My steering box was leaking so I replaced it with a non-leaking one from my parts truck. I installed a bolt in the centering hole in the bottom of the "new" box before I connected it to the steering shaft and I thought the steering wheel was straight but it's at about 1 o'clock when driving straight down the road now. It's worth noting that I swapped the interior from tan to black and I might not have gotten the steering wheel on perfectly straight when I swapped the steering wheel, despite thinking the wheels were straight when I put it on. I did not use a centering bolt then.

What's the best way to correct this? Can I just pull the steering wheel off and recenter it or will this pose some sort of problem for the clock spring? Is it better (although a ton harder) to separate the box from the steering shaft again and try to realign it that way? If it doesn't matter I think doing it at the steering wheel may be the better approach due to the fact that I may have muffed that initially, but I had never driven it before changing the box to know for sure.

 

I would just adjust it out at the steering arm tie rod.

The link that comes down off the steering box to the front right wheel is what is used to set your steering wheel angle.

Park the car with the steering wheel at 12 o'clock, have someone stay in the car and hold it in place, hop under the truck and go to town. Should take about 10 mins to adjust it back

 

The truck goes down the road straight and the hole for the centering bolt is dead in the center when the road wheels are pointing straight ahead. Won't adjusting the tie rods to center the steering wheel mean that in theory I'd end up with the wheel centered but the box would go 2.25 turns to the left and 1.75 turns to the right, kind of thing? I don't know if it's actually 2 and 2 lock to lock, but that's just an example of what would happen if I adjust it on the other side of the box. The road wheels and the steering wheel would be straight but the centering hole on the box would be off to one side.

 

Steering from lock to lock is limited by the stops on the axle, not the steering box. So unless your you are way off after the swap, then going from 1 o'clock to 12 o'clock on the wheel by adjusting the drag link will be fine.

 

OK, thank you both for the input. I'm not trying to be contrarian but I believe everything after the box is fine. The part in blue is my main concern here. It seems that having the box centered when the road wheels are straight is important. It sounds like the drag link adjuster is used for minor corrections but mine is about 30%, not less than 5%. Since they mention "repositioning the wheel on its splines" I think this is the route I should be going. I'm just not sure if the clock spring is going to be a problem, and if so, would that mean that separating the box from the steering shaft, repositioning the wheel/shaft, and then fitting them back together be the better way. I don't want to do this due to the work involved now that the engine bay is fully populated but I don't remember if the clock spring has that kind of freedom to move around.

Again, I'm not opposed to adjusting the tie rod down below but I'm not 100% sure this will fix my problem and I don't want to introduce others. Clearly these steering boxes are different than what I'm used to since on all my other cars lock to lock is the same if the box is on the car or off, not limited by external stops.

 

I replaced my steering box, then again when the new one leaked. Then a reman steering shaft.
I had the same issue you have.
If you have a new shaft(under $100 at Lucky8), then it is very quick and easy to make the adjustment where the steering shaft connects to the box.
A new steering shaft slides up and down, on and off the box splines, while the upper half that attaches to the column remains stationary...I didn't know it was so simple at fitst, because the old shaft was frozen, even though not visibly rusted or corroded. Penatrating oil suprisingly did no good on the old one either.
It was a little frustrating, but easy to correct once I figured out that it's a smart and simple design.

 

I see what you mean. I doubt that connection will slide on mine either. It wasn't too painful to undo the steering box with air tools however I overshot the adjustment and now it's at 11 o'clock when I drive down the road. I think the key is to lock the box with the centering bolt and then align the shaft at the steering wheel side. I marked it with a chisel a while back so I know where center on the passenger compartment side of the shaft is, the box was too unwieldy when it was disconnected for me to make the adjustment I needed. At least now i have a feel for where the lockbolt needs to be, based on where it was earlier today when the steering wheel was at 1 o'clock, and where it is now with the steering wheel at 11 o'clock. I just need to split the difference and that should get me close enough to where I can use the drag link adjustment outlined in the RAVE to dial in the last bit.

 

I'm interested in learning any other guidance you have on this topic - my steering is also centered at about 1:00 (previous owner stated that he replaced the drag link and track rod - presumably this is where I need to make my adjustment).

This said, my steering shaft is very creaky and needs to be replaced anyway. It doesn't look like Lucky8 has one on their site anymore either

 

call them. their site is pretty terrible and often doesn't show what they actually have.

 

It's there, you have to search the part number. $148 delivered.