I figured I'd try it to see what it was like. From what I'd heard, it was hard to turn at a stop, but felt normal at 10+ mph. At 50 mph, it still feels very heavy. There's a small area in the center of the wheel that is fairly easy, but it takes two hands otherwise. Is that just because I'm running without a belt, and it would be better with looped lines? Or is there something wrong?

 

remove it all and loop the lines

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by InvaderTrax &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I figured I'd try it to see what it was like. From what I'd heard, it was hard to turn at a stop, but felt normal at 10+ mph. At 50 mph, it still feels very heavy. There's a small area in the center of the wheel that is fairly easy, but it takes two hands otherwise. Is that just because I'm running without a belt, and it would be better with looped lines? Or is there something wrong?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Changing to an aftermarket wheel made worlds of difference for me. I can't imagine going back to a stock wheel w/o p/s.
Theres a very detailed write up hanging around here somwhere that involves using a MotorCyle reservoir in the middle of the looped lines.....
Not sure what the removed poer steering does for rack longevity either. I removed mine at ~70k miles and by 120k or so my rack was fried.
Parking is the only real bitch without it.......I have learned to lift the clutch quick to transfer weight for easier turning.....Takes some getting used to.

 

The further out-of-center you turn it, the harder it is going to be. That is the whole point of power steering - the more you turn the wheel, it opens a rotary valve by the same amount allowing more pressurized fluid to "assist" you in turning the wheels.

No matter what, removing PS is going to make it turn somewhat harder. Most people like the feel of a smaller aftermarket wheel because it doesn't seem like you have to turn it as far (in perspective) as the bigger stock steering wheel. It will, however take more force the more out of center you go.

 

run without the belt for a few weeks and see how you like it before you remove the whole system. voice of experience: i did a manual rack conversion cuz people around here said it was easy to turn. i disagree...and i ended up installing a new rack and the whole ps system.................with the motor in the car........it was crazy hard!

 

Get some ***** guys. I'm a scrawny 140lb guy and I have zero problem with my manual rack.

If you remove ps, you should take the rack apart and grease it well.

If you're going to remove ps, do it the right way and follow my writeup. Looping the lines FTL!

The reason there is play at the wheel when you're going straight is because the first few degrees of turning don't require barely any effort at all, there is a tensioner on the rack you can use to stop that though.

 

^edit to my last post

the wheel wasnt THAT hard to turn exc in parking lots...the thing that bothered me was when i hit a bump in high speed sweepers, the wheel jerked out of my hands real bad. i felt like i had to keep both hands one the wheel

HOWEVER-my inner tie rods had 170k on them back then...but there was only a tiny bit of play in them. also my rack guide screw might have been too tight (i dont have an inch/lb torque wrench)

im a 225 lb guy (its all muscle haha) and heres my ratings 1-10 (1=easiest to turn wheel)
power steering = 1
removing belt = 8
looping lines + leaving ps fluid in rack = 6
manual rack conversion = 5

mgags are your lines looped or did you convert the rack??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheWalrus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
power steering = 1
removing belt = 8
looping lines + leaving ps fluid in rack = 6
manual rack conversion = 5

mgags are your lines looped or did you convert the rack??</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did the writeup on converting the rack to manual dude. Search my name, you probably did it wrong.

I would say its like this:
power steering = 1
removing belt = 10
looping lines + leaving ps fluid in rack = 8
manual rack conversion = 4

If you learn how to make the car help you turn, by using the engine and a decently sized brain, its really not hard, I don't even notice anymore.

 

yeah i followed that writeup word for word, i forgot it was yours. i know i didnt reassemble the rack wrong, but like i said the rack guide was too tight..it scuffed the rack pretty good. also i might have slobbed too much grease in there causing some resistance (used like 3/4 tube of pink mobil 1)

also, im 6'3" and i sit pretty far away from the wheel so my head has room...like my elbows are almost straight when driving. my point is that things are harder to move/turn when theyre farther from your body, so that probly have affected the numbers in my last post

when i had the front wheels off the ground and checked for play by wiggling side to side, i had like a 1/4 inch of play - but you could feel the play in both wheels...like i had my hands on both wheels and wiggled one, and i could feel the play in the other wheel...so the play i felt had to be somewhere in the gearbox and not my tie rods. i think this is why my car was bump steering so bad. mgags have you checked yours for play? im real curious to know...........