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Have you tried it yet?
Most everyone that I know with power steering in their Mopars agree that our cars have a ridiculously overboosted feel with their cars. The steering is so easy, you feel as if the tires are on wet ice. Mopar Action magazine had an article on this subject. Rick Ehrenberg found that the V8 car P/S pumps generated nearly 1300 PSI of boost pressure while slant six pumps were near 900. It is believed that the slanty cars got less boost because the demands were lower in lighter cars. Physically, the pumps were identical aside from the mounting brackets. Rick delved a little deeper though...
Since the power steering boost is directly related to the steering feel, if you reduce the boost pressure, the effort needed to turn the wheel increases. The only internal differences Rick could find between the sl/6 and V8 pumps were the thickness of the shims in the pump. Pictures are necessary to fully explain, so log on to www.moparactionmagazine.com and click on "Pump it down" to get all the details.
My Charger has several steering mods but no P/S shims. I have a Firm Feel stage 3 steering chuck, an inline P/S oil cooler, fast ratio arms and a fully rebuilt front end with a performance alignment. My steering effort feels great as is, but for those on a tight budget, the "shim trick" is a cheap and effective way to get a better feel for pennies. The shims/washers are 3/8" inside diameter with a 17/32" OD. Elsewhere, I've read that the best "feel" is achieved with a stack of shims no thicker than .125, which is 1/8". Today at the junkyard, I checked several pumps to see what they had. MOST only had one thin shim, far too thin for me to measure with my cheap calipers. It may take 8-10 of them to add up to .125! My local hardware store had some copper washers that were slightly under 3/8" I.D, so I took a 3/8" drill bit and honed the center out. I'll have to mill down the outside diameter to fit back into the pump.
Thistopic may have been posted before, but I thought that I'd mention it anyway. I'd like to hear any comments you have on the subject, Greg
Most everyone that I know with power steering in their Mopars agree that our cars have a ridiculously overboosted feel with their cars. The steering is so easy, you feel as if the tires are on wet ice. Mopar Action magazine had an article on this subject. Rick Ehrenberg found that the V8 car P/S pumps generated nearly 1300 PSI of boost pressure while slant six pumps were near 900. It is believed that the slanty cars got less boost because the demands were lower in lighter cars. Physically, the pumps were identical aside from the mounting brackets. Rick delved a little deeper though...
Since the power steering boost is directly related to the steering feel, if you reduce the boost pressure, the effort needed to turn the wheel increases. The only internal differences Rick could find between the sl/6 and V8 pumps were the thickness of the shims in the pump. Pictures are necessary to fully explain, so log on to www.moparactionmagazine.com and click on "Pump it down" to get all the details.
My Charger has several steering mods but no P/S shims. I have a Firm Feel stage 3 steering chuck, an inline P/S oil cooler, fast ratio arms and a fully rebuilt front end with a performance alignment. My steering effort feels great as is, but for those on a tight budget, the "shim trick" is a cheap and effective way to get a better feel for pennies. The shims/washers are 3/8" inside diameter with a 17/32" OD. Elsewhere, I've read that the best "feel" is achieved with a stack of shims no thicker than .125, which is 1/8". Today at the junkyard, I checked several pumps to see what they had. MOST only had one thin shim, far too thin for me to measure with my cheap calipers. It may take 8-10 of them to add up to .125! My local hardware store had some copper washers that were slightly under 3/8" I.D, so I took a 3/8" drill bit and honed the center out. I'll have to mill down the outside diameter to fit back into the pump.
Thistopic may have been posted before, but I thought that I'd mention it anyway. I'd like to hear any comments you have on the subject, Greg
