Borgenson vs. Lares 11043

moparpaul

Active Member
Local time
10:56 AM
Joined
Dec 8, 2022
Messages
35
Reaction score
46
Location
Danville, California
Wow.

I guess more money doesn’t always mean better product.

Now I’m really leaning PST 20:1 manual.

Just seems like power steering is a pain.

Guess that’s why I’ve always gone manual.

I might have a few more good years left in my biceps and shoulders.

Thank you for your honest experience.
 

Chris Kaufman

Member
Local time
12:56 PM
Joined
Aug 14, 2022
Messages
6
Reaction score
4
Location
Alabama
I bought the Borgeson for my 69 Bee. I could not Bee happier, with new ball joints and bearings in the front end it is the closest thing you will get to rack and pinion. The shop that did my alignment called me afterwards and asked what unit I had installed as they too thought it was outstanding and wanted to use it in their upcoming builds.
 

BergmanAutoCraft

FBBO Vendor
FBBO Sponsor
Local time
1:56 PM
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
113
Reaction score
135
Location
Hampstead, NC
I think you’ll be happy with the Borgeson. We’re on year 9 of these with success. After having all the tuned up factory boxes in my A body, I can say with confidence, the Borgeson is in a different league. I’ve also used their GM and Ford boxes in shop builds with success too.
 

Remow2112

New Member
Local time
10:56 AM
Joined
Nov 3, 2022
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Tucson, AZ
I went with Borgeson with the Bergman install kit on a 76 Volare RR. Night and day how much nicer it is on that car. Only thing I noticed that the rag joint area is at a pretty good angle. If I was going to daily drive it I would probably cut it and reweld to a more direct angle.
 

Studio70

Active Member
Local time
10:56 AM
Joined
Jun 25, 2019
Messages
33
Reaction score
94
Location
Northern Nevada
Definitely go with the Borg Box.



20210315_151941 borgeson box steering.jpg
 

Wietse

Well-Known Member
Local time
7:56 PM
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
967
Location
Netherlands
My fist replacement of the original steering box on my '69 Coronet was a Steer & Gear stage 2 box, which was good but still had that center slop like the old one had.
Not long ago i slapped in the Borgeson box and that made a night and day difference.
No slop, direct acting steering and when driving 60mph you do not need to continually correct for the slop, just bang on straight.
Like others already said, this is as close as you can get to a steering rack feel.
It's a costly upgrade, specially for me and others here in Europe due to shipping and import charges, but once i had my first test drive i already forgot about that.
 

moparpaul

Active Member
Local time
10:56 AM
Joined
Dec 8, 2022
Messages
35
Reaction score
46
Location
Danville, California
My fist replacement of the original steering box on my '69 Coronet was a Steer & Gear stage 2 box, which was good but still had that center slop like the old one had.
Not long ago i slapped in the Borgeson box and that made a night and day difference.
No slop, direct acting steering and when driving 60mph you do not need to continually correct for the slop, just bang on straight.
Like others already said, this is as close as you can get to a steering rack feel.
It's a costly upgrade, specially for me and others here in Europe due to shipping and import charges, but once i had my first test drive i already forgot about that.
Thank you. I think Borgeson is the way to go especially on a car I’m driving regularly.
 

Wietse

Well-Known Member
Local time
7:56 PM
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
967
Location
Netherlands
If you decide to go Borgeson, bear in mind you require to use their hoses as the box uses different threaded ports.
Also consider which steering coupler you decide to use, either OEM style adapter or the Borgeson universal joint which will require cutting the steering column by 1/2 - 1" and drilling 2 holes in it for the roll pins.
Don't fear of cutting, just measure twice and cut once.
Once cut do a test fit and turn the steering column so you can pre-drill at the right spots, then remove the column and complete the final drilling and de-burring outside the car.
 

69 Q5 Bee

Active Member
Local time
1:56 PM
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
Messages
27
Reaction score
10
Location
Georgia
Have you done the upgrade yet? If so, which way did you go and were you happy with the result?
 

