Hey there. So yesterday was the first time I actually drove my "new" Parisienne. Mostly on the highway, 100km/h.
I couldn't help butt noticed the steering play is insane, it took a serious effort to keep the car more or less straight, even on low speed. A bit better when it's accelerating. Literally can't relax even for millisecond, the car goes left to right, back and forth 100 times a minute.
My question is - it that just how it is on older cars there's something with my steering box or something else?
Hey there. So yesterday was the first time I actually drove my "new" Parisienne. Mostly on the highway, 100km/h.
I couldn't help butt noticed the steering play is insane, it took a serious effort to keep the car more or less straight, even on low speed. A bit better when it's accelerating. Literally can't relax even for millisecond, the car goes left to right, back and forth 100 times a minute.
My question is - it that just how it is on older cars there's something with my steering box or something else?
It seems to me you just posted about having some work done on it in the last couple of days.
Was the steering worked on? Was something left loose maybe?
If you sit in the car with it parked, how much play is in the steering?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I believe steering was not touched. Belts, disc conversion, brake lines etc. However they noticed the steering pump pulley was wobbly I bit.
Power steering.
When car is not on I can rotate the steering wheel by about 10 minutes back and forth with no effort, however wheels are tilting right away.
Checked on the other car - exactly the same 10 minutes.
I believe steering was not touched. Belts, disc conversion, brake lines etc. However they noticed the steering pump pulley was wobbly I bit. Power steering. When car is not on I can rotate the steering wheel by about 10 minutes back and forth with no effort, however wheels are tilting right away. Checked on the other car - exactly the same 10 minutes.
That doesn't seem excessive. Did they do an alignment?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Modern tires on these cars need way more positive caster than the old specs call for. Way more.
Of course all the components need to be in good order, but another issue is the old boxes are way too light at around 19:1. 12-14:1 will give a far more modern feel to these old b bodies.
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
I believe steering was not touched. Belts, disc conversion, brake lines etc. However they noticed the steering pump pulley was wobbly I bit. Power steering. When car is not on I can rotate the steering wheel by about 10 minutes back and forth with no effort, however wheels are tilting right away. Checked on the other car - exactly the same 10 minutes.
That doesn't seem excessive. Did they do an alignment?
Modern tires on these cars need way more positive caster than the old specs call for. Way more.
Of course all the components need to be in good order, but another issue is the old boxes are way too light at around 19:1. 12-14:1 will give a far more modern feel to these old b bodies.
Isn't it 10:1 on power steering cars? Found this info on 66 impalas forum though.
Because the spindles were changed I would strongly suspect it needs to have a front end alignment. My experience in the past has been any time spindles are changed it needs to be done.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Dont know about Canadian 65 spindles but in 65 there were early and late front end parts on my Catalina. Also even with all new parts and a fresh alignment my 61 Parisienne did not like flat multi lane highways. I was always steering it, but it tracked like a dream on the old high crown 2 lane highway.
Modern tires on these cars need way more positive caster than the old specs call for. Way more.
Agree on the increase in caster. I had a similar issue but also the wheel would not return to center following a turn. It was aligned to spec's so I adjusted the caster to around 4 degrees and it improved considerably. Could also check the toe in, should be around 1/4".
I believe steering was not touched. Belts, disc conversion, brake lines etc. However they noticed the steering pump pulley was wobbly I bit. Power steering. When car is not on I can rotate the steering wheel by about 10 minutes back and forth with no effort, however wheels are tilting right away. Checked on the other car - exactly the same 10 minutes.
I'm having difficulty understanding the 10 minutes comment. There are 60 minutes in a degree. So it's only turning 1/6 the of a degree?
Just my personal opinion. I would get an alignment done. Suggested settings of as much Positive Caster as can be adjusted and .5 more on right side to allow for road crown. Around .25 (1/4 degree) Positive Camber per side. Total toe in of no more than 1/8" but preferably 1/16" with running radial tires. Should help out considerably. Also probably will require about 1/2 a turn in on the sector shaft adjuster on the top of the steering box. If you get it too tight it will have poor return of the steering wheel. Again just my personal opinion. I'm a retired GM Alignment Technician and did Alignments from 1978 till 2020. Let Us know what happens and feel free to PM me for further info if need be. Cheers Don.
The spindles are actually the native ones.
Thanks everyone, I'll take it in for alignment.
10 minutes on a clock dial, would convert into 60 degrees if you prefer to use axis coordinate system.
