What would you all prefer on steering ratio on a light car? I'm going to buy a new 525 GM Borgeson box and I see they come in a 16 to 1 ratio along with the stock 24 to 1. It seems like the one I got on it now requires a lot of turning compared to the reversed Corvair I had on my A. May be wrong but I think they were 20 to 1. I would think it'd be worth the 40 extra bucks and with a 6 inch pitman arm and a 15 inch steering wheel it ought to be about right. Opinions?
A steering box ratio is only a small part of what makes up how many turns of steering wheel it takes to turn a given corner!! The size of pitman arm box to steering rod,can be made longer to use less turns for same corner. Also the other spot that in cases is EZer to mod,maybe the arm off the spindle,make that shorter,will make steering faster. ether one of those two mods,< only one of is needed! Maybe much less work or even lower cost then another steering box{ If box works smooth and is already mounted well,making no need to replace !
So if I understand correctly, you have a standard 24:1 ratio 525 on the car now? Have you driven it much? As mentioned you can do a few things to help the response vs wheel input. Before shortening the spindle steering arm check the tire to drag link clearance at full left turn to see if that will work. But to your question, I have rebuilt a number and / reversed a number of 525 boxes of both ratios for friend's hot rods. Both will work in a light car. I have found that the biggest factor in which ratio guys are happy with lies with their preference in steering wheel diameter. The guys that like a larger steering wheel usually are not happy with the fast 16:1 box. It's all personal preference.
Possibly more specific details of what you are building would help. To just say a ‘light car’ doesn’t really say a lot. Your Model A may have been built only utilising 50% of box turning ability, - depending on pitman arm length, steering stops, etc, - we don’t know. I’ve said it before: The more specific information that you give, will get you a much better result from the experienced ones on here.......
My steering arms can't be no shorter, calipers are in the way. Pitman arm is 6 inches, steering wheel is 15. The S10 box on there now is a 525, 24-1, it's a little worn, a lot of miles on it, and driving it just seems like it would handle better with quicker steering. The model A had a reversed corvair, 20 to 1 I think with the same front tire size, BBC in both, same steering arms but it had a 7 inch pitman arm. My 33 plymouth I have now is set up pretty much the same as the A.
My Fairlane has a 16:1 box that you can steer with one finger driving around town, when i removed the power steering from the car the only difference in the steering was the pittman arm and idler arm length. After twenty years I can't remember witch one got the shorter parts but I'm thinking it was manual steering.
I just went through this with my 40 Ford Pickup. Its 2,450 lbs and has a Superbell I beam axle with a 5" drop. The PO installed a Saginaw 525 box of 1969 vintage, 24:1. Recently, I was making a sharp left turn in a parking lot and heard a crunch. I limped her home and began the research. When I looked for a new replacement, I noticed Borgeson offered both original and 16:1 ratios. I was happy with the 24:1 ratio but decided to go with 16:1. It should be noted that the 16:1 box requires more effort at low/no speed. It took me about three days of driving to get used to the quicker ratio and honestly, the effort at low/no speed is not much more than before. If you parallel park a lot then maybe, but the quicker ratio is nicer at speed. Oh, and my steering wheel is 16". I hope this helps.
I ordered the 16 to 1 box, the car is fairly light and I don't care for the 24 to 1 so I figured I'd give it a try. I did call them and they were little help which surprised me. They use all new stuff which I liked, done had my fill of 'rebuilt' crap. They do offer a lot of rebuild parts at good prices if anyone is interested.
I have bought a lot of their stuff over the years and it's always has been quality stuff. I am a bit surprised that you didn't get better tech support. I have not called for a few years, but my experience has been good.
I really wish the 24-1 525 box on my '33 Plymouth was 16-1! It is WAY too many turns, but does steer super easy. I think a new 16-1 is in my future but got a lot to do before Bonneville so it will stay until after then. Dave
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