Help me out please

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Steve Agrella

Steve Agrella

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Torn on which way to go, I have a 74 Duster with a stock steering box that is pretty sloppy, I want to upgrade it with a firmer feel for the street it’s a daily driver.

I’ve been looking at Borgeson, tight feel and the red head, however don’t know which way to go, I’m leaning towards the borgeson for ease of installation, lighter and smaller but frigging pricey.
Any suggestions or opinions pros or cons with each would be greatly appreciated
 
Firm Feel rebuilds boxes. The rest of the steering must be tight. Tie rod ends, Pitman arm, Idler arm, Ball joints, Bearings adjusted, and a good alignment. You can also use a weaker pressure spring in the pump.
 
Steve Agrella said:
Torn on which way to go, I have a 74 Duster with a stock steering box that is pretty sloppy, I want to upgrade it with a firmer feel for the street it’s a daily driver.

I’ve been looking at Borgeson, tight feel and the red head, however don’t know which way to go, I’m leaning towards the borgeson for ease of installation, lighter and smaller but frigging pricey.
Any suggestions or opinions pros or cons with each would be greatly appreciated
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you're soon becoming one of my favorite for a body only member LOL every time you ask a question it seems like instead of an answer you get 20 questions asked to you!
 
Steer and Gear also does both manual and PS rebuilds. They offer 4 different stages of firmness on thei PS box rebuild. I’d recommend their Stage III which should be comparable to that offered by Firm Feel
 
Steve Agrella said:
Torn on which way to go, I have a 74 Duster with a stock steering box that is pretty sloppy, I want to upgrade it with a firmer feel for the street it’s a daily driver.

I’ve been looking at Borgeson, tight feel and the red head, however don’t know which way to go, I’m leaning towards the borgeson for ease of installation, lighter and smaller but frigging pricey.
Any suggestions or opinions pros or cons with each would be greatly appreciated
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You have already tried adjusting yours?
 
And you never will, that is how they are built.
What you may be feeling is the torsion sensing system, that determines how much boost to provide based on how far and how fast you are turning the steering wheel.
It is real easy to change that though. The part that makes it SEEM sloppy is called a reaction spring. You can buy a package of 5(IIRC) of those at the dealer, and slam 3 of them in there in a couple of hours. It will get rid of that over-assist and mushy feel at the same time.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
And you never will, that is how they are built.
What you may be feeling is the torsion sensing system, that determines how much boost to provide based on how far and how fast you are turning the steering wheel.
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The play I’m feeling is from the center position of the steering wheel, I have an inch play both ways from center.
Everything in the front end is new except the box
 
AJ - Is it hard to change reaction springs? Can I do it with the box still in the car? My power steering works ok, but has zero road feel.
 
I went with the Firm Feel stage 3. It's tight and steers great. Plenty of power assist and not over assisted like the original. They offer the coupler rebuild kit as well. Call Matt and speak to him.
 
Mike69cuda said:
AJ - Is it hard to change reaction springs? Can I do it with the box still in the car? My power steering works ok, but has zero road feel.
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I hear you on the over-boosted road feel.
No I doubt you can do it in frame,at least not without the factory nut-tool,and you would have to remove the column; but the box drops out the bottom pretty easy, even with Headers. Watch out it is surprisingly heavy. I only added 2springs the first time and a week later I added a third. IMO it's best to have the box in a vise, but even that is optional. While it's out this is a good time to put new seals in it.
The FSM tells you to use certain specialty tools , but I got away without them. Honestly that box is real simple. Once it is on the bench, you can have it apart in minutes.
 
Mike69cuda said:
My power steering works ok, but has zero road feel.
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Even when these cars were brand new that's how it was. You could drive a car with one finger and not feel a thing. Oh, unless your honey was snuggled up beside you on the bench seat.
 
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