Steering: 54 Commander steering is hard to the right

[wdills]

Took our 54 Commander coupe out for its first test drive last night after a few months of fixing minor problems. The car doesn't seem to pull to the right or left. When turning to the left, the steering is quite easy, actually easier than my 61 Hawk. But when I turn to the right the steering takes a lot more force. The transition point from low effort to more effort steering seems to be when the wheels are pointed straight down the road. It makes for difficult driving because all of your corrections to the right take more force than corrections to the left. The PO said that everything in the front end was replaced / rebuilt during the restoration process. All I can say for sure is that everything appears to be new and tight. All the rubber bushings look new.

Any suggestions as to where I should start looking for the problem?

[Corley]

Just a thought because I recently had this issue, if the tie rod clamp bolts are turned towards the oil pan, there can be interference between the two. If the bolt rubs on the pan a few times during turns, it can poke a hole in the oil pan, in which case you won't need to worry about steering issues any longer. Worth a check. (Sort of a self correcting thing, but not a fix you will like.)

[greyben]

Make sure the steering box is set up correctly in the straight ahead position per the shop manual. If the box tension is adjusted off center a drag will be created as the high spot is passed during a turn in that direction. This can happen if the pitman arm is removed and reinstalled in a different position or if the tie rods are set up incorrectly.

[wdills]

I know I don't have a rub between steering linkage and oil pan. I was thinking that steering box may be a culprit. Will go through the adjustment procedure and see what happens.