firm feel stage 3?

[komninon]

i am ready to order new gear box for my 68.
i am thinking FIRM FEEL stage 3. do you think this is going to cure the play on the steering wheel?
anybody uses one? what do you think?
thank you George.

[knitz01]

It should if all other steering parts are tight. 

[PA Dodger]

I put the stage 2 in. It feels a lot better than the stock setup. without all the loose wishy-washy feeling. I would think the stage 3 would feel more like rack and pinion firm, but I can't say from experience.
Dan

[Mike DC]

The higher stages of "feel" in the steering box are partly just reducing the amount of power-assist that the box gives. 

If you just want it tighter, then you need rebuilt front end bushings & ball joints.  (Even replacing it with another set of normal stock rubber bushings is already a HUGE improvement just because the rubber won't be 40 years old anymore).  Then get a decent rebuilt steering box of any firmness.  And make sure you've got a decent-condition rag joint on the column.


(And it goes without saying, make sure the play adjustment in the stock steering box is already tight before you get crazy with replacing half the car.)

[375instroke]

Rag joint?  You working on a Ford?  Slop does not come from the amount of assist the box and pump supply.  It's from loose or sloppy suspension parts.  The firmness you feel, or lack of, is not caused by the amount of assist the power steering supplies.  It comes from the reaction springs.  Does anyone know what the reaction springs are?  When one turns the steering wheel, the worm gear in the steering box turns.  The sector shaft does not turn yet, and that causes the worm gear to move fore or aft.  This causes a pin to move for or aft, and it is connected to a shuttle valve that directs power steering fluid to one side or the other of the power piston, forcing the sector shaft to move in the direction you want.  If you stop turning the steering wheel, the sector shaft catches up with the worm gear, the worm gear centers, and fluid stops flowing.  The reaction springs center the pin I was talking about, and the force required to compress them is what you feel in the steering wheel.  Wiggle the steering wheel back and forth, and see how much it needs to turn before the pitman arm moves, then make the pitman arm wiggle back and forth and see how much the steering wheel needs to move before the tires wiggle.

[gordo1968charger]

i have a stage 2 in mine,really really happy with it,firm feel rock,i did replace all the front end components as well,no play in the steering at all.

[daytonalo]

couldn't one just restrict the amount of fluid on Pressure side of pump slightly to remove that loose feeling ? I have done this on my Race boats

[challenger70]

There is also allegedly a "super secret" stage 4 they have but do not advertise.

[Mike DC]

   
Stage 4? 

Man, you'd think people would just give in and run a manual steering box at some point.



It's not like the power assist is a free deal. The PS setups are much heavier than manuals and the pump draws horsepower off the motor. 

And you can rig up manual steering ratios all the way into the power-assisted range if you know what to buy. 

[AmadeusCharger500]

Guys at firm feel told me stage 3 is basically gonna feel like manual.

I like all my stage 2 setups, but then again I just cruise around town.

[lisiecki1]

what about rack/pinion conversions?  i thought i saw something like that in a magazine.......any advantage?

[Rubberduck]

I have a Stage 3 in my ´68 Charger.
Also rebuild the frontend.
The feel is a big difference compared to the stock gearbox. Steering is like in my BMW 525 now.

And, no it doesen´t feel like a manual steering. It´s just tight. And that´s the way it´s supposed to be.

I would do this again because it´s definitely an improvement. 



Mario

[Paul w]

  What sort of price is this stage 3 unit and what is involved in the swap to stage 3 

[gordo1968charger]

just put a stage 3 box in.nothing else to change

[Rubberduck]

Here´s all you need:

http://www.firmfeel.com/powerst.htm





Mario

[gordo1968charger]

only complaint i had with firm feel was there was a 6 week build time,but it was well worth the wait,as usual the good weather was while i was waiting around for parts

[Hemidog]

To the people that bought stage 2/3; why did you choose that exact stage?

[Rubberduck]

The Stage 3 is supposed to feel like a European steering ( Mercedes or BMW ).
That´s what I wanted - so I ordered the Stage 3 for my Charger.




Mario

[cougs]

I have been looking at FF's steering boxes for a while I am about to order the stage three.  My steering box has a backyard rebuilt (by my buddy reading the directions)  and I'm convinced it is a deathtrap (doesn't center, sloppy, etc) and no amount of adjustment fixes it.  Other than that problem the front end on my '68 is completely rebuilt so I think the FF stage 3 will work well. 

How difficult is to install on a '68?  Will I need to unbolt the engine mounts and jack up the block?  What about FF's fast ratio pitman arms and idler arms?  Who has them and what do you think?

Brock

[Rolling_Thunder]

couldn't one just restrict the amount of fluid on Pressure side of pump slightly to remove that loose feeling ? I have done this on my Race boats

yes...     It is common on the guys doing the 6.1L Hemi swaps as is anyone using a mopar or Ford P/S box with a GM pump...     the GM pump puts out something like ~1350psi...   while the mopar and ford systems use a ~900psi range ---  this causes an overly light and "loose" feeling because the power assist is too much.   The fix is to internally go into the PS pump and add spacers into the pressure valve...  making the bypass spring stiffer and decreasing the pressure. - this trick can be applied to the gear boxes as well (insert Firm Feel's products) - but the result is the same.

[chargerbr549]

Here's a link on mopar power steering pumps that might be of interest.
http://www.bigblockdart.com/techpages/pspumps.shtml

Kevin