4.5 Degree Slant on 800126 Mounting Ears, WHY????

[MoparGuy68]

This question is for Borgeson..

Why is there a 4.5 degree slant on the 800126 gearbox mounting ears in relation to the input shaft??? The factory gearboxes DO NOT have a slant like this. The mounting ears are perpendicular to the input shaft. Your drawing schematics show this 4.5 angle. When mounted to a factory MOPAR K-Frame the input shaft is pointing 4.5 degrees toward the driver side inner fender! Why, why, why are the 800126 gearbox mounting ears not perpendicular to the input shaft like the factory Power Steering box??? Why did you design it with this 4.5 slant??? What purpose could this have served other than to make certain that the input shaft will never be lined up horizontally with the steering column?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

The 4.5 degree angle to the column isn't an issue, the coupler will handle that with no issue...

I have no actual experience with the Borgeson but I know early on they had an issue where the pitman arm angle was wrong & so if you put the gear on center from full lock to full lock one tie rod wound up about 1.5" shorter than the other... Clearly that's a problem... Perhaps they decided that rather than tooling up a new sector shaft it was easier to change the mounting angle of the steering box.....

 

[BORGESON]

The 4.5 degree angle is intentional and necessary. With the much smaller distance from the center-line of the input to the center-line of the pitman shaft when compared to the stock box the angle is necessary to have the input shaft of the steering box point toward the steering column.

 

[Kern Dog]

OP must feel silly now.

 

[coloradodave]

OP must feel silly now.

Come on, Greg. We all learned something from the question the OP posted. I applaud the question and the quick response from the vendor.

 

[Kern Dog]

I knew the answer. It stands to reason that given the smaller diameter of the Borgeson unit, either the steering column would need to shift over, the steering box mount relocated OR this explanation.
My point was that all too often, people go online to criticize a person or a product without having all the information.

 

[coloradodave]

I knew the answer. It stands to reason that given the smaller diameter of the Borgeson unit, either the steering column would need to shift over, the steering box mount relocated OR this explanation.
My point was that all too often, people go online to criticize a person or a product without having all the information.

Gotcha... I thought it was a reasonable question. Maybe A few too many whys...

 

[MoparGuy68]

The 4.5 degree angle is intentional and necessary. With the much smaller distance from the center-line of the input to the center-line of the pitman shaft when compared to the stock box the angle is necessary to have the input shaft of the steering box point toward the steering column.

So the 4.5 degree angle is to make the input shaft point toward the steering column.. I totally admit I know absolutely nothing about the design of your gearbox. What I do know is that the Borgeson input shaft, on my car, points towards the inner fender, not the steering column. The steering column will also have to point towards the inner fender to connect to it. The stock box input shaft pointed toward the steering column, not the inner fender. A picture is worth a thousand words. I’ll have to take one once I manage to get the gearbox bolted to the K-Frame. Which I’ve already attempted to do multiple times unsuccessfully. I’ve only been able to hold it in place on studs thus far. And when held up against the K-Frame the input shaft points toward the inner fender.

I will have to enlarge at least one mounting hole in the gearbox mounting ears so I can actually get it bolted to the K-Frame. I can’t think of any other way to get it mounted. I would think I shouldn’t be needing to modify the box to make it fit.. I will take photos of the alignment to compare with photos I took of the stock installation. That way you and everyone else on here can see the differences, and maybe laugh at me for just being an idiot who can’t install a Borgeson gearbox.

The Borgeson instructions say to “center the steering box prior to installation. This can be accomplished by turning the box full to the right and bring the box 1.75 turn back to center.” What does turn to the “right” mean, turn toward passenger side? How do you turn the box? I cannot budge either the input or output shaft, they feel locked in position and won’t move. Have no idea if they are already centered or not. Your instructions should be able to be followed by the average Joe, working in his average garage, on his very average 383 Mopar.

The “whys” are because I’m frustrated with the installation of this gearbox.

 

[66 Sat]

I've read about this angle issue previously and it's putting me off getting one to be honest. I understand that with the universal joint the angle supposedly isn't an issue, but I've always wondered if the steering would still be smooth lock to lock if the angle was too great (in the same way loosening or tightening nuts using a socket with a universal coupler can feel odd). Another concern is with the loose tolerances on these cars during production, when installed the angle could potentially be so great that it would be almost hitting the inner fender, and you wouldn't know until you started the installation. Creating an angle in the box to fix the pitman arm issue seems like the wrong way to fix it. It would bug me to look at it - just seems like a poor engineering solution. Other than that the product seems to get great reviews, the smaller size, lighter weight and tighter steering are very appealing.