I have a fully restored 1969 Camaro with a 350. It has a stock power steering system including a stock quick ration gearbox. All steering and suspension parts have less than 5,000 miles. I have wider than stock tires, 205/55 R16s on the front which are 24.9” high by 8.1” Wide. This car is mostly stock so the weight should be close to original.

The problem I’m experiencing is, the steering is very hard to turn at idle/stop when the car has driven long enough to reach maximum temps for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes I have to increase the RPM to turn the wheel. I have replaced the pump, gearbox and hoses 3 times over the last 5 years because eventually the pump starts making noise all the time. The most recent replacement was 2 weeks ago and yesterday I experienced the same problem after driving about 20 miles. The temps outside were very mild.

This problem occurred with both the stock radiator system and now a 4 core aluminum radiator with electric fan. The engine temps have been good with the most recent PS equipment. Also, I used Dextron III fluid.

Does anyone have any ideas? I can’t afford to keep doing this. Do I need a more powerful pump to turn the wider tires? If so, how do I go about finding one and will the gearbox handle it? I see a lot of Gen 1s with large tires. Am I the only one with this problem?

 

Not sure what the radiator and fan would have to do with it unless you have a power steering cooler run through it.
I think there are probably a variety of higher output pumps available and possibly a power steering cooler would help.

 

The 16 inch tires are the issue
You put some pizza cutter 14's on the car and retest it for lack of assist and it'll pass
That will save you the cost of replacing 3 more pumps in the next three years
You'll just have to live with the lack of assist with the nice wheels and tires
I personally have not heard of any high volume pump for a GM system yet
Sure do like the electric power steering pumps like the old Subaru XT's had, and some of the new stuff have