Moparts
FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION
Posted By: Desmond
FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 05:37 PM
I am considering these parts from this supplier in quick ratio form for my 1970 B-body.
Anyone with any experience doing the same?
http://www.firmfeel.com/manualst.htmhttp://www.firmfeel.com/fastrati.htm
Posted By: screamindriver
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 06:16 PM
Great company and very nice products...You can't go wrong with firm feel....Is the car stock ??? Only trouble would be if you've added headers or any aftermarket goodies near the steering gear...That company is very knowledgeable with their products...Not like other companies selling other manufacturers parts...Call them and talk to Dick,very nice fellow...He'll have all your answers and more...
Posted By: Desmond
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 06:31 PM
THANK YOU. The car is getting a complete, correct restoration visually. The engine has some aftermarket pieces inside, the 4-wheel manual drum brakes will be upgraded to a visually identical to stock high-perf system for shorter stopping distances and this is the only other mod I would like to make. No headers. Ceramic coated exhaust manifolds.
thanks again.
Posted By: PAINT IT BLACK
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 06:38 PM
I have the power gear box and the fast ratio arms for both my '70 E body and '70 B body. Actually I've got a lot of their products for both my cars. They know their stuff and are very cool to deal with.
Posted By: Keith Black®
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 10:33 PM
I have a lot of their stuff too. Great people to deal with, great products, knowledgeable.
Posted By: NV69B7RR
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 11:21 PM
Great company to deal with and great products.
Posted By: AB&E
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 11:29 PM
I am curiuos what would I notice diff. if I had a completly rebuilt front end with all stock parts & used one of their boxs what would be the diff from a rebuilt from someone else box ?? I guess I am asking does it drive better & how
thanks I did not realize they live in my backyard.
Posted By: 5spdcuda
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 11:49 PM
I've bought from them twice. Good service and a quality product plus good technical assistance both times.
Posted By: DennisH
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/26/11 11:59 PM
Quote:
I've bought from them twice. Good service and a quality product plus good technical assistance both times.
Same here.
Posted By: 340duster340
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 03:50 AM
Quote:
Great company to deal with and great products.
these guys know their stuff and have great products.
Posted By: Kern Dog
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 03:56 AM
I have a 70 Charger with the stage 3 power steering box. I love it. I stepped up to their fast ratio idler and pitman arms too. This turned my 3 1/2 turns to 2 5/8 lock to lock AND firmed up the response even more. I have a stroked 440 with TTI 2" headers. TTI claims that the Firm Feel fast ratio arms DO NOT clear, but mine do with over 3/4 inch of room to spare. Stock type motor mounts too.
Posted By: ahy
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 04:29 AM
Quote:
I am curiuos what would I notice diff. if I had a completly rebuilt front end with all stock parts & used one of their boxs what would be the diff from a rebuilt from someone else box ?? I guess I am asking does it drive better & how
thanks I did not realize they live in my backyard.
Firm Feel rebuilds the boxes carefully with correct clearances ect. so they are "tighter" than a run of the mill rebuild. They also offer more "feel" or less power assist in 3 stages with stage 3 giving the least assist. Most folks seem to like stage 2 or stage 3.
I am using their stage 2 and like it.
Posted By: Lee446
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 07:50 PM
I must be the only unhappy customer. I wanted the stage 3, let the owner of FF talk me into the stage 2. I put it in my 69 Sat with completley rebuilt suspension with 11/16 tie rods. I put the Hemi in and when I took it for a ride, it is one finger, typically Chrysler, overboosted power steering. They told me it would be similar in feel to my buddies 06 GTO. Not even close, feels just like stock. I am going to look into the pressure reduction mod for the pump, but FF led me to believe there would be a significant upgrade in the box alone. I should have followed advice on this forum and insisted on the stage 3. Other than that, they do nice work, but I am not going to all the trouble to lift the engine to pull the box. My advice would be to go with the stage 3.
Posted By: Kern Dog
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 08:03 PM
I agree. There have been many on this forum who were hornswaggled into the stage 2 setup, only to find similar results. When I called, they told me that there would be a 2 week wait for a stage 3 but that they had a stage 2 ready to ship that day. I stuck to my original plan and am quite happy that i did.
Posted By: AB&E
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 08:41 PM
so as far as stage 2 & stage 3 I have manual steering would this make a diff on this app & it sounds like the diff is more firmness to the wheel not like stock where it feels loose & oversteer easy like all mopar in the era.chevy always drove tight to me & mopar was loose feeling so it sounds like with there box it changes that is this correct
also did you guys buy a complete box or the kit & doit yourself could be a big diff if you do not know whats going on.
Posted By: DennisH
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 09:51 PM
Quote:
I must be the only unhappy customer. I wanted the stage 3, let the owner of FF talk me into the stage 2. I put it in my 69 Sat with completley rebuilt suspension with 11/16 tie rods. I put the Hemi in and when I took it for a ride, it is one finger, typically Chrysler, overboosted power steering. They told me it would be similar in feel to my buddies 06 GTO. Not even close, feels just like stock. I am going to look into the pressure reduction mod for the pump, but FF led me to believe there would be a significant upgrade in the box alone. I should have followed advice on this forum and insisted on the stage 3. Other than that, they do nice work, but I am not going to all the trouble to lift the engine to pull the box. My advice would be to go with the stage 3.
Maybe a FF Stage 1 was sent. My Stage one if firmer and tighter than stock was before. I would get Stage 2 next time, but 1 is a big improvement.
