mrvette

Just curious if anyone here in mid Feb. has yet gotten and installed their racks from the first go-round....much less gotten the chance to drive the car yet....

I:"m really curious to know what you all think of the conversion procedure and of course driving thoughts....

GENE

Bamavette74

I am 50% through the install.
Both of the gussetts on the driver side required some "massaging" to get them to fit. A little drilling here and some judicious filing there and they are now on. Trial fitted the ujoints last night, plan to finish the install today.
Its so friggin cold here I am thinking about playing of the puter instead!
52 degrees in L.A. (Lower Alabama) is toooooo much!

J75

Installed mine last month.No problems on the install.Hardest or most time consuming thing was getting the u-joints adjusted so there was no binding.Think this could have been made eaiser some how.Over all the steering is light and positive.Took a little while to get acustom to the different feel.Real nice upgrade.
Bamavette,you are just across the bay from me :thumbs:

mrvette

J75, I"m interested in your comment about being 'light' in the feel....is it too light??? I think so with the install I did....I do not have enough 'road feel'...the wheel is SO tight and responsive i'ts amazing...just that I feel there is NOT enough road feel in feedback nearly none in my case....as if I need reduce the pump pressure/flow...???

GENE

foundvettelifeisgood

mrvette--you got me wondering...I'll be going from manual steering to power steeroids. I'm surprised there hasn't been much feedback on this purchase.

mrvette

I suspect everyone will find the feel very light...but that is such a personal touch type of thing, it's really hard to express in words.....
but I suspect since the actual functional parts affecting that 'feel' are the same between what I did, and what steeroids supplies....the feel will be the same....

YES, I think it's about the 2nd most important thing to be done to upgrade the old sharks in the chassis/steering department....first of course is wheels/tires...

GENE

aharte

I agree. I've also found Steeroids to be too light. The changed ratio and lack of play are really nice, but there is almost no road feel at all (even compared to modern cars). I haven't gotten an alignment yet, so maybe that's the problem :confused: . Has Speed Direct ever addressed this?

mrvette

aharte, that is the thing I noticed....allmost NO road feel, the turns ratio and handling is excellant...better than a C4, I think...I had an '87, and drove a ZR1 on several occations....I think the feel on my car is too light....
I am looking for suggestions from guys that have done this as to how to reduce the 'light' touch and make more road feel....I am thinking to play with the valving in the pump...but not sure what to do there....reduce pressure?? reduce flow??? both??? and if so on either one....HOW???? what to do what parts from what car???

GENE

Twin_Turbo

the pressure is dependant on rpm so lowering the pressure will first of all and mostly affect low rpm steering Lowering the pressure will lower the assist.

The corvette C4 pressures are 80 - 125 idle 850 - 1,030 high rpm .



[Modified by Twin_Turbo, 8:19 PM 2/17/2003]

J75

I wish I knew how to put a little more feel back in also.I had the alignment done and that helped some but not much.I`ve gotten more accustom to it but still just don`t feel as secure.The lack of steering feed back I guess.The sad thing is I had rebuilt my entire OEM steering and it worked great.I was trying to improve it more and I`m not so sure I did.Ease of steering sure,can`t compare,tightness is great,just a almost total lack of feedback and I can`t express that enough.I saw where the steeroid makers had signed on a while back,hope they give us an answer on this.$1000 is a nice sum. :skep:


[Modified by J75, 4:08 AM 2/18/2003]

Jim Shea

Hey guys,
Trust me, it isn't the pump pressure that is giving you the light feel. It is the torsion bar and the valve porting in the rack and pinion gear valve.

Saginaw made all kinds of center-take-off rack and pinions for the Pontiac Grand AM, Chevrolet Cavalier & Corsica, Olds Calais, Saab 900, etc. The gear housings and the pinion intersect angle were all the same. So any one of them should bolt right into the Steeroids brackets. They came with all kinds of different valve efforts. What you need to do is find out what gear(s) Steeroids is selling with their kits. They need to supply a gear with heavier effort.

J75

Jim,I hope you can tell us a little more.Thanks.
Joe

Smokehouse69

Hearing the comments on the lightness of feel has me somewhat concerned. I've been seriously thinking of springing for the setup, the problem I particularly have with my current stock setup is lack of road feel, and extremly sensitive steering. Those two things along with a very annoying and what I consider potential dangerous, tendency to be affected by grooves, ruts and rough roads. Affected to the point of feeling that I am on the verge of loosing control of the car.
I was hoping that Steeroids would cure these problems, it looks like there needs to be more investigation before I jump off and spend part of my bonus.

mrvette

Smoke, I have '92 vette wheels, 255/50/17 up front and 275/50/17 in rear, and my car used to follow all the ruts in the road something fierce...constantly fighting the wheel...NOW it does not do that...but I would like the wheel to be heavier....it's not so bad really, but it does not have much if any feedback....

I gotta look at some diagrams of what Jim is talking about, and see what if any parts I can change...mine is a junkyard rack....steel cylinder type, '92 grand am....wider ratio....at 2.8 turns lock/lock in my car...

GENE

foundvettelifeisgood

Sounds like the a MANUAL version of Steeroids would be a winner.

Denmech

I dont think there will be a manual version because there would be too much binding in the steering coloumb to rack joints.

OkeeGuy

can anybody tell me how having headers (Dynomax) will affect the install?

flynhi

After taking measurements on my 71 with Hedman Blackjack headers and comparing the magazine article, it appears that you will not have a problem unless you are running sidepipes.
Your results may vary.

aharte

My headers (Hooker super comps) had to be bent to make things fit.

J75

Gene,if you come up with an answer let us know.I`ll call steeroids today and
see what they say.
Signguy,I have Hookers and the install was no problem.
I guess everyone was like me"did I install this right" is why we haven't heard more.I really do like the set up but I want more steering feel.
Joe