1969 cadillac deville power steering

[1969cadillac]

hello!

i have found the steering on this car to be good at low speed driving and parking,

but too light when driving at 50 - 60 mph - there is too little feel due to the over assistance

and one can easily end up off the road !

is there a kit available to vary the assistance - so that it is kept light at low speeds and tightens

progressively as speed increases ??

thankyou, Murray Mules

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Murray,

You soon learn to steer with one finger in these cars.

What pressure are you running in your tyres?

Bruce.

[Dave Shepherd]

There are several companies that can modify the gear box for a firmer feel. One just may be Firm Feel Steering, or powersteering.com.

[TJ Hopland]

My first though after reading this is are you running radial tires?    A 69 would have come with bias tires and therefore the alignment specs are for bias tires.  Using those specs for radials often results in a pretty squirrely ride at highway speeds.   I had a car that was like that and I spent a lot of money trying to 'tighten' up the front end to solve the problem before I figured out it was the alignment specs.  Mine did not have power steering so that was never a thought but I could imagine that if I had it I would have suspected it was the problem.    My car you felt like you had to keep both hands on the wheel anytime you were over about 50 mph.  You didnt dare take a hand off to change radio stations.   If I am remembering correctly bias tires specs were often pretty close to 0 on everything.  With radials there is usually some toe and a lot of caster.  Caster made the big difference.  After that I was comfortable driving it like any other car.   I dont think the front suspension changed on those cars till 77 so you could likely use specs from something like a 75 that had radials.  I could be wrong about the specs and similar years.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Toe-in on Bias Ply Tyres is usually 1/8" to 3/16", but with Radials, 1/16".

Bruce.

[Chuck Swanson]

My 69 Fleetwood Limo was aligned this summer to the specs in book.  Goes straight down the road with radials...can let go of the wheel for over 10 secs...straight as an arrow.  82 K miles.

[Dave Shepherd]

The key to aligments on cars not designed for radials is getting some positive caster, many 50's and some 60's cars had negative caster, with radials, the steering, can be " twitchy". In my shop at times we spend a lot of effort to get to positive catser as the oe adjustment range does not always allow this. Toe- in is  really a function of steering design, the more linkages there are in the steering mechanism the more stack-up of play there is, so a little more toe compensates for this as the wheels roll outward when  speed increases, due to this normal slight  play in the steering linkage.  Modern cars with rack and pinion are much closer to 0 toe as there are only tie rod ends and there is no play if everything is in good shape.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Murray,
All the suggestions above regarding tires, alignment, etc. hold true.  However, what you describe sounds like you might have a "quick" steering box.  Originally there were three different steering boxes for vehicles produced in 1969.  There were two "variable ratio" boxes for the Eldorado and the Deville/Calis series, each of which had a different steering ratio.  Then there was the non-variable ratio box for the commercial chassis, intended for lower speed use and more low speed maneuvering.  The CC box is "quicker" than the other two.
All that  said, you may note that when you want a rebuilt steering box, most rebuilders offer the same part number for all vehicles of that year.  They take the cores in, do not segregate them by application, and turn them out as a "1969 Cadillac steering box". 
I am not saying that is what happened to your car sometime in it's past, but I know from personal experience that can happen, and it can result in symptoms as you are describing.
Check the Alignment, the tires, and all the peripherals first.
Greg Surfas

[dadscad]

Murry,

I run radials on my 63 and found, as has been suggested by others here, that the alignment will make a world of difference in how the car drives and handles. I completely rebuilt the front end on my car and set the alignment to factory specification on caster, camber but put the toe in at 3/32" The car was a handfull to keep between the lines to say the least. I left the camber at factory specification and added positive caster in 1/2° increments. I stopped adding positive caster at 1-1/2°. With that caster setting, the car handles much like a modern car, I may try adding another 1/2° positive caster next time I do an alignment, for a little more tracking stability. I've driven it like it is for about 20K, so it is not bad at all, as is.

The factory preferred specification for 63 was 0° left camber, -1/4° right camber, -1° caster and 3/16" toe in. The current settings I have on my car are 0° left camber, -1/4° right camber, +1-1/2° caster and 3/32" toe in. I don't have the 1969 factory preferred settings handy to compair with 63, but I suspect they are very similar. Maybe my experience in altering the settings on my car will help you find a suitable alternate with your car.

HTH,
David