How To Upgrade Your G-Body Steering on the Cheap
- Thread starter gbodytoys
- Start date
unfortunately, the fog is as thick as pea soup. I've always gravitated to the iroc gears so my tires rub less when turning to full lock. from what I've read, the only identifying marks are ink stamps on the box, iirc the end cup. by now, most of these ink stamps have washed away with oil leaks or cleaning solvents.
the following procedure is "dead on balls accurate" and will get you close by identifying the degrees of total travel. you can then compare this with the above chart to see what vehicle or vehicle line it fits.
on the iroc gears I've purchased, i check the total travel angle of the pitman arm. most used boxes will have the pitman arm still attached, too hard to remove for most sellers. with the gear standing on its end cap and the sector shaft pointing up, i turn the gear to full lock. doesn't matter which way, just full lock. i then strap my phone with the "angle gauge app" turned on and zero the gauge. i then rotate the sector shaft till the gear is at full lock the other way. read the angle gauge and compare the result with the chart.
now i don't know if all g-bodies have the same amount of travel. is so, this procedure will only identify those boxes, but not the various ratios.
joe
now, after reading the above mentioned article, we might get there with some math. help me if i get this wrong, its after 5pm and full brain function is not required in my house hold.
with a 12.7:1 ratio box multiplied by the total degrees of travel, should get us the number of turns of the steering wheel.
for a g-body, if you multiply 12.7 times 78 divided by 360 equals 2.75 turns of the steering wheel.
for an iroc, 12.7 times 64 divided by 360 equals 2.25 turns of the steering wheel.
hope this helps.
joe
with a 12.7:1 ratio box multiplied by the total degrees of travel, should get us the number of turns of the steering wheel.
for a g-body, if you multiply 12.7 times 78 divided by 360 equals 2.75 turns of the steering wheel.
for an iroc, 12.7 times 64 divided by 360 equals 2.25 turns of the steering wheel.
hope this helps.
joe
"Off by a c#nt hair" is another unofficial official phrase 😀
sadly its not a valid reference anymore. Since the 90s we've had the trim landing strip replacing the "tried and true" bearskin rug. And for near 2 decades I have seen little more than hardwood. Not sure the kids of today would even know how far off they really are 🙁
Hey everyone.. I'm new to the forum. I have been reading and researching a lot about upgrading the steering on my 86 el camino. I went through 5 steering boxes and I was getting sick of replacing them because they were junk. Rebuilt ones from Advance Auto.. I came across the jeep steering box upgrade and went to the j.y. and found one. Put it on and it was bad so I got one from Advanced Auto for a 96 jeep G.C. O.M.G.! IT WORKED! The only thing now is the steering is harder to turn at low rpm. I have also changed out the PS pump 3 times and flushed system every time. I have replaced all the steering crap under the car. O yea. I upgraded my wheels and tires to 225/55 16" and are 8" wide. This is when I really noticed my steering sucked.. Do I need to do something to the p.s. pump or do you think all is
well?
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Not sure if this will help, but I'm doing an LS swap on my 85 SS and going thru steering suspension etc. The 5.3l power steering pump is for rack & pinion and I know they run at some different pressures etc. I already have an IROC steering box for the SS and going to go with a power steering pump & reservoir for a 3rd gen Camaro (AC Delco 36P1265). I have read that the valve, spring pressures are different compared to the 5.3l pumps. Problem is you can't just buy the valve & springs anymore. The reason I'm going this way is I have the same setup in my 85 IROC and the steering works great (245/50/16 tires). The 85 MCSS/El Camino power steering pump is a different part # (36P1254) than the Camaro. Different pump & valving/pressure.
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