Manual Steering

[ThunderStruck]

Has anyone switched to manual R&P steering? I picked up a new one in a trade.
I'm thinking no more p/s, less weight better looking.
Car not everyday driver.

[qikgts]

I used to have one on my old '95 GTS. It was plenty easy to drive once the car was moving but with wide street tires it needed a lot of effort to turn the wheel when parking. It still wasn't low-effort with skinny's on the front.

It feels similar to when you have to turn the steering wheel while pushing around a non running car. It's not for everyone but totally manageable. Hence the tongue and cheek term when talking about manual steering, "Armstrong Power Steering".

[Mustang-junky]

I used to have one on my old '95 GTS. It was plenty easy to drive once the car was moving but with wide street tires it needed a lot of effort to turn the wheel when parking. It still wasn't low-effort with skinny's on the front.

It feels similar to when you have to turn the steering wheel while pushing around a non running car. It's not for everyone but totally manageable. Hence the tongue and cheek term when talking about manual steering, "Armstrong Power Steering".

Agreed. If it is more of a drag car than a fun cruiser then going manual makes sense. Parking can be a pain, especially at car cruises when everyone is watching. Manpower steering. It does do a nice job of cleaning up the engine compartment though. If I had a functional power steering setup I wouldn't swap it out for a manual.

Jess

[BaconB8]

I just did this. The car has 195 front tires, and I don’t really like it. It’s a drag type setup. The rack is a flaming river, and I have the mm steering shaft.

It does clean things up and shed a few pounds.

[stangman86gt]

i have manual steering(FR rack and MM shaft) and manual brakes... I love the feeling of both. As it was said earlier it really helps clean up the engine bay.

[WilliamCapri]

If steering effort is an issue you could get a larger diameter steering wheel. Remember how big they were back in the day? Well, some of us do.

[erratic50]

Larger steering wheel size reduces reaction size relative to the number of inches of wheel circumference mobed. Same number of degrees vs wheel movement vs wheels but a lot more distance covered by your hand to do it. Just keep it in mind.

smaller wheels add effort but increase tire movement vs length your hand is moved

[Haystack]

Lots of guys use a 15:1 rack for performance when they go manual rack instead of a 20:1. This increases effort by 25%.

Personally, I've driven cars for years after the power steering went out. Its really not that big if a deal, and a manual rack is actually easy then a power steering rack non-assisted. It doesn't have all the high pressure seals.

[mmb617]

When I changed from power to manual steering I thought it made the car less squirrelly on the big end at the track. In general I prefer the feel of the manual steering. It's not bad even in parking but then I do have skinny tires up front which helps there.

I still haven't done the conversion to manual brakes but that's on the to-do list as I really don't have enough vacuum at idle for the power brakes.

[erratic50]

A lot of the 60’s cars I grew up around had strong arm steering and V8’s. Probably the biggest pain was a 78 Econoline cargo van we used in construction all the time. Really sorta sucked backing trailers with no windows and manual steering, but it was doable. To this day I have to watch the trailer in the mirror and not the trailer itself to do worth a damn backing. Lol.

[Haystack]

The hardest steering I ever had was my grandma's ols 82? B2000 mazda truck. Right after I started driving I ended up with that truck to get around town. I remember notching about how hard it was to steer until I went with my grandma to drop it off one day.

On the way back to drop me off, we went through the driveway. My grandma in her 70's had no issue steering it one handed through the drive through and home holding a large coke and shifting and steering one handed. Id say the steering effort was about double one of our cars with no oower steering fluid.

[BMW Rider]

I have the 15:1 manual rack in my 79. It's a bit heavy at a dead stop but not terrible. Any amount of motion and it gets lighter. Great feel and feedback driving, no effort at all in a straight line.

[Broncojunkie]

I have the 15:1 manual rack in my 79. It's a bit heavy at a dead stop but not terrible. Any amount of motion and it gets lighter. Great feel and feedback driving, no effort at all in a straight line.

This guy gets it. You eventually learn to drive them a little differently. When I was a kid, my old capri had manual steering. I would fight the wheel when parking. Then, I learned to drive it a little differently. Just get the slightest bit of forward or backward motion going and it's a breeze

[emerygt350]

I drove an opel gt for 12 years and never even thought twice about the manual steering. The car was light but even in that, as Broncojunkie said, you learn to turn when moving. Even on a light car that means something. I would be tempted to move my mustang to manual too. I really see that power steering as a lot of potential problems for something that really isn't important once you start doing what you are supposed to be doing in a car.