Just curious if anyone is running one of these units in thier ride...Saw it in Speedways catalog... It's power rack shaft with a small power steering box that adapts to your straight axle...it seems pretty cool... Just wondering if anyone has used one yet? If so, how is it performing.
Is this the 1/2 of a rack & pinion steering gear that steers off the RF? If it is, I heard it was using parts from a John Deere golf course maintenance 4-wheeler type vehicle. The one withe the a tamden rear end. I'd like to hear the REAL story.
Made by a company called Unisteer. I'm thinking about one for the 5w. I've talked to several people who are using one and haven't found a regret yet, all positive comments. They advertise in all of the major magazines and have a internet site. If you are currently running a Vega box they make an adaptor plate that makes it a bolt in deal and you still use your column unchanged. Frank
The guys at Unisteer are the best. Great products and well engineered. They have done a couple of custom rack and pinion units for me for big horsepower front wheel drive race cars and built both of them to the dimensions that I needed. If you need a unique steering unit to get the required geometry they are the people to talk to. Their off the shelf stuff is top notch too. Ask for Dave Batke and tell him that I sent you, Roo Man
I drove a '32 recently with one of these installed and the turning radius was quite a bit larger in that application. Other than that it seemed no different. Charlie
Seems like the answer to a question that wasn't asked? Tell me why this thing is supposed to be better than a steering box - either traditional old Ford piece or Vega, Mustang, etc.
Charlie, I am really surprised to hear that you did not notice any difference from a Vega or Mustang Box... Although the turning radius is a bit wider, we very rarely get anything but solid praise from Cross-Steer customers. Kevin, Really it boils down to the driver feedback you get through the wheel. Normally most guys with rods find themselves "chasing the wheel" to keep the rod straight. With the Cross-Steer there is no "Slack" in the wheel and it reduces low speed turning effort like in parking lots at shows.
Some of this makes sense and some doesn't. The "FEEDBACK" through the steering wheel to the driver is complex combination of many things. The "slack" is just one of them. There's a wide range of conditions and items that can be subjectively evaluated regarding steering. Here's a few: Steering Straight Line Stability: Feel, torque steer, speed, surface, side pull On Center Steering: Initial steering response, steering feel Off Center Steering (where most of normal steering is done): Feel, gain, linearity, delay I could go on and define all of the above but it won't be today. The thing I'm trying to impress here is that the steering box is only ONE part of the steering system. To think the addition of one component, i.e. unisteer, vega box, rack and pinion, power rack and pinion, etc., will alone improve all the items I previously mentioned is insane. Alot of the above can be solved with the mere proper use of a tire gauge and a tape measure!!
The '28-34 Cross-Steer has a 6" travel and 3.75 turns By your statement it appears that you misunderstood my statement a bit. We are not claiming to offer a steering miracle here. There are dozens of issues that give you either good or bad steering feedback and no one component can turn it around. What I guess I should have eluded to is that 95% of our customers are dealing with new parts that are drastically complimented by the use of our Cross-Steer and correct alignment adjustments. By customer request we have drove a few rods with our kit installed and they were nowhere even near where they could be if the car had been built with new parts and had a proper alignment performed. There is no comparison between the feedback of a car built with new suspension and steering parts and that of a car that has used suspension and steering parts no matter if our kit is on it or not.
I'm putting a Unisteer rack in my Mustang. I had the opportunity to drive another Mustang equipped with one and the difference between the R&P vs. the original manual steering is night and day. The old steering was in good shape, good box, new tie rod ends and idler, but even so, there was a lot of on-center movement. With the R&P, that is all gone. The steering is direct, faster, and feels only a little bit heavier, but that was an acceptable tradeoff for the faster response. Feedback was a LOT better. I didn't notice any major difference in turning radius, but I didn't have to make any u-turns that day. I was impressed enough to order one from Summit. The kit looks good, with all the parts necessary to hook it up. The only thing that was wrong was that I have Granada spindles, so neither set of tie rod ends in the kit ( V8 or I-6) would fit. A call to Unisteer and they shipped the correct ones, gratis. Impressive customer service. Is an early Falcon version in the works?
These are well designed units but don't fit MY style or traditional hot rod application. At least they are behind the axle and not in front like the ugly ass MII.
I had a rack built for my daughter's Nash from Unisteer...... Add one more "positive" vote from me! We used a cross-steer recently in the shop (Wild West Rods), good quality and operation there too. Guess I get 2 positive votes in!
Thanks for the kind words fellas! It is just about done..... nice kit and the Falcon/comet kit offers one of the best improvements over the stock steering. Falcon/Comet guys will go crazy over this one.
By your statement it appears that you misunderstood my statement a bit. We are not claiming to offer a steering miracle here. There are dozens of issues that give you either good or bad steering feedback and no one component can turn it around. What I guess I should have eluded to is that 95% of our customers are dealing with new parts that are drastically complimented by the use of our Cross-Steer and correct alignment adjustments. By customer request we have drove a few rods with our kit installed and they were nowhere even near where they could be if the car had been built with new parts and had a proper alignment performed. There is no comparison between the feedback of a car built with new suspension and steering parts and that of a car that has used suspension and steering parts no matter if our kit is on it or not.[/quote] I didn't misunderstand anything. And...........I didn't say that you said your steering system would be a miracle cure all for all steering problems. Steering feedback to the driver is much more complex than just talking about new parts vs. old parts and alignment specs.. New parts take the play or "slack", as you call it, out of the system. This is usually only felt by the driver in the "on-center" steering zone. Once steering angles are increased, steering torque increases, play is taken out of the steering system because all system parts are loaded. This is the "off center" steering zone. This area is effected less by the addition of new parts. What I'm trying to do is inform folks here that there's a WHOLE bunch of variables to take into consideration than just a steering gear box when designing, updating, improving or diagnosing steering ills with a vehicle. And, the mere addition of new tie rod ends, king pins and bushings, a new or rebuilt steering box and other components does not guarantee an improvement in steering feedback.
Agreed..... and this is the position that almost all drivers spend almost all of their time behind the wheel in their streetrods, classic and musclecars. Agreed..... and this is the position that almost all drivers spend the least amount of time behind the wheel in their streetrods, classic cars & musclecars. Understood & I couldn't agree more, but not many of us including longtime car buffs throughly understand the complexities of steering geometry and design characteristics. Agreed... there are NO GUARANTEES in life, but using the generalization of using new parts is a good baseline theory when it comes to obtaining the best overall performance of any particular aspect of your car. It is WELL KNOWN that if you have the know-how you can build a vehicle from junkyard parts that will out perform a vehicle using all new components. Starting with all new components normally gives one a much more suitable platform in which to get the optimal performance from.
The Jalopy Journal