BergmanAutoCraft

FBBO Vendor
FBBO Sponsor
Local time
1:56 PM
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
113
Reaction score
135
Location
Hampstead, NC
If you decide to go Borgeson, bear in mind you require to use their hoses as the box uses different threaded ports.
Also consider which steering coupler you decide to use, either OEM style adapter or the Borgeson universal joint which will require cutting the steering column by 1/2 - 1" and drilling 2 holes in it for the roll pins.
Don't fear of cutting, just measure twice and cut once.
Once cut do a test fit and turn the steering column so you can pre-drill at the right spots, then remove the column and complete the final drilling and de-burring outside the car.
Incorrect information above.

Our kits are bolt in. No cutting and factory hoses. Bergmanautocraft.com
Our coupler also offers better on center feel as well.
 

Wietse

Well-Known Member
Local time
7:56 PM
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
967
Location
Netherlands
Our kits are bolt in. No cutting and factory hoses. Bergmanautocraft.com
Our coupler also offers better on center feel as well.
Well, i had to cut the steering shaft to install the universal joint. Not sure how you want to install this without cutting?
That is why I mentioned it that he needs to decide what coupler he wants to use, the stock style which is direct fit or use the universal joint which requires cutting
I did not buy the kit, just the steering box, hoses, M16 port adapters and steering shaft universal joint from Summit.

So, it's not incorrect information, just another way of getting the same result.
 

Charlie Brown

Well-Known Member
Local time
1:56 PM
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
114
Reaction score
109
Location
Vars, Ontario, Canada
Open your wallet and buy the complete kit from Bergman. After the unit is installed in your car, you'll say to yourself, man was that ever a good decision. So happy I did this.
You can always wait a while to save up the extra cash you spent upfront on this box to add "eye candy" to your car later. Build the bones of your car right the first time and be done with it. My 64 absolutely loves this conversion.
 

BergmanAutoCraft

FBBO Vendor
FBBO Sponsor
Local time
1:56 PM
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
113
Reaction score
135
Location
Hampstead, NC
Well, i had to cut the steering shaft to install the universal joint. Not sure how you want to install this without cutting?
That is why I mentioned it that he needs to decide what coupler he wants to use, the stock style which is direct fit or use the universal joint which requires cutting
I did not buy the kit, just the steering box, hoses, M16 port adapters and steering shaft universal joint from Summit.

So, it's not incorrect information, just another way of getting the same result.
Like I said, our kits are bolt in and don't use the U joint for several reasons. We also make the fittings to accept factory hoses. It's misleading to tell people this is the way it has to be done. I'm a site sponsor, contributor and have been doing this for 10 years. Just visit the site and you'll see...
 

Wietse

Well-Known Member
Local time
7:56 PM
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
967
Location
Netherlands
Like I said, our kits are bolt in
I see, at the time I wanted to order my Borgeson box I took the numbers of the Borgeson website and found them on Summit and ordered what i needed.
I had not seen your kit and was not aware of it either as i assumed it is Borgeson selling it and other vendors selling for them. ( i found what i needed and did not look any further)
I am not tending mislead anyone and never said "it has to be done this way", i am just suggesting from my experience of installing the steering box and how i went with it.
Just went a different route then the kit you are offering.
 

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
10:56 AM
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
30,508
Reaction score
100,447
Location
Granite Bay CA
I was tempted to piece together a Borgeson swap to save a few bucks. Sometimes you can do a project cheaper if you find the individual parts from a variety of sources.
In this case, I went with Bergman. The man has it figured out and has great knowledge about what he sells.
I could have saved a few dollars by piecing together the Tremec 5 speed swap as well but I bought a kit from Silver Sport for the same reason.
Excellent results in both cases.
 

Wietse

Well-Known Member
Local time
7:56 PM
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
967
Location
Netherlands
The Bergman kit will work well for sure as it all is fit together nicely, though at the time i did not know the kit was there and/or the kit is different than what Borgeson shows on their website.
BAC states my info is incorrect, which it is not, it is just deviating from their kit.
Between their kit and what i used, i would still choose the universal joint for the steering shaft over the OEM type.

Regardless, the OP has the option to choose for himself how he wants to go with it.
 

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
10:56 AM
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
30,508
Reaction score
100,447
Location
Granite Bay CA
The owner of BAC, Peter Bergman is pretty outspoken.

To be clear, cutting the column to fit a u-joint coupler is not the only way, just one way to get this unit to work. I like that BAC includes the hybrid coupler to maintain OEM reliability as well as being reversible.
 
Last edited:
Top