I have a 69 XR7. Rebuilt the engine and suspension. Finally got it on the road but notice two problems with steering:
I put a new valve on but I thought it came pre adjusted. Also put a ne pitman arm on. Any advice?
Grateful…
When you put the new pitman arm on did you center the steering gear box? Meaning, did you turn the steering wheel as many times to the left as you could and then do the same to the right while counting the number of turns. Then put the steering wheel in the center of the lock to lock count before installing the pitman arm with the wheels centered. I hope that makes sense to you…it’s 1am here and my brain is toast.
Hmmm…no actually I don’t remember if the wheels were centered or not. At the time the car was up on jackstands and the engine was out. Is it possible to do that now without taking the whole steering mechanism apart?
I did adjust eh valve so the pressure turning left is less, but it’s still not right. The adjustment nut is almost completely to the clockwise stop.
Should be easy enough to do.
With the front wheels pointed straight pull the pitman arm.
Center the steering gear box as 69XR7Ragtop says.
Reinstall pitman arm.
That’s sounds easy enough. I will give it a try. I assume it doesn’t matter if it’s up on jack stands-- makes it a lot easier. And by the way, I did try adjusting the steering valve to even out the pressure. It helped BUT I discovered you can’t start the engine with the cover off the adjustment valve. Fluid squirts out all over the place!!
Sorry to be the contrarian but the pitman arm (and sector shaft) can only go together one way, there is a spline missing which makes it that way. So, it’s not that!
Did you actually remove the pitman arm from the gear box? If not, then it’s probably that you didn’t screw the control valve back to the same spot on the center link.
Hmmmm…pitman arm only goes on one way…I didn’t remember that. I have a Borgeson power steering box on mine so it might be different than the original. Thanks Bob for keeping us straight. 
Steering pun intented
Yorgle - seriously a 6bbl, 5spd? Sounds really nice!
Yes I did remove the pitman arm from the box. Put a new pitman and valve in but did not replace the box or the ram cylinder. Vert says the pitman goes in only one way so i guess I must’ve put it in right. So now what do you mean “…didn’t screw the control valve back to the same spot on the center link?” Are you talking about the adjust nut on the end?
When removing the control valve from the center link you should count the number of turns it takes to get it off, then rotate the new one the same number of turns when installing.
I should be sure of what I’m talking about before posting. 
Assumed since it was a spline it could be oriented on the shaft.
Now I know.
Thanks
I believe the turn-count for threading the control valve onto the center link is 27. You should try to verify that, though, as I am going from memory.
Here is a good resource: http://www.stangerssite.com/steering.html
Thanks MrEos. this is really helpful. And the link is full of great info. I have some reading to do. Let me get at it. The turn count is particularly helpful though I will double check the number. This is something we did not even think of when we replaced parts.
thank you. I’ll keep you posted.
Just a quick update… Once we got to it noticed that when the shop aligned it they did not check all the components. So we are going to go through the whole thing: center the sleeve adjusters on the tie rod ends so they have equal amount of space on the inside and outside. Then we will disconnect the ball stud, center the steering wheel, and make sure the front wheels are straight. Then we’ll rotate the valve so that we can reconnect the ball stud to the centerpiece. I pray that will take care of it. Letcha know soon…
Ok, the final chapter. We disconnected the tie rod ends from the sleeves and replaced the sleeves with new ones which fit more smoothly. Adjusted them so they were all pretty symmetrical – an equal amount of threads showing on both sides of the sleeves – on the tie rod end side and the inner tie rod side. Did this on both sides. Turned ou on both sides this resulted in about 3/4 inch of threads on each side of BOTH sleeves. Then drained the system, disconnected all four hoses from the valve. Be sure to remember how the shorties are connected. Used a ball joint separater to pop the ball stud on the valve out of the pitman arm - of course after taking out the cotter pin and castle nut. Then we VERY carefully counted the number of rotations of the steering wheel and the centered it between the two stops. For us it was 2 and 1/8 turn of the wheel. Then we put the front wheels straight. Had to eyeball that – but it worked fine. Then noticed that the ball stud did not line up with the hole on the pitman arm. So rotated the whole valve until it lined up without touching the steering wheel position or the position of the front wheels. It took 8 full rotations to get it to line up. Put it all back together and it made all the difference. Then just need to adjust the valve pressure using the end nut on the valve under the cover. Acces that by removing the Allen nuts to uncover the adjustment nut. Clockwise to increase the assist in a left turn. Really hope this helps someone else. Have fun!
Glad you got it sorted out. However, the nut under the cover I believe is to be tight against a stop (shoulder) and should not be in any other position other than that. Also (a minor point), the valves usually have slot head screws rather than Allen head screws (not that this matters at all!).
Thanks for telling how this one got sorted out. This will be helpful to folks for years to come.