Steering: 53 Commander steering/turning radius

[n29we]

Hi All - My 53 Commander has the turning radius of a Mack truck. Is that normal? or has something been changed over the years? thanks

[sals54]

Thats a little vague. Have you measured the radius? If so, you can compare that with specs. Can you post a picture of the wheel with the steering locked over? You may have a steering box out of adjustment.
My 54 Coupe has no trouble making U turns in a normal manner, but I've never measured it. Its manual steering and is greased to the max, so I can still "one finger" the turn. If your steering is really tight, it may be hindering your ability to get locked over while trying to make a U turn. That would make it seem like it does not have a good radius when it may just be taking more effort to get there.

[rockne10]

On my '53, lock to lock has always made a big circle.

[n29we]

turning

On my '53, lock to lock has always made a big circle.

My Golden Hawk can turn circles ( stop to stop) inside the Commanders radius (stop to stop) so I guess the big circle is normal

[Stan.Gundry]

If someone installed an incorrect reach rod, it will increase the turning radius in one direction.

[warrlaw1]

Reach rod, drag link....mine wasn't centered. I could turn left all day but turning right was a problem. Centered it and I'm good, but it still takes a lot of real estate to do a tight turn. I rebuilt the steering box, have new king pins and lube it 'til the grease comes out the top of the king pins. Good luck.

[jclary]

Compared to modern "rack & pinion" systems, all these vintage vehicles have a large turning radius. The development of rack & pinion combined with power steering has pretty much spoiled all of us. Then...there's "ratio," the amount of turns of the steering wheel to the amount of turn of the front car wheels. In addition to turning radius & ratio, an important factor is the diameter of the steering wheel. Many folks, accustomed to the smaller diameter of modern cars, have changed to a smaller steering wheel. Which increases the turns of the steering wheel along with taking more muscle power to turn it.

As far as what I call "modern" cars, some are better than others for turning radius. My Buicks, Fords, Nissans, Toyotas, seemed OK. MY Chrysler New Yorker, Chrysler LHS, & Ram trucks need plenty of room.

[Tom Bredehoft]

The to foot, 4 inch wheelbase on my Commander Coupe is a lot harder to bend around a corner than the 9 foot modern cars, too.