Borgeson or Firm Feel steering?

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Dartvader440gt

Dartvader440gt

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On my 69 Dart resto. Since I am replacing the steering box, the old one is leaking and has play in it, should I go with Borgeson or Firm Feel? I know the Borgeson is smaller and lighter. Other than the column steering rod modification is there anything else I need to watch for? Is the header clearance better? I have Firm Feel in my 69 Sport Satellite convert and it's been great.

I have the K-frame out and will re-enforce with some extra welding that I've seen in other posts.
What are your thoughts?

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I love my Borgeson. Big time quick ratio WITH assist.
 
I installed a Borgeson in my 'vert. It was great. Firm and precise, with a quick ratio. Really, it's a better setup for windy roads than my fastback with manual steering, which, while precise, is dog slow.
 
I am often surprised to hear that guys haven't heard that the Borgeson unit can be bought and installed without cutting the column. Where have you been? It has been at least 10 years that the universal coupler has been available. Peter Bergman, a sponsor of this site, sells a complete kit with the coupler included. This makes the Borgeson unit a total bolt in deal, reversible if you ever want to use the steering box somewhere else.
No matter what they do, Firm Feel will always have that free play in the middle of travel. This is a design feature/defect of the factory unit and no parts swapping or machining can overcome it. The Borgeson is an improved design. No slop and the ratio is better.
 
Bergman Auto Craft sells a Borgeson coupler that attaches to column like a stock coupler. So your steering shaft doesn't need to be modified. I went from manual to power and just slid the shaft in to reduce length. Zero mods to anything on the car none.

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Oh and Bergman coupler uses a set screw vs a roll pin. So no more pounding pin in and out to remove coupler from steering box. Back set screw out pull coupler off steering box easy peasy pain free.
 
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I have a Firm Feel Stage 2 PS box in my '70 Duster, it's great but if I did it again I'd go with the Borgeson. Too bad it didn't exist back in 2008, that was one of the first upgrades I did to my car.
 
I have a flaming river power box on my B Body it’s Meh. I’d go with a borgeson one if I had a do over.
 
I had my original PS box rebuilt by Lares (standard rebuild) 4 years ago. Its mounted on the K frame along with the engine/trans, ready to be slid under the body and installed. I'm starting to have second thoughts about the standard PS box rebuild, and giving serious thought to upgrading it now, while its easy to do. Found this thread today about the Borgeson box and am seriously interested in getting one. The only thing that concerns me is there may be a need to install an oil cooler, which I really don't want to do. My engine is stock 273 with stock manifolds, no interest in putting headers on this car. Is the oil cooler needed only for installs with headers, or stock setups as well?
 
Bob Jasinski said:
I had my original PS box rebuilt by Lares (standard rebuild) 4 years ago. Its mounted on the K frame along with the engine/trans, ready to be slid under the body and installed. I'm starting to have second thoughts about the standard PS box rebuild, and giving serious thought to upgrading it now, while its easy to do. Found this thread today about the Borgeson box and am seriously interested in getting one. The only thing that concerns me is there may be a need to install an oil cooler, which I really don't want to do. My engine is stock 273 with stock manifolds, no interest in putting headers on this car. Is the oil cooler needed only for installs with headers, or stock setups as well?
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scrap that standard box , call pete at @BergmanAutoCraft and let him set you up with the borgenson box. you will be happy you did. i put one in our dart back in june. no cooler on it and its been fine. I'm running 340 manifolds. did a 5000 mile road trip in the car in October and it performed flawlessly. that box with a more modern alignment make these old cars feel light years better.
 
The cooler helps if you're driving a heavier car with wider tires driven in a manner that is more aggressive than the average car.
 
abodyjoe said:
scrap that standard box , call pete at @BergmanAutoCraft and let him set you up with the borgenson box. you will be happy you did. i put one in our dart back in june. no cooler on it and its been fine. I'm running 340 manifolds. did a 5000 mile road trip in the car in October and it performed flawlessly. that box with a more modern alignment make these old cars feel light years better.
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Thanks for the feedback, that's the reply I was hoping for.

Kern Dog said:
The cooler helps if you're driving a heavier car with wider tires driven in a manner that is more aggressive than the average car.
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The '65 is not a heavy car and I just want good handling. I like the idea of a 14:1 ratio with good road feel, I'm also putting in 1.03 torsion bars from PST, and of course modern radials.
 
I run a cooler with my Borgeson box because the header tubes wrap all around the box. The Borgeson does deliver on the modern car steering feel. I got my kit from Bergman Auto Craft outstanding customer service.
 
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