DOES THE HDK SUSPENSION K-MEMBER HANDLE BETTER THAN A T-BAR SUSPENSION?

DionR said

Feels like a manufacturer spec of 2.7 could still be more like 2 turns lock to lock if the turning radius is large in the actual application. I know my brother's Speed Freaks kit required limiting the steering to keep the tires off the frame, no idea what his turns lock to lock ended up at.

I guess my thought being, lower number of turns lock to lock might not really mean a faster steering if it just means you get to the limit sooner. And I don't think just asking how many turns is a useful comparison.

The other factor is steering arm length, among other things. A shorter arm at the spindle will make the wheel turn faster than a long one. And frankly, the stock A-Body arm is probably longer than a lot of the M2 based suspension arms. It's one of the things that push us into 18" wheels if we want wide tires, among other things.

Too bad there isn't a longer pitman and idler arm like the E-Bodies have an option for.

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Yeah the true ratio is tied to the actual steering geometry so that's probably why the advertised ratio numbers for the aftermarket boxes/racks don't quite line up with the lock to lock number of turns compared to factory. Although given that the total steering distance is similar I wouldn't think you'd need to limit it a ton if the track width was similar, and with the HDK I would imagine most folks have the hub to hub about as wide as it can be, so, pretty similar to the factory numbers.

You can get fast ratio pitman and idlers for A-bodies, they just don't clear the vast majority of the exhaust systems out there. I think the Schumacher Tri-Y's for 440 in an A-body are the only ones known to work.

Although now I think a 1.5:1 quickener and an EPAS system would take care of the ratio issue. Heck you could do a 2:1 quickener if the EPAS motor would keep up. But that would be like ~1.5 turns lock to lock, which would ridiculous on the street.