K, I’ve been holding out on this one for a bit, but after attending a few larger events this summer I can no longer pinch my fingers, so to speak. As the accompanying image suggests, I’m referring to the “convenience” of electric scooters for spectators at car shows … or is it the “inconvenience” of electric scooters for participants/vehicle owners and exhibitors at car shows?

For many, the availability of scooters at larger events has made it possible for them to see the entire show without being physically challenged, and I personally think that’s a great thing. The last couple years of my father’s life he would not have been able to attend even a local cruise night without the assistance of a scooter. Obviously, that’s not where my issues lie.

Over the years, the popularity of electric scooters has grown enormously—so much so, in fact, oftentimes it’s difficult for non-scootered spectators to maneuver through the aisles/rows, let alone see the vehicles/vendors they’re there to see in the first place. Beyond that, I’ve seen the numbers of “non-needy” individuals (healthy, young people) using said scooters increase even more so … at a staggering rate. It is of my opinion that if you don’t need the assistance of an electric scooter, keep your butt out of them and walk the show like everyone else! (I say this as we just returned from a HUGE event where we had access to golf carts to aid in our coverage of the nearly 10,000-vehicle show … so I do feel a bit hypocritical, even though we only used them outside and on rare occasion!)

onsidering how your truck drives usually leads to thoughts of coilover upgrades or sway bars, but have you ever thought about the steering action and feel? Unless you’re still rocking a slow, stock, manual box, a steering upgrade may not have ever been on your radar—but you may want to rethink that!

After being in business for over 100 years, Borgeson Universal Company knows a bit about steering! They recently introduced a new steering box for GM OBS trucks that has a turning ratio of 12.7:1 versus the stock ratio of 14:1 or the factory 16/13:1 variable ratio unit. This means that for every 12.7 degrees of steering wheel movement, the output shaft rotates 1 degree. In the case of our OBS, the new box now turns lock-to-lock within three turns of the wheel compared to the four and more from the worn-out original.

For two-wheel-drive OBS fans, Borgeson has you covered as their new box is a bolt-in for ’88-96 models. The box is a touch shorter in length than the factory but installs with the same three mounting points and connects directly to the factory steering shaft. The OEM fluid lines bolt right into the 16mm and 18mm x 1.5 O-ring ports of the steering box, making this upgrade a true direct bolt-in affair.

n the two previous issues of Classic Truck Performance, we documented installing C4 Corvette front suspension under an early Chevy pickup. Our intent was to build a ’52 Chevy 3100 series pickup that had the ride and handling qualities of a contemporary performance car, but like many projects there were complications to deal with—and in this case they were all of our own doing.

Our piecemeal pickup actually started life in 1952 as a 3800-series 1-ton truck. But as the cab and front sheetmetal is the same as a 3100 1/2-ton pickup, and this particular example was completely rust-free and in near-perfect condition, we decided to use it. Now all we needed to begin was a frame. As luck would have it our friend Gary Dagel, of Dagel’s Street Rods, had a ’55 frame that he would donate to the cause.

From the outset the plan was to install Corvette C4 suspension under both ends of the truck using kits from Don McNeil at Flat Out Engineering. McNeil specializes in kits to install ’84-96 Corvette C4 front and rear suspension components under an array of Chevy and Ford cars and trucks. These suspension components provide excellent ride quality with cornering and handling traits that turns a utilitarian pickup into a corner-carving performance vehicle. All Flat Out Engineering kits maintain the correct factory geometry, are known to fit like they should, and are designed to be easy to install.