New (not rebuilt/remanufactured) Power Sttering Gears & Pumps for our C Bodies

saforwardlook

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In looking at another thread regarding rebuilt steering boxes for our cars, I ran across one post that referenced a brand new power steering gear:

I thought these should be highlighted in their own thread since they seem to be new developments not available before to my knowledge.....

Steering gear box choices

and I also am aware of a new Federal style power steering pump now being offered by NAPA.

Here are firect links to these products:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/PS_381047N?impressionRank=5

I bought two of these power steering pumps and they both performed flawlessly just like new and they also look identical.

I am now considering buying one of these new power steering gears to try out - it is claimed to perform identically to OEM and is also brand new but looks slightly different on the top at least:

BuyAutoParts 82-00475AN - Buy Auto Parts

Both are fairly expensive but so would finding nos ones available by some miracle.

For me at least, my reason for probably trying one of the newly manufactured steering boxes would be to see if they have possibly improved on the relatively poor steering tracking and feedback feel of the original Chrysler steering boxes - the one aspect of our cars that I really do not like is the lack of steering tracking precision. Back in the day, both GM and Ford cars were better in their steering systems (I owned a Dodge van with a Saginaw steering box in it from the factory and it was substantially better than the Chrysler system and I drove some Fords as competitive vehicles as part of my job when I worked for Chrysler in the 70s, and they too were a little better, but not as good as the GM boxes).

While Firm Feel and Steer and Gear can improve on the lightness of the steering that needs some firming up, they are still using worn Chrysler original components perhaps selected for better ones in cases of really bad ones to rebuild their boxes, they really track no better than the original Chrysler boxes did even when the suspension alignment specs are set to maximize steering precision/tracking from my past experience with them. Rack and pinion steering systems of today are excellent in that respect by comparison and cause me to drive my older vehicles in crowded California traffic less.

I have said it before but to me Chrysler managment in the 70s was not on top of things, especially in the later 70s and they didn't focus hard enough on being competitive with their competition. In particular, Chrysler didn't fix the steering systems nor the air conditioning systems with the outdated RV-2 compressors nearly fast enough to be competitive with GM and Ford in customer satisfaction overall.

That put Chrysler in solid third place every year and ultimately landed them in bankruptcy in 1980. Good managment matters is what I learned.
 
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I bought one of the NAPA Federal pumps this past December , it fit perfectly and is working well with no issues.
 
That would be great if you did try the brand new box and gave us feedback on your experience with it's install and feel.
The BuyAutoParts site shows a guaranteed exact fit.
 
The biggest question I would have on these parts is country of origin and who manages the manufacture of the parts?
 
The BuyAutoParts site shows a guaranteed exact fit.

Lots of sites say that but the "guarantee" just means you get the pleasure of receiving the wrong parts then sending them back:) Just went through this with some fuel tank o-rings on my sons 300ZX project - said guaranteed fit yet they didn't (& I bought TWO to have a spare). Luckily the parts were of low enough cost they said to keep them and refunded my $ (smart since UPD return shipping would have exceeded the parts value).
 
Nice to hear some positive reviews of new parts for a change (made in USA perhaps?).
So many name brands (Moog, Comp Cams etc) that used to be trusted have their stuff made in China/ elsewhere now with disastrous resultsfor the consumer (ie waste of money/ premature failure/ low/ no quality control).

Even something as simple as a thermostat housing. The old aluminum one was corroded and no longer useable, so I order a cast iron replacement. Got home opened the box and the machined gasket surface was utterly terrible...I put a straight edge on it and it was nowhere close to being flat. I was in a hurry and had no time to monkey with going back and forth to the parts store, so I re-machined it flat myself. Cast into the item was "China".
 
While China has a deserved bad reputation, they are capable of making good parts.

While Centric for example has a facility headquartered in California, some of their parts are made here and others in China, but their management seems very committed to quality and I have talked with their reps here - they are committed to quality and know more about our market and when holes exist in the supply chain for older vehicles much better than the "old" brands that used to care mostly about the U.S. but have pretty much deserted the old car hobby. Centric brake rotors are very good and their calipers are too.

Some European and U.S. vehicles are being manufactured in China that meet U.S. quality requirements and have been for some time now

The world keeps changing.
 
While China has a deserved bad reputation, they are capable of making good parts. The world keeps changing.

Yes, like I mentioned who manages the companies - Apple products are of top notch build quality and 99.9% Chinese made but they use suppliers such as Foxconn who are world class when it comes to quality. The company I work for buys parts from all over the world and our scrap bin is filled mostly with parts from Costa Rica & Mexico, the Chinese supplier we use is pretty darn good & does a better job at a particular part that we were making in house!
 
In looking at another thread regarding rebuilt steering boxes for our cars, I ran across one post that referenced a brand new power steering gear:

I thought these should be highlighted in their own thread since they seem to be new developments not available before to my knowledge.....

Steering gear box choices

and I also am aware of a new Federal style power steering pump now being offered by NAPA.

Here are firect links to these products:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/PS_381047N?impressionRank=5

I bought two of these power steering pumps and they both performed flawlessly just like new and they also look identical.

I am now considering buying one of these new power steering gears to try out - it is claimed to perform identically to OEM and is also brand new but looks slightly different on the top at least:

BuyAutoParts 82-00475AN - Buy Auto Parts

Both are fairly expensive but so would finding nos ones available by some miracle.

For me at least, my reason for probably trying one of the newly manufactured steering boxes would be to see if they have possibly improved on the relatively poor steering tracking and feedback feel of the original Chrysler steering boxes - the one aspect of our cars that I really do not like is the lack of steering tracking precision. Back in the day, both GM and Ford cars were better in their steering systems (I owned a Dodge van with a Saginaw steering box in it from the factory and it was substantially better than the Chrysler system and I drove some Fords as competitive vehicles as part of my job when I worked for Chrysler in the 70s, and they too were a little better, but not as good as the GM boxes).

While Firm Feel and Steer and Gear can improve on the lightness of the steering that needs some firming up, they are still using worn Chrysler original components perhaps selected for better ones in cases of really bad ones to rebuild their boxes, they really track no better than the original Chrysler boxes did even when the suspension alignment specs are set to maximize steering precision/tracking from my past experience with them. Rack and pinion steering systems of today are excellent in that respect by comparison and cause me to drive my older vehicles in crowded California traffic less.

I have said it before but to me Chrysler managment in the 70s was not on top of things, especially in the later 70s and they didn't focus hard enough on being competitive with their competition. In particular, Chrysler didn't fix the steering systems nor the air conditioning systems with the outdated RV-2 compressors nearly fast enough to be competitive with GM and Ford in customer satisfaction overall.

That put Chrysler in solid third place every year and ultimately landed them in bankruptcy in 1980. Good managment matters is what I learned.

Interesting that the new pump without reservoir is more expensive than with.

These federal pump reservoirs were apparently getting scarce. When I exchanged for a rebuilt unit at Lares (C/O Rockauto) they collected a $500 temporary deposit, that I received back after they received and verified the old pump. It took a while.... Anyways the reservoir seal always seems to leak, let them install it...

Nappppa.jpg
 
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