Firm Feel vs TTI
I just crawled in from the garage, and I feel like the last gladiator standing.
I installed a sparkling new Firm Feel (phase2 firmness) steering gear in my 440 powered, TTI headered B-body. Needless to say, the normal method of R/R from under the car was impossible (at least for me), so after going the Hemi Route (Remove battery tray, jack up engine) it finally worked.
Having rebuilt everything else in the suspension, this was the only wearable part left to replace on the whole front end. My, what a difference! The car no longer wanders all over the road, the slop is gone and I feel a whole lot better about my skinned knuckles and scratched-up arms. It took me 8 hours total, and about three wasted hours trying to wrestle the f#%#er out of the car from below.
At least I learned a couple of things. Those chromed TTI headers are seriously Heavy Duty, and for bouncing my G-wagon around this earthquake-crack-riddled city, they simply can't be beat. The Firm Feel gear is exatly as advertised: Firm. I expect it to loosen up a tad once broken in, but time will tell. I did use their competitor's firm feeling product before, and this particular piece was good early on, but wore out and became sloppy real quick.
Time for a bath now.
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