Can anyone tell me how to determine my steering gearbox ratio? I can not tell if the steering box is original or has been rebuilt. The gearbox is very clean and looks new. This car will not make a U-turn very well anyway. I am looking to upgrade front suspension and the steering has about 1" or 2" of play as you move the tire back and forth by hand. So I thought, since I already have the engine out of the car now is the time to do it. I was curious about the gearbox ratio. The idler arm bearing seems alittle loose but I think the "play" in the steering is from the gearbox. Any thoughts, links, and ideas of how to approach steering replacement/adjustment.
Thank you
JD

I think that you have a 1970 Chevelle. If your car was a sedan, your production power steering gear was a variable ratio (16-12.4:1). If it was a wagon you had a 17.5:1 straight ratio power gear. There have been a couple postings on some simple tests to check the ratio. The important thing with a variable ratio gear is that you must check the ratio with the gear exactly on center as well as checking the ratio when the gear is near full lock.

There are numerous salvage yard fast ratio gears or you can purchase remanufactured gears from many sources as well.

This paper and this websight may be of help.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/acar/A-CarFastRatioGear10JN2002.doc

www.corvettefaq.com/A-car.asp (http://www.corvettefaq.com/A-car.asp)

This is one link to a recent posting that outlines the test:

http://home.comcast.net/~petelohr/einstyn1/einstyn-10.htm