Quick P/s Opinion

Reading up on Saginaw P/S conversions here. I have a recently acquired Saginaw box from a cj10 that is said to be 3.5 turns lock to lock. It seems like the consensus is that anything less than 4 turns would be too quick and sketchy on the road. Does half a turn make that much difference? Should I just move on from this box and buy the box that is recommended in the research I have done here?

I am inclined to follow the advice and experience of the knowledgable folks here and buy the 4 turn box. But if the box I have in my hands would be fine, I'll use it. What say ye, oh wise ones?

 

I have the 4 and something box in my 3B. Love it, no problems. That is the rule of thumb box to use. On my son's CJ5, I am just finishing, it is a 3-1/2 turn box, that I am going to try and live with. So far, no real wheeling with it, but did notice the quickness of it on the street. Not ideal, in my opinion, although it is still too soon to judge, and I have a ram assist plumbed into it, which could slow it down a bit.

 

If you are running a 2-hole knuckle (or D30), I’d run it. The tie rod hole in the 2-hole knuckles is further away from the pivot than the single hole units and it slows down the ratio.

If it’s still too quick, you can try to locate a shorter pitman arm, which will also slow the ratio. Just make sure you don’t run out of travel before you’re lock-to-lock with the shorter pitman arm.

 

If you’re using the big steering wheel like the one on my 2a, the amount of turning that thing on the street is quite a lot.. so much so that I have to often spin it with mi fingers in the spokes to make it turn fast enough.

 

The Jeep “76” box is ideal for most applications yet I fully agree with all above statements exactly.

So pay close attention to the pitman arm length in relation to the connect rod position
and it’s position/angle relative to the tie rod.
Make certain the pitman length provides sufficient left/right motion to the steering knuckle.
There are certain pitman arms that work best depending on your exact Saginaw box location and the model of your steer axle.

 

A 3.5 turn box works fine with PS using the standard length pitman arms and the stock length steering knuckle arms. The only caveat maybe being you want to keep the slack out of the system. But that is something you should do anyway. Steering wheel size isn't an issue with PS-at least not while the "power" part still works. We won't mention JK's in the rocks--------

 

You know, good point. I have a 15" wheel on the tilt column, and a stock column with a stock wheel would not only look better, it would slow it down.

 

Hydro assist with a manual saginaw box...

 

Thank you all for the input. I will give this box a try when I get to that point rather than buy a rebuilt unit. If it works out I'll consider myself lucky for happening upon the box.

 

I used a box for a 81 cj that is 4+ turns L to L. cannot say if it is better to be slower or not as I have not tried a faster one. However I feel it works fine at least on my 74.