i heard that too much pos. caster causes hard steering...true??
my steering is HARD (even for having 39x15 tires)....here's what i have though....78 bronco, 6" susp. lift, 3" body lift, 39x15 M/Ts...it has 5" drop radius arm brackets, and unknown c-bushing offset....ALSO, I MEASURED THE AXLE TO FRAME DISTANCE AND COMPARED IT TO MY OTHER STOCK BRONCO...the back on my 78 is 6" higher, whereas the front is 4" higher....(wondering if maybe the 429 is that much heavier to cause a 2" drop in front, but i doubt it)...so anyway, considering all that, what degree offset SHOULD i have, and could i have enough now to kill my steering ability??????
***i am curious as to the height difference, too***

 

Can only really help with your first ?, the positive camber should not make the steering hard as such, it will slow down the return to center after cornering, even enough to make you have to turn it back to center, but this should not be "tight". As far as "hard" steering, check your steering shaft, the u-joint near the column may be gettin' tight. Just unbolt it from the rag joint and try to move it at an angle, left, right, up and down, should be no tight spots as it's turned/rotated.

 

was thinkin the hard steering may be the pump???it's only hard at a low engine speed, like below 1500...if i am still and rev the engine to 2 grand, it turns better

 

Too much caster can cause hard steering, but it would have to be way off to be noticeable. Plus, you usually only notice it on older vehicles with manual steering. Why don't you take it to an aligment shop? They should be able to tell you if it's way off and what your options are.

 

Yeah, if it's only "hard" at lower rpm's, then yes, it sounds like the pump is going. How's your box adjustment, I think having the box adjusted to tight might also cause this type of problem. If you do need a new pump, I would suggest AGR for the replacement (due to tire size), cost a little more, but has much more pressure and doesn't make the noise of the stocker.

 

is the AGR a direct bolt-in replacement??do i have to order one or would Advance have it?

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 28-Sep-01 AT 01:18 PM (EST)[/font][p]Yes, "stock" replacement that has been reworked to flow better, higher pressure. You can get to them thru their website, AGR power steering. As far as puchasing, most of the performance sites (4 wheel parts wholesaler, summit racing, ect.) do list them (you may have to call for this application-ain't no jeep! which seems to be all they list in their rags). I think mine was around 120 bucks, but well worth it, oh, you will need the pulley from the old, it didn't come with one. I just have the pump, but they do make reworked performance steering boxes also. Only other things I've done is add a 2-pass cooler on the return side and a small filter to keep the junk out of the system. For your truck, the cooler may be in order, big difference from in to out temps.