steering issues, need some help

[70chevellemalibu]

So i have been finally driving my chevelle around and i have noticed my steering isnt quite the way it should be.

I feel like there is a "flat" spot every once in a while when sitting still and cranking the wheel to turn right. When driving down the road the car darts to the grooves in the road which makes it a bit hard to control, in addition the steering is tight when turning right but has more play when turning left and the steering is so responsive at times and sometimes not so much. Example going down a cloverleaf and merging on to a freeway. I make the initial turn fine but if i need to make a sharper turn its not a smooth turn it becomes a darted turn.

My suspension fully adjustable UMI uppers with tall upper and lower ball joints, stock lower control arms with all new poly bushings, my front end is all new MOOG parts and my steering is a new rag joint and the box is a Jeep Grand Cherokee Box with the adapters from Lee's and of course i have an alignment that matches UMI specs.

From doing some reading i feel like maybe the box is worn out but the pitman arm play vs the shaft movement is almost identical with no "play".


Where do i start troubleshooting so i can fix this.

thanks

[pitts64]

3432

[70chevellemalibu]

so are you saying the slack i feel is the pay in the one tie rod?

I assume that the alignment done was half ass'd then?

[jetmech442]

I purchased a grand jeep cherokee box from Cardone and slapped it on. It reduced the ratio like I wanted , but had about 20-30 degrees of play on center, drove me nuts because my front 285's catch the grooves on the streets around my house. I have nearly the same front setup as you, except I have the SC&C adj. upper arms.

two weeks ago, I found this thread : (Google Saginaw slop Input shaft, should be the first one that pops up under monte-list.com) I pulled buy box, and found the bearing preload was way loose(only driven about 300 miles since I recieved it). I sis that as well as the sector preload, put it back on and it feels exactly like a brand new box that it should. Still overboosted, but I'm working on that! Hope this helps.

[andrewb70]

The tendency to follow grooves in the road is an alignment issue and also related to front tire width. I have 275/35-18s on the front of my GTO, but it doesn't track in grooves at all.

Andrew

[70chevellemalibu]

well i changed out my steering box with another Jeep unit and what a difference, no more darting, or loose play in the steering wheel.