C3 Steering

[Dellb]

Hi All
My 1980 C3 has the stock power steering. All joints, idler, hydraulic ram, and control valve were renewed on the rebuild. The box was given a full overhaul. It works well, but seems to be a bit woolly when cruising. I am contemplating a borgeson (not sure about the spelling) conversion. Has anyone out there done this?

 

[Chuffer]

Hi All
My 1980 C3 has the stock power steering. All joints, idler, hydraulic ram, and control valve were renewed on the rebuild. The box was given a full overhaul. It works well, but seems to be a bit woolly when cruising. I am contemplating a borgeson (not sure about the spelling) conversion. Has anyone out there done this?

By "woolly" do you mean a bit vague around dead centre when driving in a straight line ? Is the lash in the Pitman shaft correctly adjusted ?

 

[Chuffer]

By "woolly" do you mean a bit vague around dead centre when driving in a straight line ? Is the lash in the Pitman shaft correctly adjusted ?

Apologies , meant to say lash in steering box .

 

[Dellb]

“Vague in a straight line” is a perfect description. The box was removed, overhauled and is set with zero lash.
It works, around town it’s fine, it’s just lacks “feel” when on a motorway.

 

[Chuffer]

“Vague in a straight line” is a perfect description. The box was removed, overhauled and is set with zero lash.
It works, around town it’s fine, it’s just lacks “feel” when on a motorway.

A trait of recirculating ball steering is a slightly `dead ` feeling at centred steering position but then loads up as you make steering inputs . If you get a notchy feel through the steering wheel the system might need bleeding as you have had a complete rebuild which would require a refill of fluid .

 

[Forrest Gump]

Have you checked the car’s wheel alignment? The toe-in setting will affect the steering feel.
The other thing that can make a noticeable improvement is to add in more castor angle to the front suspension, via shifting the top arm alignment shims from the front stud to the rearward stud. More castor has the effect of adding some weight and stability to the steering. C3’s have very little castor in the stock set-up for some reason.

The Borgeson box uses the same recirculating ball design as you already have, it has some other advantages such as a faster ratio and neat integrated power assistance….but if your issue lies elsewhere it wont make any difference!
I would check the suspension set-up first, adding in castor will make it feel better.

 

[Forrest Gump]