It is my understanding that Chysler had two power steering boxes in the mid '80s. One was 'standard' and the other was 'road feel' firmer. I have an '84 fifth ave. front clip under my '55 f-100, '94 Mustang 5.0 HO motor with the ford lower flow and lower pressure pump. This works fine except I want more road. Can someone tell me the difference between these boxes and what can I do to get more feel?
It has something to do with the reaction spring ..... You can send it to Firm Feel and they can make it as firm as you want. What can you do yourself? I dunno. There was an article on DIY about a year ago in Mopar Action as I recall.
There was a firm feel steering box that was part of the police handling package. You could try ordering one from the local Chrysler dealer or, as gregcon says, get yours rebuilt. When they rebuild them they blueprint the clearances and get a tighter steering feel.
Actually, I know it has become in vogue to rag on the 'too easy' power steering of 50/60's Mopars because modern cars have heavy steering, but I LIKE being able to wheel a 5000lbs vehicle into a tight space with one finger. My wife's new Infiniti has steering so heavy it feels like manual steering....she already is complaining about it. I also don't get the movement to small diameter, fat rim steering wheels. A thin rim wheel of 16"+ is much more pleasant to hang your hand off of.
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