I could use some guidance on purchasing a vega box for my model A. There seems to be a big variance in price ($130-500) and also some vendors say their boxes are 30% stronger and have needle bearings. One vendor also advises a different ration than the 20:1 thats common. Is there rally any difference or is this some form of marketing. Thanks for any advice and help here.
This car uses an OEM used Vega box with no problems. Yeah the ratio is a tad slow but I think that actually helps with steering stability in this car. All this with a heavy assed 409 laying up front too.
I would spend the extra money for a North American made box. Some of the repros might be allright but you can't go wrong with the real thing. I have sold the off shore boxs on my chassis many years ago and some of them came back to haunt me!!
Why not use an OEM Saginaw Vega box? There still around. I recently bought one on ebay for $30. Have disassembled/cleaned/inspected/reassembled several and most only need seal replacement and fresh grease. Never run across one that was trashed, probably due to the fact that many Vegas lived a short life. Bob
i bought a repop vega box, came from china or taiwan, built very poorly and not a all internally like the real deal. you're better off with a used one than a chinese version. also the foriegn one i bought could not be reversed.
Start searching Craigslist Canada. The Canadian boxes had needle bearings and the prices are good. Got CRS and can't remember What Vegas were called in Canada. Canadian brothers please help..
I went from a 40 Ford box to a Stock Vega box.It is so much sloppier I thought it was wore out and was gonna get a new one from Speedway.I bet those are junk as they are cheaply priced. So my box aint worn out? I mean it aint real bad but there seems to be much more play than the Ford box...any input?
Can someone post a picture of an actual saginaw box that came in a vega? Are there numbers cast into the case? I recently bought a box in the classifieds that was advertised to be a "Vega Rebuilt GM Box" and what I received does not appear to be an actual Saginaw used by GM and therefore "rebuilt" box. I suspect it is a repro but can not get the guy I bought it from to admit it. Can you tell from these pictures of what I received? I think it looks exactly like the one I had from flaming rive. I have a borgeson box on my car and it even has a different case. It is also mysteriously the same price as a "Helix" box.
I run a stock Vega box. They all have a little slop in it, but it's not at all a big issue. Never had a single problem. They are awesome if they are the real deal!
I've used these repop vega boxes on a couple occasions. And they are junk. First of all, they do not hold adjustment. You can adjust them, take a couple trips around the block and have them come loose. Readjust and do it again, and repeat as many times as you want. There is a fundamental problem with them. All the cars I have installed them in, have been swapped out for flaming river boxes. And have been trouble free from there. The last time I returned one to speedway motors, the sales guy I talked to commented on how they have been getting a lot back. The very first time I used one of these boxes, I bought a kit off ebay that had the box, the arm, and a mounting bracket. The steering box was bad right out of the box. And the steering arm didnt fit right. With the help of a block of aluminum and a hammer, it would only go onto the shaft .110". When it really needed to go on close to 3/4" of an inch. There was no way tightening it would have got it on that far. I went to my local custom parts seller (summit racings west coast warehouse) and bought a flaming river arm, and it fit onto the box properly, with no hammer needed. To the guy that bought the box out of the classifieds, that is a new chinese made box. Was that the one Mikey aka anchorboy46 had up for sale ? At least he isnt trying to pass them off here as new flaming river boxes like he used to do on ebay. Now those people got screwed !
I'm facing the same choice. Awhile back people on here were saying to avoid the flaming river box. So are they better now? Thanks Dave
different animal, but similar deal. bought a used original Vega box at swap meet for '47 Ford coupe. Then bought a "easy" bolt to frame bracket, and another and another. orig pitman arm would not line up. so bought two "bolts right up" arms. final set up had to do some small mods to closest bracket and bought a stainless steel arm that I had bent by a machine shop to finally get things to line up. after that everything worked great. much better than stock box, but power steering would have been nice. how come on the TV shows everything bolts right up? (Ha!)
A second on Borgeson Vega boxes! Don't waste your money on unknown steering boxes from Chinese metal. I've seen all sorts of problems from guys using them. If you really want a good steering box buy the 525 Saginaw. Same bolt pattern as a Vega, but much stronger.
Borgeson is the best. My experience with Flaming River was an expensive and disappointing experience. Their quality was bad and customer service was worse.
I don't have death wobble,and if I did I wouldn't band aid it by adding a steering stabilizer, but I wonder if adding one would extend the life of cheaper steering boxes. Kind of a shock absorber for the box. Both of my hotrods have Flaming River boxes and I'm not impressed by them. Gary
I'd say no, Probably the best way to extend the life of one is to take it apart as soon as you take it out of the box and replace the China bearings with quality bearings. Maybe even replace the recirculating balls with better ones. Still, the hardest thing on a Vega box is putting it on a rig that is just flat too heavy for the box to handle and that is still done every day. a 73 Vega weighs right at 2200 lbs with around 1200 on the front wheels and I have seen guys sticking them on cars that weight 3K plus quite often. They work great on a T, Model A or 32 but get much heavier on the front end and you have problems.
The Jalopy Journal
