FLAMING RIVER CONTROL VALVE & BALL STUD ASEMBLY

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In 2004, Flaming River introduced their own new reproduction power steering Control Valves & Ball Stud assemblies and Power Cylinders. Below is a tear-down and examination of the unit typically sold for use on the 1968 to 1970 Mustang. This unit is specific to those years because it has the 5/16" size pressure port, but is essentially the same as valves used on pre-1968 valves that used the 1/4" size port.

This Control Valve & Ball Stud assembly was removed from a 1969 Mustang after about 500 miles of operation. It is not known if all Flaming River units are constructed exactly like this one or if any improvements or changes have been made on subsequent valves. This examination is a comparison of a Flaming River unit compared to a typical OEM Bendix unit and is intended only to show the similarities and differences between the two.

While the Flaming River control valve looks pretty much like the original Bendix valve, virtually every piece is different in construction or design. The valve assembly shown above consists of 58 separable parts, only 14 of which seem to be identical to original parts. The assembly appears to be a all new construction without using any pre-existing replacement parts. In fact, many pieces from the Flaming River valve and an original Bendix valve will not interchange between the two. The Flaming River valve cannot be considered a "concours" replacement for the original Bendix unit. The Flaming River valve incorporates features found in so many different versions of the Bendix valve that it isn't like any exact Bendix valve ever built.

The End Cap is aluminum like the original, but is much heavier. Instead of a smooth casting, it appears to have been turned on a lathe or a casting made from a lathe turning. It uses a hardware-store style round-head screw and lockwasher instead of the original filister-head style screws.

Under the End Cap, the locking nut is a nylon-insert replacement type, the spring retainers are white plastic instead of yellow or blue, The washer under the nut and under the bottom retainer are not like the originals nor are they identical to each other, so they shouldn't be mixed up. The centering spring and spacer inside are like original pieces.

The Spacer Plate is stamped like the originals, but is roughly machine surfaced on both sides. One side is roughly ground and beveled as seen in the larger picture. This re-surfacing was probably done because SSBC valves had a problem with plates being warped from the stamping process.