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Empi Steering Box, any feedback?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2025 6:34 am
by nbuscemi
About a year ago I replaced the steering box on my 1968 Type 1 with one made by Ampri (cheap Brazil unit found on just about every ACVW parts catalog) and its been a REAL nightmare. I want to re-replace it with a better one.

I was looking at the ECObox that AirKewld offers and stumbled upon this...

https://empius.com/products/trw-varga-s ... -beetle-2/

According to EMPI, its a complete redesign, etc... Has anyone used one these boxes and what is your feedback? Is it worth double the price of the cheap units and/or is comparable to the more expensive AirKewld unit.

Thanks,

-Nick-

Re: Empi Steering Box, any feedback?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2025 2:00 pm
by Ian Godfrey
Nick, I'd be very wary of anything EMPI. I can recomend this one from VWNOS.com
https://www.vwnos.com/steering-gearbox? ... XCsY5w9nI_
These are really well made, and the not overly tight like a the TRW ones

Re: Empi Steering Box, any feedback?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2025 3:35 pm
by slayer61
Ian knows his stuff. Listen to his advice.
I spent the extra $$$ on the Airkewld pro steering box. I am very pleased with it's performance

Re: Empi Steering Box, any feedback?

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2025 3:30 pm
by nbuscemi
Thanks for the feedback. I ended up removing the Ampri unit and putting my stock steering box back in the car. Before that, I opened it up, cleaned it, filled it with fresh grease. The original gear box feels a thousand times better than the new Brazilian box. I guess that's what I get buying a $160 steering box.

Thanks

-Nick-