Any down sides of going Borgeson vs Firm Feel?

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DrEamer

I suffer from cars on the brain!
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I'm going through the steering/front suspension right now on the Challenger. Since I bought the car as a shell, I have no idea what the power steering box condition is, and I don't feel like risking taking it back out after the engine is back in. So, I looked into Firm Feel at a cost of $425, but add shipping in, and probably another $100. At that point I am close to a Borgeson unit at Summit pricing. It seems like a no brainer, to spend the little extra and get a little better ratio,plus more header clearance. The car is not numbers matching, so that is the only reason I could think of keeping it. Any input would be appreciated from those who have the Borgeson as well.
 
Not sure on E bodies but on A bodies you need (as I understand) the Borgeson box for a Gen III Hemi swap if you want PS and TTI headers.

I have a Stage III box. Shipping to Vancouver Wa wasn't bad.
 
isn't firm feel a Pacific NW business? so shipping to Oregon shouldn't be horrible. Or maybe you can just pick it up. A little road trip, maybe?
 
Not trying to start any fights, but I have the Firm Feel on my Dart. Works great. The Borgeson box needed a matching pump, and the column adapter, and the larger of the two fittings. Plus I had to dent the header some more, when I expected to have more room. To do it again, I would use Firm Feel.
 
I can only speak of my ps box for the early A sent out and it came back with level 2. With the factory large steering wheel there is no road wonder, nice feel (we’ll firm feel- laughing) just a pleasure to drive.

as for the fit of the set up to your car- Try forebody web site. Easier to get more people who possibly have a good answer then the few here that may know what your talking about.
 
I would at least talk to Peter at Bergman autocraft ( fabo vendor). Very sharp helpful guy, can't say enough good things about his service ( shipped to my door in ontario canada). Bought a borgeson unit off him 2 years ago and it was a world of difference compared to stock for my son's 70 swinger 360 cid. Sounds like firm feel has good ratings as well. Talk to peter...my .02
 
Firm Feel makes great stuff but they no longer allow you to go there to drop off or pick up - some kind of zoning crap. It is all handled through shipping, which sucks. I live 20 minutes away and pay through the nose when I used to pick it up for free.
 
Firm Feel makes great stuff but they no longer allow you to go there to drop off or pick up - some kind of zoning crap. It is all handled through shipping, which sucks. I live 20 minutes away and pay through the nose when I used to pick it up for free.

I remember someone saying that before, just could not remember who. That is why I figured on shipping. I'm 90 plus minutes away, which is not bad, but right now any trip around, or though Portland is not an adventure I want to take now. I figured shipping at $65 just to get it to them, plus whatever to get it back.

As far as the FEBO board, I am a long standing member there, and really like it, The downside is that their membership is 10 .percent of FABO, and getting answers is actually easier here believe it or not. Now as far as connections to the unit, it is all going to have to be custom no matter which way I go. I plan on using an aftermarket steering column, which means a different u-joint there,and the serpentine belt setup that I want to use is has a GM P series pump as part of it. The P series is inline with the Borgeson unit, but I don't know about the Firm Feel.
 
I think anything is an improvement over the stock vague feel and over assit.
my 70 aar had the optional fast ratio power steering box, and except for my rack & pinion police intrepids, and 5.7 hemi police charger, it was the best handling mope I've ever driven. Come to think of it my 79 300 had pretty good feel, too, but that was a factory "firm feel" police box in those.
 
my 70 aar had the optional fast ratio power steering box, and except for my rack & pinion police intrepids, and 5.7 hemi police charger, it was the best handling mope I've ever driven. Come to think of it my 79 300 had pretty good feel, too, but that was a factory "firm feel" police box in those.

The power steering in my 66 Coronet 500 sucked even with a 440 in the nose. A Firm Feel stage 1 was a mega upgrade.
 
I daily drive a '73 Dart with Borgeson P/S-box.
One thing to consider is the weight(loss) of the Borg-box. It's quite a bit lighter than the bulkcarrier-anchor stock unit.

I had to use 2 hands to remove the old worn PS-box, while I could install the Borg-unit with one hand.
 
Not sure if this applies to you, but on my gen iii swap(e body), I bought headers first, tti, then looked at steering boxes. Wrong order for my project. You need the right headers for the Borgeson box depending on the direction you are going. I bought a bunch of stuff and had my box rebuilt by FF. Good people to deal with. I wanted the weight loss from that Borgeson box....
 
