quick steer kit

VWlife · Post by **VWlife** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 5:39 am

A buddy gave me a quick steer kit w/ no instructions. Anyone help? Thanks

Post by **Marc** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:17 am

It's nothing but a machined lump of metal used to increase the length of the pitman arm - you detach the inner tierod ends from the pitman arm and bolt the adapter to the arm, then install the tierod ends to the adapter. With no tapered sleeves to go into the pitman arm, the security of the attachment relies heavily on the tightness of the through-bolts so don't skimp on the hardware (get grade 8). You should also replace the steering box stop bolts with longer ones to keep the tires from rubbing on the swaybar/control arms at full lock.
Be aware that there are two sizes of VW tierod end stud (they were enlarged in March of 1968)...the adapter must match your inner tierods.

VWlife · Post by **VWlife** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:49 am

thx Marc

turboblue · Post by **turboblue** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:46 pm

.......and the ones I sell are Bugpack. With "OFF ROAD USE ONLY" emblazoned right on the package.

CPRcubed · Post by **CPRcubed** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:06 am

"Off-Road Use Only" is somewhat misleading! You may be able to use one in the sand, but for trail blasting the quick steer kit will cause the steering wheel to be ripped out of your hands (if you find a nice rut). Another "obvious" tidbit that wasn't mentioned is that if one of these kits is installed, the car will need to be re-aligned. Cheers!

turboblue · Post by **turboblue** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:39 pm

Agreed CPR. You just gotta do what the market dictates. I don't like them personally. Have seen a few broken digits that MIGHT have been the quick steer's doing.

73notch · Post by **73notch** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 6:05 pm

YEAH, ive seen these quick steer kits, with the OFF road use only stickers on it. BUT, i have always wondered why its not recommended to use it on the street. why is it?

Sharkey · Post by **Sharkey** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:27 pm

73notch wrote:YEAH, ive seen these quick steer kits, with the OFF road use only stickers on it. BUT, i have always wondered why its not recommended to use it on the street. why is it?

Because it is an aftermarket bolt-on part that can affect a critical aspect of your vehicle. Manufacturers have to protect themselves so they make blanket statements like this to protect them from lawsuits. Even tinted tail light lenses say that they are for "show car or off road use only".

PS: "Off road" does not necessarily mean "mud bogging" or "rock climbing". It means "not on city streets". Autocrossers use them for quicker steering.

73notch · Post by **73notch** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:30 am

i understand steering might be harder, but thats the only negative aspect i see in this. can you give me an example of this being harmful to use on the street?

Sharkey · Post by **Sharkey** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:56 am

73notch wrote:i understand steering might be harder, but thats the only negative aspect i see in this. can you give me an example of this being harmful to use on the street?

I think the main concern here is that it is an aftermarket bolt-on part. Normally, your two inner tierod ends bolt directly to the pitman arm of your steering box. This particular method of connecting parts features tapered joints that wedge in place, and castelated nuts that are locked in place with cotter pins. The Quick steering kit is bolted to your pitman arm, effectively extending its length and altering the physics of your steering system (ie: longer pitman arm means less steering wheel rotation necessar to achieve lock-to-lock).

As I mentioned, the quick steering kit is bolted to your pitman arm, and your inner tierod ends are bolted to it. You effectively have twice as much hardware holding everything together, and twice as many places for things to get loose. The hardware that bolts the kit to the arm is simple nuts & bolts, which will almost always work their way loose. It's like running wheel adapters: you have nearly twice as many bolts to keep tight compared to running without them. Now that isn't to say that quick steering kits and wheel adapters aren't perfectly safe. The problem lies in the fact that you've modified your vehicle and have potentially created new failure points. If you owned a stock VW and your pitman arm sheared one of your tierod ends off, you could potentially sue VW (I said "potentially"). If you have a quick steering kit installed, you could potentially sue the manufacturers of the kit. Since it is easier/cheaper to simply put a disclaimer on the product to protect their legal interests, they do so.

The car will react quicker to steering wheel input, and this includes involuntary movements in panic situations, so practice getting used to the new "feel". Other than that, and the "harder steering" you mentioned, there shouldn't be a problem -- provided that the alignment is set correctly. All you're really doing is lengthening the pitman arm. VW designed that arm with a specific length to make the car easier to steer when the car isn't moving.

roachghia70 · Post by **roachghia70** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 12:00 pm

73notch wrote:i understand steering might be harder, but thats the only negative aspect i see in this. can you give me an example of this being harmful to use on the street?

i've got an example: a dog runs out in front of the car that's doing 45mph. the driver jolts the wheel the amount they normally would, but because of the quick steer kit, the car winds sliding backwards into oncoming traffic. a stretch? not really. just getting into a car with a different steering ratio and trying to "maneuver" will show you how much it can screw you up. off-road only simply means "it may or may not be legal on the street, so don't blame us if you hurt yourself or get a ticket."

73notch · Post by **73notch** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 2:32 pm

thanks guys, i understand now.

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:18 pm

Like VWlife, there is an unused Quick Steer kit in the shop. I'm going to take the front end out of my Ghia in a couple of weeks (for Berg/Avis adjusters, 3.4 degree shims) and do the ball joints, tie rods, and box. It is a fairly heavy car, and has 135's up front, stock steering wheel. I don't plan changing any of that soon. Later I'm thinking 155-175r/50 up front.

It is the added leverage to the steering assembly that I worry about. Or the two extra bolts loosing up. I'm not predicting many high speed ruts, this is strictly a street car.

So what are the bad things/worst case that can happen to me if I install the quick steer kit?

roachghia70 · Post by **roachghia70** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 11:04 am

sideshow wrote: So what are the bad things/worst case that can happen to me if I install the quick steer kit?

well,

do you have a roll cage?

it's best to leave quick steer kits to race cars, and not street cars. the quick steer kit won't help you commute any faster, know what i mean?

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:21 pm

I do agree that second guessing professional engineers is kind of risky.

Also I know that GM has a few different ratios for their steering boxes (speaking the 60-70s trans-cameros, novas, corvettes etc) . So when you change out a stock ?slow? ratio box for one with a stock ?fast? ratio, what do you adjust on the driver?

Never the less I have been looking at steering linkage this weekend (no tank) and am starting to prep an extra pitman arm. I see a slight advanatge to moving the inboard tie rods up and I am not seeing a need to change the steering stops.

My lump of steel had straight holes (fits the smaller tie rod ends?, this thing is kinda old), so I drilled it out for a BugPack ?Bump Steer Kit?. That gives me nice tapered holes for the tie rods to sit.

So much for "bolt on" the treaded holes allow for a little movement so I redrilled and tapped the pitman hole for 1/2-20 and will slightly ream the pitman arm to fit. I plan on safety wiring the bolts.

This is something I would NOT do to someone elses car, but I will have a stock pitman arm (just in case) and am prepared to undo changes.

I value the critics. BTW, wheelie bars & quick steer are not the same application. Is the picture some sort of "shock value" thing?