfect. Just some where between the pitman arm and the front wheels things get weird. I've never been able to nail it down.
Fred (and others) the best thing to do is to have a helper move the steering wheel back and forth the amount of the slop while you or someone with a critical eye and good feel for movement between pieces of linkage checks each piece starting with the pitman arm. How far does the wheel move before the pitman arm moves? does the pitman arm move before the drag link moves. Right down through each connection in the linkage. Once you have checked all of the steering linkage check out the suspension and wheel bearings. Sometimes we can have a situation where nothing is totally worn beyond specs but several parts may have enough slight wear to add up to considerable slop.
Man, I've done that. With nothing connected to the pitman arm, as soon as I turn the wheel, the pitman arm moves. At first, I thought the slop was where the drag link connected to the arm. I took care of that and it had no effect. I checked between the drag link and my steering arm. Tie rod connections are tight, no slop. Nothing. I'm serious, it's a freaking mystery to me. I've gotten used to it, but it's always in the back of my mind that it could be better than what it is. I have evn considered buying a new box, but this one was new when I got it and Corvair boxes are $350. I'd hate to spring for a new one and be right where I am again. Also, every car I ever owned that was manual steering had some slop. That's why I just accepted it as the norm.
I don't think the article is referring to steering box "slop" or even linkage...more so the amount of side to side movement that may be experienced when using a cross steer setup with a straight axle and NO panhard bar. When static, turn the wheel and watch how far the axle "shifts" off center....the steering box is "pushing" it sideways, due to the axle "swinging" along the shackles..... Thats why a panhard bar is "recommended" in straight axle, cross steer front ends...
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