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They're obviously having jigging issues, mine has no issues luckily. TTI finally addressed their jigging issues with this box and their headers. Has anyone contacted Borgeson and let them know they have a problem? That is the first thing I would do in this situation.




I've emailed with them and spoken to their folks on the phone. They believe inconsistencies should be resolved by the coupler and shimming.




I have fought serious issues since replacing FF 3 on our 70 6 pack Challenger.

Very well respected alignment guy tried to set toe. 3 times removed pitman, spun steering wheel 4 turns lock to lock, divided by 2 to achieve top center and could not get pitman to line up with drag link. Tech noted that pitman was not pointed dead ahead as should normally be.
Finally he took left tie rod out as far as threads would allow in order to set toe. Made this tie rod 1/2 half inch longer than opposite one. Even then had to rotate shaft flat spot on steering box shaft output that should be pointed at chassis where Bergman coupler attaches from proper 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock to get pitman attached to draglink.

I have had numerous discussions and email exchanges with Peter Bergman,,he blows me off telling me that alignment guy(25 years experience in a very respected high line racing suspension shop) does not know what he is doing. I have asked Peter to speak with him. He refuses to do so. I did purchase box, coupler and adapter from Peter.

I then spoke likely some 5 times with different personnel at a Borgeson,,,,they tell me to pull the box, send to them and they will examine,,,of course car is then down for several weeks. They too have refused to speak with Dave, my local tech guy.

Finally after speaking with a senior party at borgeson and telling him what I have read on a Chevy forum where they have postings on identical conditions because of fault machining of pitman shaft spline(a couple of these complainers said that the had machined off keying splines to reposition the pitman),,,this senior party(I believe a VP) has now offer to "allow" me to purchase a new box, install it and return the faulty one for analyses. If faulty they will refund my money that I paid for the replacement unit.

I had requested that I be sent a replacement box, that I would provide a CC number for security that I would return old box This was refused,,,I am aware that purchasing a new one and getting a refund when old one is returned sounds the same,,,but somehow does not feel the same,,,if not to give the appearance of good customer relations if nothing else. Interesting observation: Twice now,,,the latest instance a collapsed Scorpion hydraulic roller lifter,,,I called Summit, they sent me a pair of replacement lifter(rollers come in pairs) and followed up with a Fed X mailing label to send back to them the failed lifter once I had pulled it,,,that is customer service that has built them one hell of a business model and a loyal customer following.

Of course I am out the 300 bucks that I have paid my tech(normal alignment charge is 120 dollars the rest for 2 hours of troubleshooting labor), whatever labor to replace the box, plus likely shipping both ways plus a whole lot of frustration and stress. And if new box has same issue, then it is not the box, but something else. But what could it be, they have no idea they say. All suspension components are from a firm called Just Suspensions. They insist their pitman is correct,,,and of course my FF box had zero toe alignment issues when used with their components.

So now here comes the kicker. I had to replace an ignition switch and TS switch on the Challenger last week which meant disconnecting Bergman coupler from the steering box.

When I went to reconnect it I noted that the steering shaft went straight forward as it likely should. However the coupler when attached to the shaft has to make a significant right, let's say less than 25 degree right turn toward the engine In order to mate up with the steering box itself,,,in other words not straight in as it should,,,I recently a large Mopar event had a chance to take a look at a number of cars,,,in all cases the shaft goes completely straight into the box via the coupler. I have taken photos of this alignment issue that clearly shows what is described on our car.

I now suspect the welding job on the updated to fit an E Body Borgeson is tweaked enough to have the box not properly mounted, thereby causing my problems.

My observation along with this informative thread heightens my suspicion and frustration that this box is tweaked for some reason

The car that this box is mounted in is an extremely low mileage car and has never been wrecked or suffered any front suspension problems. The Firm Feel box had no such issues and toe was perfect with tie rods of equal length(unequal lengths can lead to a wealth of handling issues including bump steer and differing turn radias depending on if turning left or if turning right. and box of course is not properly oriented at at top center.

Whereas the Borgeson is off from about 9 pm to about 11 pm from top center,,,the flat spot on shaft spline is about 11:30,,,the set screw that Bergman offers is properly at 9 pm in order to have steering wheel straight and of course not at flat spot on spline where it should be,,,yes I have read Borgeson note on this phenomenon. Not sure if this is reasonable to expect.

I would appreciate any thoughts or opinions on how I should proceed. I would hate to pull this box, send to Borgeson, be told that there is no defect in it or to find that a replacement box too has same issues and be told that is the car or tech and not them.

Would have been helpful for either Bergman or Borgeson speak with my suspension tech, but is not to be. I do almost all my own mechanical work and am quite good at it. However suspensions are quite the mystery to me so must rely on those who are experts in this area.

By the way, I do own another Borgeson that I had planned to install in my 71 Corvette. That plan is on hold for now until I resolve this current problem

Chevy forum link. Borgeson has told me that my problem is different than is this. I now tend to agree with them,,,the Chevy issues sounds like poorly machined pitman shafts, I suspect that my issue because of noted angle of shaft to box is the result of improper 'jig" set up when box was welded,,,,or however they establish proper geometry.

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/311422/

I have spent time seeking a pitman arm that has no keyed splines. Have had several leads that did not pan out. A friend suggested to cold bend my pitman arm, I had considered machining out my arm. My suspension tech is strongly against both ideas.

His suggestion is if Borgeson will not take care of, that I re-install the FF box. Unfortunately I have given it to a friend who is building an outstanding hemi Challenger clone as we speak. Besides that I chose to go with the Borgeson for what I feel were sound reasons and would like to sort this out.

Again seeking opinions on moving forward.

I did some editing of my original posting.

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Last edited by Sxrxrnr; 09/22/14 11:08 PM.