Adjusting steering stops on Saginaw 800

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I have a 1988 IROC Z fast ratio box in my Cutlass, with the wrong pitman arm ( I set the clamps to not hit the frame) and will be putting the right pitman arm on it soon. With this in mind, I would like to change the stops in the box, but have no idea where they are. Is it something I can address with a grinder, or is it a part that is not easily modified? I would like to keep the stops set a little tighter than with a G body box, but not have the turning radius of an 18 wheeler either. I am also doing a B body spindle swap at that time with the Global West arms, B body calipers and 1LE Camaro 12 inch rotors. Will this negate my need for some sort of modified box to keep my 245 50 16's from hitting the frame on tight turns?

 

[pontiacgp]

it's not an easy job from what I'm told and you can't grind the stops to adjust the stopping point...the end cap on the steering gear controls the the internal stops that limit total travel of the steering arm, so by using your stock steering gear endcap and housing along with the fast-ratio internals your turning radius will be the same as before....

 

[elcam84]

One of the stops is easy to change. The end cap is the left turn stop.

You can pull the cap from your original box and swap it out with the fast ratio box. Relativly easy.


Now the other stop is not as easy. It requires tearing the box down as the stop is inside the box.

IMO swap the pitman arm and see what happens. Then make a decision. You can then swap the cap out if you want. You may find that the stops aren't as tight as you think.

I have an XH box in my elcamino and it doesn't stop short of the mechanical stops by very much at all. And it dtill turns like a bus though but that's due to the wheelbase being almost 10" longer than the cars.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I thought of another possibility while driving it today. I may just swap to an F body idler arm and either Global West or Hotchkis tie rod adjuster sleeves. This way, I eliminate the contact points, which are the adjustment clamps. Since the solid sleeves are turnbuckles with jamb nuts, problem solved. I was planning on the Sleeves as an upgrade anyways, and it allows me to keep the faster ratio afforded by the longer pitman arm. I'm also doing the B body spindle swap with the Global West arms at that time, so it's not like the car is stock up front anyways. My last problem to solve is figuring out if I will need bump steer spacers to keep the tie rods parallel to the lower arms.

 

[elcam84]

You need to start off with putting on a G-body pitman arm. The F-body one will not work properly and adding an f-bodyidler arm won't make it any better.

The pitman arm has nothing to do with the ratio of the box. It goes with the car.


The stock tie rod clamps can be a pain but they can be put on so they don't hit the frame. Not a bad thing to upgrade though. If you have the capability you can easily make your own out of steel tubing and a couple taps.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

The longer pitman arm does affect the steering rate, if not the feel. It has a longer lever, and thus an increase in Mechanical Advantage VS the shorter one.The increase in MA means that every turn of the wheel is amplified by a rate determined by the length of the lever. Longer lever, more travel per input.( Sorry, I am going back to college for Mechanical Engineering and I like to teach a little too much!) I have had the F body pitman arm on the car for 50k miles, and it did make the clamps hit initially. However, once I turned them away from the frame, I had no more issues with contact. I am buying the sleeves anyways, and the idler arm is an inexpensive experiment to see if it works. I will mark the frame with white shoe polish and then drive the piss out of it to see if it ever makes contact. If it does, I will put in a G body box and my G body idler arm.

 

[elcam84]

It has more of an effect than you realize. With the wrong arm you screw up the geometry of the front end.

What happens is when you turn the wheel the two wheels no longer turn in unison. One is moving more than the other. You keeping the drag link from being in it's normal arc of motion which causes the tie rods to move in odd amounts which is even worse when you compare sides because of the pitman arm is longer than the idler arm.

There are many things you can swap n the suspension. Pitman arms and idler arms are not one of them. Stick with the correct parts in this case.

 

[pontiacgp]

The longer pitman arm does affect the steering rate, if not the feel. It has a longer lever, and thus an increase in Mechanical Advantage VS the shorter one.The increase in MA means that every turn of the wheel is amplified by a rate determined by the length of the lever.

your better off to get a G Body 2 turn lock to lock box if you want your looking for a real close ratio box....but make sure you keep your eyes on the road cause any little deviation in the steering wheel position will have you doing lane changes before you realize where you are.....