alignment needed after steering box rebuilt?

[General23cmp]

1969 Satellite. Newly rebuilt PS box by a pro (my old box was rebuilt).

The only things I removed was the column and the pitman from the box when doing this. No steering linkages were touched.

Installed it.

Steering column can really only go on one way (or be upside down). The pitman arm does not appear to have any indexing teeth, so it could go on "anywhere". I did mark the pitman prior to removal, so I put it back on where it was prior. Now my steering wheel points to about 1-2 o'clock to go straight down the road. If I move it to 12 o'clock, the car will go left. I did try moving the pitman one tooth over each way, and it is way off when I do that, so I feel I am on the right pitman tooth.

Is it common to need an alignment after a tighter, newer box is put on a car? I could see an instance where my old sloppy box might have made it look like I was pointing straight to go straight, and the alignment was set accordingly. Now with the new box, the "slop" is gone and the old alignment is showing this lack of "slop". Is this possible? Other thoughts?

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Yes you need to get it aligned. My expert alignment shop explained this to me before. It needs to be on “high center” internally or in other words centered on the high spot. Many people overlook this I was told.

 

[General23cmp]

So was the old alignment working fine because the old box wasn't as "tight" or would it have had a slightly different high center point?

 

[69L48Z27]

You need the alignment shop to center the wheel. They don’t necessarily need to adjust camber or caster, they would set the toe with the wheel at 12 o’clock. Not every steering box is clocked exactly the same, your not off by that much. You saw how big one tooth on the pitman effected it. You could make the left tie rod one turn shorter and the right one turn longer and see what that gets you. Are you try to avoid the alignment shop or something?

 

[MoparLeo]

Probably 80+ percent of the cars on the road are out of specs. The myth is that if the car goes straight, the alignment is good. That only means that possibly one of the three angles are close enough. Unfortunately that alignment angle does not effect tire wear. The angles you don't "feel" are the ones to be concerned about. Good chance unless your suspension is in excellent condition and you've had a recent total alignment adjustment, an alignment was needed anyway.

 

[General23cmp]

You need the alignment shop to center the wheel. They don’t necessarily need to adjust camber or caster, they would set the toe with the wheel at 12 o’clock. Not every steering box is clocked exactly the same, your not off by that much. You saw how big one tooth on the pitman effected it. You could make the left tie rod one turn shorter and the right one turn longer and see what that gets you. Are you try to avoid the alignment shop or something?

Not trying to avoid the alignment shop... just confused what changed the alignment when I took the box out and put the same one back in.