de-powered rack owners

[quadmasta]

When my motor was out I depowered my steering rack the FM way. I think my linkages may be binding now because it's REALLY damn hard to turn the wheel even when the car's moving.

How much force should it require to turn the car once it's moving?

[jesseealexander]

not too much. did you drain the rack? its against my personal judgment to drain it because the fluid is a lubricant for the gears, but it may relieve some pressure from the steering.

[Atlanta93LE]

I de-powered mine the "loop-the-lines" way, and drained most of the fluid. It's sometimes tough at real low speeds like a parking lot (esp. if I neglect my tire pressures), but quite nice at normal speeds.

[quadmasta]

I drained the rack and removed the seals and then I slapped grease all over the bar. I know the tire pressures are low. I guess I'll check that :)

[Doppelgänger]

Looping lines, seals, grease and procedures? Bah you guys are making it too complicated. When I did it, I just cut the lines and pointed them down and let the excess fluid run itself out of the system.

[FE3tMX5]

Camber, caster and tire pressures have a lot to do with steering effort and low or no speed for sure.

[jesseealexander]

Looping lines, seals, grease and procedures? Bah you guys are making it too complicated. When I did it, I just cut the lines and pointed them down and let the excess fluid run itself out of the system.

the only problem with this is that there is no lubricant for the gear/rack, so it can cause the rack to wear out pretty quickly. at OPM, we just loop the lines and leave fluid in it.

[mustangtomiata]

how much weight can be saved by talking the power steering out? And would putting in a manual rack save a little more?

[simontibbett]

Yeah I highly recommend leaving some fluid, DO NOT do Mikes way lol.

[jesseealexander]

how much weight can be saved by talking the power steering out? And would putting in a manual rack save a little more?

maybe like 20lbs? the biggest benefit is the road feel.

manual racks are good, but have a slightly longer steering ratio.

[Jacob]

maybe like 20lbs? the biggest benefit is the road feel.

manual racks are good, but have a slightly longer steering ratio.

I can attest to this from a little spirited mountain run with Mike and a few others a long while back. Compared to mikes car, I was fighting turn in with the manual rack. I've thought about putting in the power steering rack just for these issues.

[simontibbett]

Yeah I have both a manual rack and a de-powered power rack, the power one feels better.

[luckyxiii]

Yeah I have both a manual rack and a de-powered power rack, the power one feels better.

I totally agree with ya on that one!

[N3v]

i had my ps belt disconnected one day, and even with all of the fluid in it, it was butta once it was past 3mph

[Doppelgänger]

the only problem with this is that there is no lubricant for the gear/rack, so it can cause the rack to wear out pretty quickly. at OPM, we just loop the lines and leave fluid in it.

I never said I drained all of the fluid out, I just let it purge the excess fluid on it's own and i'm sure there was plenty left in it for lubrication. I could have probably gone to homedepot and bought a small piece of pipe and looped it off, but I didn't care at the time and drove with it for a couple of years with no problems :dunoo: