I've got a Vega box in my 29 and it steers like a dream. I think the Vega box looks a little more "old school" if you know what I mean and I am very happy with it. Easy to install also. Where in SE Wisc? Richland Center here. Can't understand all these people crying about the weather here, It's been like this for a loooooooong time. Makes you enjoy summer more.
got a unisteer on my 32 panel thing. it will have fenders,,i thought by the time all the money was added up you could have the rack for a few dollars less at the time. feels good setting still. car is a project and not driveable. only my opinion
I have dirven a friends 32 with the unisteer. It steered very easy but the turning radius was huge. It took 3 back ups to get it in my garage where my 32 with a vega just turns in.
How is your turning radius? Do you have the rack tierod end attached to the outer eye of the right spindle itself or do you use an aftermarket tierod end on the tierod tube that has a hole to attach the tierod end from the rack into??? Andy...how was your friends 32 configured?
His steering is hooked to the second hole on the steering arm. Moving it to a boss on the tie rod would help. He wants to get a vega but the unisteer is mounted too for forward for a quick switch.
Yes...thats what I was thinking. Obviously the unit wasn't designed for use in Hot Rods or the wide turn radius would have been addressed during the designing process. I'd like to know EXACTLY what this Rack was adapted from so we can decide for ourselves just how suitable it is for Hot Rod use. Is it from machinery or some other style vehicle? If turn radius is an issue can shorter, bolt-on steering arms be used to increase the maximum turn angle or would the steering become too 'touchy'?
I replaced a Flamin' River Vega ( lasted a solid 10k miles) with a Unisteer. The car became enjoyable to drive again. I did not see much difference in the turning radius, if I did loose anything, it was a more than fair trade. I love the Unisteer.
I would love to know also. My best guess is a golf cart or a "gamma goat" type rec. vehicle. It looks light duty to me. Moving the steering to the tie rod reduces the length of the link. = more prone to bump steer. It is already half the length of a regular cross steer. Shorting the arms would also tend to make it touchey and also bump steer. How much, I don't know. Probably not a problem. I am happy with my vega. Been on the road since 91. 7 trips to LARS. 2 to CHRR. Most of the early R&C Americruses. No probs. Next build will probably be a 37-48 Ford box just to go more traditional.
Had to go thru some old threads but contact hamber da34guy as he has a trick to make them turn sharper. He gave a phone number of 928-445-7637. He said it's easier to tell over the phone than try to post it.
Sorry to hijack the thread , But I have seen some cars run Uni-steer on the side of the frame for side steer. And was wondering if that really works? Thanks,DUCKMAN
I have it on my 32. I only have about 6000 miles so far but I have no complaints. It's solid and responsive.
#1 Unisteer was developed for the street rod industry by Maval #2 Yes they do have a larger turning radius #3 With a 15 minute modification they will have the same turning radius as a vega. #4 Set up properly the is NO BUMP STEER #5 Give me a call and I'll walk ya thru it 928-445-RODS (7637)
Two and three really make me question ONE. If it were developed directly for the "Street Rod" industry, why does it require modification to give a tight turning radius? You would think that the original designer would have put enough teeth on the rack to allow the steering stops at the spindle to do they're job instead of having the box bring up internally. Now I have no idea just how the box stops internally, but I have bad feelings that it might simply be the pinion binding into the rack and potentually causing tooth damage to the unit. Maybe thats not the case...there just might be a designed in internal stop with no tooth contact at all...but it just doesn't seem right to have to modify something if its already expressly designed for the use its being given. Early Ford spindles and stop nuts didn't change, nor did the required amount of angle to hit those steering stops. Why does the Uni-steer come up short???? This is simply an interesting question I'd like to see an answer to, not a knock against the unit or idea. True...it's a little too high-tech for my personal tastes and I don't see anything about a regular box that needs this kind of fix anyway...BUT theres nothing wrong with using one if it turns your crank! I just don't see how they could miss the turn radius thing if the box was actually developed for use with early Ford straight axles as they claim.
I have a Vega on my Deuce roadster but tried a Uni-Steer on my Deuce 3W. The Uni-Steer drives GREAT but it takes a 40 acre field to turn around in. I read most of the posts here on the HAMB about Uni-Steer and most everyone said the same thing. I had started looking for a good used Vega to retro fit to the 3W with no results. I drove the 3W about a thousand miles and finally decided to do something about it. When I installed the Uni-Steer ... I centered up the steering like you do on a Vega box. The 3W turned great to the left but the right was terrible. It would not allow the wheels turn LOCK to LOCK. So I undone the Uni-Steer, turned the wheels all the way to the right and then hooked up the Uni-Steer with the rack turned all the way to the right. NOW ... the wheels turn LOCK to LOCK and I really like the Uni-Steer. I may convert the roadster to a Uni-Steer this summer ... when I start a freshen up on it.
I read that Uni-Steer makes a unit for 37-40 Fords---but won't work on "lowered" cars--like drop axles! WTF? How many 37-40 Fords DON'T have drop axles? I've got a Flaming River Vega box in my 37, had to replace the original Vega box I had in it for like 25 years because of a cracked housing. I've never liked the F.R. box because: 1. worked good at first--but then started to "feel" loose--needed adjustment.2. worked good again--then needed adjustment. 3. etc--you get the picture.It doesn't need much adjustment--maybe 1/4 turn, but makes a difference. Anybody have first-hand info on the 37-40 Uni-steer?
I have ran vega boxes on a few different 32 or 33 fords. There is a major difference in between Flaming River, Mullins, and junk yard vegas. The flaming river boxes were very quick steering almost scary, the junk yard boxes are a crap shoot, I have had 2 mullins boxes that were great. They just drive better.
You could also use a Saginaw 525 steering box (sold by Borgeson). It will use the same vega box 3 bolt mount, but is more heavy duty than the vega. It will need a larger input coupler and a larger pitman arm (for the output shaft of the box). The vega boxes that I had before this, all developed play in the steering after a couple of years. I have a heavier car (3000 lbs), with a big block. So far a lot less play in the steering.
Anyone know what the steering ratio aspect is on a Uni-steer? I want to add a steering quickener but need to know the ratio to figure out if I need a 1:5 or 2:0 quickener. I get no responce from Uni-steer.
I have a question for you guys that are using uni-steer racks. What exactly do you like about it? I have not yet driven a car that uses one, but I can't SEE any advantage. A couple of you say you like the way it drives...in what way? Just a question,as I wonder about it when I see one. Here are my only observations on them: They are not attractive, I think they stand out like a sore thumb. I have seen one car where the stub end of the rack stuck out far enough to collide with the driver side hairpin during suspension travel. This was only with the car steered all the way to the right. The car was a Model A with a narrow front axle and spring. So, just be careful and pay attention to this if using one.
I had one on my 32 coupe and I loved it. I am going to put one on my 32 roadster now so anyone that has one they hate drop me a line.
i have one on a 38 pickup i am building, haven't driven it yet, i had a problem with it being to close to the four bar front end when turning to the right, made some adjustments on the bars for more clearance and i think it will be fine
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