I'm going through the steering/front suspension right now on the Challenger. Since I bought the car as a shell, I have no idea what the power steering box condition is, and I don't feel like risking taking it back out after the engine is back in. So, I looked into Firm Feel at a cost of $425, but add shipping in, and probably another $100. At that point I am close to a Borgeson unit at Summit pricing. It seems like a no brainer, to spend the little extra and get a little better ratio,plus more header clearance. The car is not numbers matching, so that is the only reason I could think of keeping it. Any input would be appreciated from those who have the Borgeson as well.
You might try these guys.
The were less than firm feel and had quicker turnaround time. I went with the sport ‘feel’ and it’s great.
https://www.steerandgear.com/chrysler-online-catalog
 
I can only speak of my ps box for the early A sent out and it came back with level 2. With the factory large steering wheel there is no road wonder, nice feel (we’ll firm feel- laughing) just a pleasure to drive.

as for the fit of the set up to your car- Try forebody web site. Easier to get more people who possibly have a good answer then the few here that may know what your talking about.
Not true, I go over there and ask question's about my Challenger and it's Tumbleweeds.:lol:
 
I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. If had to do mine I would probably use FF or steerandgear. Only beacause mine's # matching.
 
Not true, I go over there and ask question's about my Challenger and it's Tumbleweeds.:lol:
AHHH! I stand corrected. I did not know that that site is not as popular as our only measly cheap abodies - laughing out loud because I thought B and E body guys would be glad to tell how to be as cool as they are.:rofl:
 
AHHH! I stand corrected. I did not know that that site is not as popular as our only measly cheap abodies - laughing out loud because I thought B and E body guys would be glad to tell how to be as cool as they are.:rofl:

too busy wiping the road grime from under the car after it's once a week outing...:rolleyes:
 
I would at least talk to Peter at Bergman autocraft ( fabo vendor). Very sharp helpful guy, can't say enough good things about his service ( shipped to my door in ontario canada). Bought a borgeson unit off him 2 years ago and it was a world of difference compared to stock for my son's 70 swinger 360 cid. Sounds like firm feel has good ratings as well. Talk to peter...my .02

I just got off the phone with Peter, a lot of good information. He said that the main advantage with the Borgeson is how much more accurate they feel verses the older original units, and driving more on center. He compared the steering effort close to the Firm Feel stage 2, or a little stiffer. it sounds what I am looking for, and he will get my order tonight.

AHHH! I stand corrected. I did not know that that site is not as popular as our only measly cheap abodies - laughing out loud because I thought B and E body guys would be glad to tell how to be as cool as they are.:rofl:

Wow, making fun of the E body guys with a E body guy in the room , you guys are harsh. :rofl: All joking aside, I plan on driving this car often, and enjoying it. Life is too short to have a trailer queen.
 
I'm sure you'll be very happy . All i can say is , i had a great experience with Peter at Bergman Autocraft AND my wife will actually hop in my sons dart to run to the store and not come back for 3 hours because she was having too much fun cruising around ! She says it drives like a newer car.
 
“Wow, making fun of the E body guys with a E body guy in the room , you guys are harsh. “

nah! But as an Abody guy for about 35 years- I’ve taken a lot of crap from B and E body guys about how “low on the totum pole we are.” It’s never - “hey great, another MoPar.” And not a Chevy or Ford. We sometimes get treated worse than that. It’s kinda personal for me. Maybe others have felt or feel differently. But E body and B body guys especially with Hemi or big blocks are pretty Pompous. Check out Moparts.com.
You really will be put in your place there as an Abody person. Anyhow 99% of the people here are open and welcoming. Sorry if I come across as the 1%. I’m not really. Ya just hit a sore spot- all good.
 
Not exactly apples to apples but I went with the Borgenson on my 440 B Body. I have Doug's 2" headers and the clearance is awesome. A word of warning, I bought mine through Jegs instead of Bergman and its sat on a shelf for over a year, installed it on my K member and didnt think anything about it, the box said it was an 1-1/8 sector. Several months go by and go to put my steering linkage together and it's actually an 1-1/4. Jegs said they will swap it out but I have to pay return shipping because it's been so long...So check it as soon as you get it if it's going to sit for any amount of time. The box I recieved mine in looked as if it had never been opened...so I'm not sure who is at fault.
 
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“Wow, making fun of the E body guys with a E body guy in the room , you guys are harsh. “

nah! But as an Abody guy for about 35 years- I’ve taken a lot of crap from B and E body guys about how “low on the totum pole we are.” It’s never - “hey great, another MoPar.” And not a Chevy or Ford. We sometimes get treated worse than that. It’s kinda personal for me. Maybe others have felt or feel differently. But E body and B body guys especially with Hemi or big blocks are pretty Pompous. Check out Moparts.com.
You really will be put in your place there as an A body person. Anyhow 99% of the people here are open and welcoming. Sorry if I come across as the 1%. I’m not really. Ya just hit a sore spot- all good.

No problem at all. I started life as a A body guy, and never regretted my roots with them. I can't think of one of my local Mopar friends that is not an A body guy. I do know what you mean by saying some of the E/B body owners are pompous. Some of them even turn on other E/B body owners because they don't have a numbers matching whatever. Personally a car is more then a fender tag.
 
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i have the firm feel stage 2 and it is a 1000% improvement over the OEM box , no wander at speed , feels like a new car , tracks straight with no loosey goosey steering feel . I'm sure the Borgeson is as good or better plus it saves weight
 
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