USA or Import Steering Gears?

[newshirt]

Originally Posted by 28 Special Coupe

I'll try removing some shims and adjusting the sector screw first. If that doesn't help, I'll just have to tear it down further. Unfortunately, that will put my car out of commission. Sounds like a good winter project.

You really should try tightening the pitman arm bolt as well. Mine was already tight, but when I made it "very tight" as described in Purdy Swoft's earlier post, I dropped an entire inch of play. That astounded me!

Visually, I could see no reason for the change. But sure enough, tightening that bolt made a big difference in steering wheel play.

I also later learned that paint on the sector shaft (where the pitman arm connects) can cause the same slop because the paint fractures, thus loosening the connection.