Power steering gear box

I am in need of a 1974 gear box, I have a 67 and I heard that the 74 is better...I need one ASAP. Thank you

Lares Corporation.

Lares Corporation.

X2, Unparalleled customer service and a good product!

Tim

Thanks for the kind words Jim, and Tim!

The problem you may run into with buying a gear out of a 74 is you could lose some case travel. This will cause the car not to turn as sharp at lock. Can I ask what you are hoping to see an improvement on?

Thank y'all for the response. Wasn't really trying to improve something personally. I guy I know said if I had to replace it, get the 74 because it's better...gears n all

Well the gearing is close to the same, as is the torsion bar size. The only upgrade you can get by going to a newer style box is you can get it in a 2.5 turn lock to lock fast ratio. If you're going to replace it I would recommend going with the OEM unit. Faster steering ratio is great when driving down the road, but you'll have regrets as soon as you try to turn into a parking space.

Regrets with a 74 Unit or my oem unit when parking ? Lol

Well the gearing is close to the same, as is the torsion bar size. The only upgrade you can get by going to a newer style box is you can get it in a 2.5 turn lock to lock fast ratio. If you're going to replace it I would recommend going with the OEM unit. Faster steering ratio is great when driving down the road, but you'll have regrets as soon as you try to turn into a parking space.

Hi Dan,

I was under the impression by `74 the steering gears were "variable ratio" and the design intent was to reduce the number of turns progressively in situations such as tight maneuvering like parking? I have fast steering boxes in `60`s cars (although not variable ratio) and the power assist is so great there is no extra effort required by the driver.

Tom Mooney

Regrets with a 74 Unit or my oem unit when parking ? Lol

Regrets with the 74 unit. The OEM unit was designed for the car.

Hi Dan,

I was under the impression by `74 the steering gears were "variable ratio" and the design intent was to reduce the number of turns progressively in situations such as tight maneuvering like parking? I have fast steering boxes in `60`s cars (although not variable ratio) and the power assist is so great there is no extra effort required by the driver.

Tom Mooney

The 1974 units are a strait ratio. Some of the 60's gears were variable ratio. The difference between strait and variable ratio is the teeth on the sector shaft and ball nut. The teeth will be pointed on a variable ratio gear which causes the ball nut to move faster when out near lock. This will give you a faster feel without really changing the ratio. The standard ratio will have squared teeth, and move the same speed throughout the turn.

The issue you run into going from the older style box to the newer is the old box uses a 3 1/2" housing and the new uses a 3". The 3" doesn't travel as far as the 3 1/2". This causes you to lose turning radius.

As for the fast ratio difference in feel, no matter what box you use the power steering pump will still put out around 100 - 900 psi. You won't have to muscle the steering to make it work either way. But there will be a noticeable difference when cutting the amount of turns from around 4 turns down to 2.5.