Hey guys,
What is the proper way to diagnose a loose/bad steering box? The car is currently on jack stands and right now I only have the pitman arm connected to the sector shaft - that's it.
I can turn the pitman arm by hand (not too hard to turn, not very easy to do so either) and I can feel a little bit of play somewhere in the radius of the steering box.

Should the pitman arm be really hard to turn by hand?

Thanks in advance,

Eric[/align]

 

what exactly led u to the conclusion that its the steering box. it sounds to me anyways that it feels the way it should let me know what symptoms are

 

also i failed to mention. check the little u-joints in the steering shaft. if they are bad or worn at all. they could cause the steering to skip so to speak. hard spots while turning

 

What are these u-joints you are talking about? My dad's 67 power steering has alot of play in it, and it's very tight around curves, where it doesn't center, you have to turn the wheel to center it,.

 

Because there is a little amount of play as I move the pitman arm through it's range. I am in the process of basically rebuilding the entire PS system and so far have rebuilt the pump and power ram, with the control valve coming next. Now the question is my steering box next in line for a rebuild?

 

For your reading pleasure:
http://www.stangerssite.com/
search around a lot of really good information about the steering system