37 gasser straight axle steering..question..

I am doing a 37 Chevy coupe that was a g***er turned street car in the 70's. The car has an Olds column and power steering box on an econoline front axle with leaf springs..The car is squirrely to drive and I was thinking I would use the new speedway staight tube coumn on the rebuild anyone know what is the best box to use for this application! At this point the box is ahead of the axle on the end of the left frame horn.. any info or pictures would be great.. Thanks Kelly

 

are your front sprig shackles on the rear?, stock ones were,...usually guys run the steering box on the side of the axle where the shackles are.
my 37 has orig. beam axle a 525 GM manual box behind the axle close to the orig, box location; and uses cross-steer set-up over to the p***. front using Speedway steering arms and tierod parts....works great....here's a pic

 

Shackles are on the rear I think I may have the stock 37 springs..what application is the 525 box for?..What are you using for a column?

 

the box I'm using came from a 65 Chevelle, most mid-60's GM'used that box.
I'm using a 66 Bel Air steering column as I'm running a P-glide trans and wanted a column with no key.

...made my own box mount...

 

Quick question. What is you king pin inclination? A 0 or close to zero setting will cause the erratic steering. You may have to dial in 2 or more degrees of positive KPI to get it to be smooth. Also check the toe-in. Excessive toe-out will let the car wander and you'll be chasing it.

 

...mine is at 6-7 degrees tilted back.

 

I dont think its the king pin angle in my case the power steering is quick and gives the car an unbalance feeling. I think If I change the box it would do a world of good..right now all I have is a hacked up mess..

 

there is a torsion bar in the box to control sensitivity the heavier the car the bigger the bar light car needs a light bar to slow down the reaction

 

I've set my 38 Chev pickup at about 7* back with the frame leveled (with it on the ground it will be about 10* maybe a little more). My Shackles are to the front, my tie rod, drag link are in the same plane as each other. The tie rod, drag link and box are all on the back side of the axle.

Using a cross steer setup, but am using a Vega box for the extra room. Should not be a problem with the smaller box as I'm using all Fibergl*** fenderas and running boards, so the truck should be light.

Putting the whole ***embly thu its' travel I get no bumpsteer motion on the box...have yet to get it on the road though..
Tom

 

What I stated above about torsion bar is only in power steering boxes

 

My question is about the econoline itself. Was the econoline a front steer?

The early '60s full size Chevy had a good cross steer box as well. I think they were called an 867 but don't hold me to that. I am using one of them in my '38 sedan. One of the old timers ( older than me) gave it to me. Said it was the best one to use.

Just for options.

 

I doubt the box is causing the steering issues. I think the kingpin angle or lack of toe in are more likely to be causing the issues. They sell wedges that can adjust the kingpin angle, and I'd check that first. Hate to see you change the box and still have the same issues.
I'm running an old Corvair box in mine with 8 degrees on the kingpins, and about 1/16" toe in. I can let go of the wheel at cruising peed and it tracks great. Doesn't try to jump into ruts, or get twitchy when turning.

 

Wait until you see the pictures of the mess under the car..I will post pics later today...What a mess....

 

i like the direction you are going i did the same thing on a 39 coupe a few years back. i am looking for the brackets that mount the shackles and springs to the frame if anyone has them for sale pm me

 

Here is the left steer mess I have any suggestions? Do I throw it away and put a speedway set up under the car or is there a fix for this....I was told it is an econoline axle it has 5 4 1/2 bolt pattern I also know it has a power steering box is from an ealy 80s cutl***......Thanks for any Ideas you may have.....

 

S**** that **** and copy Rusty1. You won't be sorry.

 

I use a vega box with cross over steering on my 38 Chevy coupe. It works very good with the stock springs and axle. You will have to use fenderwell headers since the box is in the way to mount standard headers.

 

I cut all my left steer stuff off of my F1 axle and made a steering arm for the rh spindle for cross steer. Personally I prefer the looks and also like the strength of a factory axle.

 

for what is worth, we do this all the time but with tube axles, shoot for a minimum of 5 degrees caster but 7 to 8 is even better at highway or drag race speeds. a cross steer is always better for reducing bump steer. and never ever use power steering on a straight axle it will be way too twitchy. the 525 box would be the best bet for your cars weight, if it is a street driven ride. and speedway sells them new as well as the pitman arm and the mount can be the vega box mt same pattern. good luck

 

I have a 38 Chevy and need to replace the old column and box. I was wondering about the vega box. Did it install ok? Was there issues? How did the linkage hook up? I appreciate your time and Merry Christmas. Mike

 

...the vega should install just like this 525 box I used, the vega is a bit smaller. I used ram-horn manifolds and just fab'd a headpipe to snake around the steering box and to clear oil filter. The pic is somewhat deceiving, there is about an inch between exhaust and box.

 

A few pics of my 38 Chevy coupe with a Vega box.