This product has received the 'Crappy Product' certificate.
Items that receive the 'Crappy Product' certificate are products that we carry for comparison purposes as they are often the version offered by other vendors or because it is the only version available. We would not be willing to use these parts on our own cars, and we do not recommend purchasing these parts.
WE ARE NOT ABLE TO ACCEPT RETURNS FOR THESE PARTS.
Product Condition Grades
Below is a general description of what the criteria is for our product condition grades. These are generalizations that are intended to give you an idea of the condition of the product at a quick glance. Because different parts degrade at different rates, there are variances in what the letters represent, please see the products description for details about the condition of any particular product.
A = Excellent / Above Average
B = Average / Some flaws / Good to Excellent Driver Quality
C = Obvious flaws / Poor to Average Driver Quality
D, E, F = Worse, Worser, Worsest
This reproduction steering gear box is for manual steering cars and has a 16:1 ratio, it also has a 1 inch sector short shaft for the Pitman arm.
*The SMB-C was known for breaking sector shafts. There was a factory recall on the SMB-C and they were replaced by the SMB-D.
If you are trying to identify the proper steering box, the box will have a raised casting number of C7ZR-3550-A. The early (prior to approximately 5-1-1967, 01E date on the data plate) steering boxes (both manual steering and power steering) will all have used a 1 inch sector shaft, this in turn corresponds to a Pitman arm with the 1 inch hole. Later boxes all had a 1-1/8" sector shaft and corresponding pitman arms for manual and power steering.
The 16:1 ratio SMB-F box was used for production purposes on those Cougars with the Competition Handling Packages. The SMB-K box (same 16:1 ratio - Power Steering) is identical without a pitman arm. We at WCCC believe that the pitman arms were pre-installed on the steering boxes for use on the assembly line. That is why they have the SMB-F tag number. For those with manual steering and contemplating going to the faster steering box, 4-5/8 turns lock to lock to quicker 3-3/4 turns lock to lock. Understand that there will be more effort involved in turning the steering wheel.
Having issues with wobbly or loose steering? Check out our video on sloppy steering below.