Manual Steering Box rebuild - Vendor?

With at least 118,xxx miles on my Dart I am in the midst of installing a PST ft end rebuild kit. Seems nearly pointless if I ignored all the wear and tear in the steering box...

Rebuilding it is something I am not willing to try, for several reasons, so I thought I'd ask here if there was a company that you are fond of (or otherwise) and would recommend (or otherwise) for this task. Plus I figure they can deal with the old pitman arm at this time too.

It's a Swinger 340 with manual steering. Thoughts please?

Firm Feel.

Thank you Steve, you're always quick with a helpful answer on any of my questions here. Dennis at FFI quoted me $329 and 3 - 4 weeks. I'm fine with that.

George

Are you going with your original gears or 20:1 or 16:1 quicker ratio new gear sets?

I have seen road tests from 69 with the Swinger 340 that was equipped with the 20:1 gear. Now that the front of my car is in neat piles in my garage it's hard for me to do the lock to lock test to see if I have the same, and I have been unable (yet) to see that in addition to the rest of the neat stuff the Swingers got in the handling department - if the 20:1 was included in that package.... anyone know? If that what was in there, I'm fine. If its the 24:1 then I will pay to change to one of the quicker sets, just say I don't really plan to parallel park my car much, maybe I could manage a 16:1?

I have 2 build sheets and the tag - do you know where or what to look for to confirm the gear in the Dart? I am 53 and have a basic tool sets and air compressor. My best damn friend is a ASE Certified Master wrench with great tools and is a Mopar guy his whole life. Point here is I am trying to build the best car I can with a degree of fun and toughness built into the car. Not planning to have more than one more build after this is done. Advice, encouragement and anytime someone wants to swing by and help, drop off parts, pizza or watch and drink beer is welcome to.

Thanks - George

In '69 there was a fast ratio manual steering option that was 16:1 ratio.

The 20:1 ratio was only offered through Direct Connection aftermarket. That gearset was made for Chrysler's Kit Car Circle track program in the mid/early 70's. No car from the factory had that ratio.

I doubt you car is 16:1. If it was you would probably know it. I've heard 16:1 is sort of a bare driving around. IIRC, 16:1 steering is on the suspension or steering section of the build sheet on the bottom. I don't remember the code.

I was thinking 20:1 would be a fair compromise. And you get new gears as opposed to used gears in a 24:1 rebuilt.

Alright - thanks for the info.

I had a 16:1 manual box in my 66 Barracuda. They're not that bad. You just have to make sure the car is rolling when you want to turn the wheel.

Several years ago Firm Feel was selling a reproduction 16:1 worm gear assembly for do it yourself installation. You could also get it already assembled. I bought the worm gear and a rebuild kit from them and put it in an old, but still good stock 24:1 box I had laying around. I used it in my small block Duster and was quite happy with it. It was four turns lock to lock which is still a lot, but certainly better than the six turns of the old 24:1 box, but still a little more than the 3 1/2 of a power box. As for effort, no one has ever mistaken me for a body builder, but I don't think it was all that bad. I was running 225x60x15 tires on 15x7 aluminum wheels if you're interested.

I had a 16:1 Flaming River before I went to power. I ran it with 275's on the front and was very livable. But I also knew in a quick transition autox scenario it would've been tough.