Posted By: Kern Dog
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 10:34 PM
Quote:
so as far as stage 2 & stage 3 I have manual steering would this make a diff on this app & it sounds like the diff is more firmness to the wheel not like stock where it feels loose & oversteer easy like all mopar in the era.chevy always drove tight to me & mopar was loose feeling so it sounds like with there box it changes that is this correct also did you guys buy a complete box or the kit & doit yourself could be a big diff if you do not know whats going on.
I am having trouble interpreting this garbled mess. Didnt you take English in school?
Posted By: Keith Black®
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 10:46 PM
Quote:
Quote:
so as far as stage 2 & stage 3 I have manual steering would this make a diff on this app & it sounds like the diff is more firmness to the wheel not like stock where it feels loose & oversteer easy like all mopar in the era.chevy always drove tight to me & mopar was loose feeling so it sounds like with there box it changes that is this correct also did you guys buy a complete box or the kit & doit yourself could be a big diff if you do not know whats going on.
I am having trouble interpreting this garbled mess. Didnt you take English in school?
Posted By: AB&E
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/27/11 10:58 PM
Sorry it must of been the part when I said all old mopars drive loose & chevrolets drive tight. I think thats where you guys got confused. so I am sorry. My question is what is the big difference with the way a firm feel box feels& drives compared to a stocker? Again I am sorry for confusing you on the matter that chevys always drive better than mopars with no firm feel box
thank you for all your help
Posted By: AndyF
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 12:42 AM
I use their stuff all the time. Dick Ross at Firm Feel has been racing Mopar vehicles for a long time. He has pretty much seen it all.
Posted By: Kern Dog
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 05:32 AM
I was confused at how all of your text ran together and that you didnt bother to properly phrase your sentences. When people fail to capitalize words and use poor grammar, I figure that they are either lazy or uneducated.
Regarding GM versus Mopar power steering, I have owned several cars from both manufacturers. Have you ever driven a Caprice? The steering is overboosted in those cars too. I owned an 84 Chevy 1/2 ton truck. You could steer that truck with a swizzle stick. It was as if the tires were on ice. The police and performance model cars of GM did have a higher effort setup though. The IROC and TRANS AM models of the 80s had the highest effort of all that I had driven. Remember that while Mopars went front wheel drive for most of their cars after 1980, GM kept plugging away with the Camaro/Firebird, the Corvette, the GM A body Impala,Bonneville, etc and even the G body Monte Carlo,Cutlass,Regal, etc.
The Mopar taxi and police models had a slightly firmer feel to the steering, but the ratio was unchanged. The FIRM FEEL rebuild service of stage 1 should be equal to the standard OEM police/taxi setup. The stage 2 is slightly higher effort than the stage 1. The stage 3 has the highest effort of the 3, but is still not as high effort as the GM WS6 gear chuck used in 84-92 camaro and Trans Am models. As I stated earlier in another post, when the stage 3 chuck is used along with the fast ratio pitman and idler arms, the ratio improves AND the effort firms up even more due to the increased leverage of the longer steering arms. THIS setup feels equal to the GM WS6 setup in stock form.
In my Charger, I run 275-40-18 tires on 18X9 rims up front. The car feels like lightly boosted manual steering and you need a firm grip to rotate the wheel.
Posted By: AB&E
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 05:58 AM
Actually I am a little lazy & my typing skills suck.
So does this matter to me if I have manuel steering as I see they only offer 1 ratio for this I believe. thanks for info
Posted By: Kern Dog
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 07:34 AM
I think that the Firm Feel manual chuck is a 20 to 1 ratio. Not a bad unit but a little slow for those guys who like to race autocross. The Flaming River 16 to 1 chuck may be good for some, but it can be difficult to steer a 3800 lb B body in parking lots! I'd guess that a 3200 lb A body would steer okay with a 16 to 1 chuck. How big are your arms?
Posted By: SomeCarGuy
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 08:12 AM
I must be the only person who likes the OEM steering overboost. Not saying I would autox with one, but since I don't, it isn't an issue.
My current ride has manual steering and is OK since I have lightened up the front of the car some. Just get it rolling even a little and it steers just fine.
Posted By: larrymopar360
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 09:33 PM
I like the steering on my '88 Gran Fury ex-police. It is my daily driver. I wouldn't have a problem if it were slightly less boosted, but again, I like it fine.
I agree that FF makes nice stuff, but it is expensive, and sometimes you can find an equal part for much less. Not very often, but sometimes. Example; the aluminum K frame isolators for my '88 were much more expensive than from a guy I found after I bought mine from FF. His are equally good (some say better)as FF. Having an M body Mopar, I am thankful for Dick and FF. They offer alot of stuff for my car.
Larry
Posted By: cudazappa
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 10:15 PM
Firm Feel is A+ in my book.
They have always took the time to answer questions over the phone, even if it didn't lead directly to an order.
Every part of theirs that I've handled has been first rate, too!
I used several of their parts on my 79 300 and am getting ready to place an order for a stage 3 steering box and extra long pitman/idler for my Challenger. I'd be ordering their sway bars if I had the scratch, too!
Posted By: Triggerfish
Re: FIRM FEEL INC. SUSPENSION - 02/28/11 10:39 PM
I've purchased a box for my charger & my challenger from them & they're first class all the way. Dennis built a custom stage 2 power steering box for my hemi challenger, using a Volare box & trimming some fat for header clearance. I sent him pics w/ the stock box & where it was hitting & he sent me back pics of the changes he made to the new box for verification. I also got their big torsion bars & they were great.