I'm a little confused as to the difference between the 24 to 1, 20 to 1 and 16 to 1 manual steering boxes. I assume that the 24 to 1 turns 5 or so turns of the steering wheel from lock to lock. How about the other 2? If available which of the other 2 would be better for a street only car and why.

20-1 is the best for street.

16:1 is too much for a street car - 3.5 turns lock-lock. 20:1 is 4.5 turns and is harder to steer than 24, but not too bad. Just put one of these on my V race car and like it!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Firmfeel has a 12:1 power steering box. When my box starts getting sloppy I want to try it. I doubt if 12:1 would be possible with a manual box though(unless you were a muscle builder). Definately one advantage to power steering, you can get responsive steering without having a hard steering wheel.

-Shivadart

I have the Flaming River "16:1" manual steering box on my Dart. I do not think it is really 16:1, though, as it is about 4.25 turns lock to lock. More like 19:1? I'll have to actually count again, but I'm pretty sure it is 4.25. The steering effort wasn't increased much at all over the stock box. I would recommend it...even a 16:1 box probably wouldn't be too bad if you are strong enough. Just gotta keep the car moving while you turn the wheel!

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

I had a 16:1 box in my Coronet for awhile and had to take it out. Kind of impossible to steer at low speeds while shifting. The worst was trying to down shift for slow corner. The steering effort was so high that I couldn't keep the car on the proper steering line with only one hand on the wheel.

I put a 20:1 box in there and it is okay. But one of these days I'll probably switch to power steering.

Manual steering is too hard, power steering is too soft. I have stock power steering on my 71 but it seems way too overassisted, especially at freeway speeds. I'd love to try one of those firmfeel power boxes that are rebuilt to feel less assisted, similar to the cop car units.

I agree with what others have posted-

24:1 is easy to spin, but way too slow.
16:1 is really fast, but way too hard to spin at low speeds.
20:1 is perfect! After lugging around a 16:1 chuck, I put a 20:1 in my '62 Lancer and it's exactly right. Love it. Should have come that way from the factory.

I don't like the added weight and engineroom clutter that comes with P/S.