Anyone have this yet how do you rate it? http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/product4438.html

 

probably not.

 

I guess its pretty new. looks like a nice unit.

 

I'd like to hear some feedback on these manual racks, too. Steeroids for example recommends the power assisted R&P, they say that there's some noticable resistance with the manual rack..... I guess I prefer some first hand experience from members who have installed it and can compare 'before/after'.

Getting rid of the power steering pump and all the potential leaks is tempting....

 

I have the steeroids set up know. Not happy with it at all.

 

Why not?

 

The u joints bind no matter how much I adjust and know the u joints are worn out and my steering feels like it did with the original set up. There is allot of deflection in the brackets. The bracket that supports the spherical end bends very easily and needs to be bent back every so often. I noticed they made some changes to the newer kit but it doesnt help me any. When I complain the company they offer to sell me a new u joint at full cost. There is no feedback at the wheel. feels like a cadillac instead of a vette. Any way that's why I would like to get some feedback on this new set up.

 

looks like a nice unit. Would be perfect for drag racing in car my one day. Can't be too hard to turn front skinnies, and one less thing to leak.

Not exactly inexpensive though. I wonder if anyone has apadpted a manual Pinto rack for use in a C3?

 

check the comments here:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1472248

 

Yep I read that thread. Wait until the joints wear from binding. When I cruse at about 55 I constantly wiggle the wheel back and forth and think about the 1200 bucks I spent.

 

I appreciate these real world reviews. It seems all to often that someone buys the new fad product and raves about it before really breaking it in.

You and others have convinced me to not get the steeroids.

 

damn it!

I just found out my manual steering box is shot and was going to upgrade to steeroids. Now I don't know what to do!!
Anyone else have bad reviews of the steeroids? especially the "new" kit?
Its a lot of money. Could you reinforce the brackets on the steeroids? No way I am spending $1200 to have to go back under my car to bend it back every once in a while...with that thought, steeroids should be making these brackets thicker and fix the u-joint problem.

Any feedback on the posted manual rack&pinion??

 

78 Vette, I recall quoting you a replacement double u-joint for around $110. That is pretty close to cost. Retail is $140. Also, our instructions expressly states that the car should not be driven with binding present in the u-joints. You discovered the reason for this warning. The binding quickly destroys the bearings in the u-joints due to excessive load. The reason your bracket is bending is because you are driving a setup that is binding which is placing extreme loads on the support bearing and mount. I STRONGLY recommend that you STOP driving the car until that is properly fixed. You will fatigue the support bracket and your steering will lock up. Driving with a lot of play in the steering is also unsafe. Both issues should be corrected immediately!

 

Maybe you should GIVE the guy a new u joint, I know from experience what a PITA it is to set up correctly even if you have a lift so I can imagine it being nearly impossible to get right on the driveway

 

speed direct, why do so many customers have the same complaints with this u-joint set up? I was considering steeriods for my '79 but i am having second thoughts about it now. Is there something wrong with the engineering on the pieces with this kit?

 

 

straub18045, setup of the double u-joint is, by far, the most difficult part of installing the kit. Sometimes it can be very sensitive to very small adjustments. So it can take some patience to get working properly. We have also found that the geometry of the actual car the system is installed on can play a large role. Many customers can drop the system right in and have things working fairly easily but others have to try every trick in the book to get it to work smoothly. Many factors can affect this situation such as where the body sits on the frame, the condition of the body mounts, condition of the column bearings, location of the factory steering mount holes (they can vary a lot), etc. We try our best to cover all these potential issues in the instructions and we certainly can help with our tech line. The challenge is for us to supply a kit that is a bolt-on that requires no modification to the car such as collapsing the steering column. With that said, we have over 50,000 miles on our test car with no u-joint failures. The car has been driven in all conditions including autocrossing, and road racing and has seen speeds up to 140 mph.

Additionally, we want our customers to be satisfied and we want to improve your car. We are not a sell it and never talk to us again kind of company. If a customer needs a replacement part that is not covered under warranty we will sell it at near cost. We don't need to make money on replacement parts we just want to get you back on the road.

 

I have at one point almost completely eliminated the bind but after a week or so it returns. so I take a pry bar and gently move the spherical end over a tiny bit and it makes it better for another week or two. adjusting the spherical up or down makes it worse. so it is optimum where it is.(least amount of bind in current position) I have had the column completely out of the car and I assure you it is in perfect condition including the new lower bearing in the plastic housing. The body mounts are in excellent condition so the frame to body measurements should be good right? Is there a measuring point somewhere where I can check this? The brackets do have a good amount of flex .I have checked this with a friend of mine. I Believe there are re designed brackets in the later kits so that must be a legit complaint . any chance in getting just the brackets? How about mounting the rack with solid mounts? I'm not worried about a little vibration. My last complaint is an extreme lack of road feel way to much assist what is the correction for this? If you can help me out with these issues I would greatly appreciate it and I thank you. But if all you can tell me is Its not adjusted correctly or I did something wrong then I most likely will be replacing this kit with a jeep steering box or the unit in the above link.

 

Ttt

 

78 Vette, I can probably get you some scratch and dent parts if you are not interested in a pristine appearance. You mentioned that you have an older version of the kit. Are your u-joints connected with a double D shaft or a splined shaft and are they steel or aluminum? We redesigned the driver's side bracket due to some complaints about visual movement in the bearing support. We haven't encountered any failures due to that but a binding u-joint puts far more load on that area and causes it to move significantly more than normal. Also, if you have some digital photos of your u-joint installation it will help us to see if there is anything obvious that we could suggest to help adjust them better. You can e-mail them to salescf@speeddirect.com