hey guys, i did an LS swap and 5 speed conversion on my sedan and decided to take out the power steering and a/c. the steering wheel has a lot of freeplay before it actually turns and it just sounds and feels horrible when i go over bumps. anyone have this problem before? thanks for any advice in advance

 

did you leave the hose connected to the pump or did you disconnect it?

 

did you do the proper p/s removal with a breather or reservoir? you didn't just dis-connect everything and leave the rack with no fluid?

 

i just disconnected everything, but i left fluid in the rack and plugged up the holes for the lines with regular bolts. anyone know which cars came with manual steering racks?

 

i have a manual rack for sale if interested, your best getting one... has a better turning ratio as well... check your tie rods for excessive play and check your tie rod nuts for excessive looseness....

 

pm'ed about the manual steering rack, and i have checked my tie rods, and they have no excessive play. the nuts on the other hand.. one is partially stripped and wont go on all the way, i was going to buy new tie rods but i figured that if i could find a manual rack with tie rods it would be best to get everything together.

 

where did u plug the lines? right on the rack ..or where the res tank was?

 

i plugged it on the rack. everthing else was pulled out and set aside in case i wanted to restore it later. but my mom for some reason thought all of that, with my A/C parts were trash.

 

from what i heard dont plug it there. do a breather system or put the lines on it and plug them. if there is too much fluid in the rack and its pluged... it will get tight and the (rack pistons) are trying to compress the p/s fuild when u turn.

 

that makes so much sense hahah, now only if my mom didnt throw out my lines and everything. but i drove my friends bubble last night and was loving his car without power steering, im just trying to pick up one like it.

 

haha nice.. ya getten rid of p/s makes the driven experience so much better

 

As far as I have heard the p/s rack creates ZERO pressure inside the rack. Its the pump that creates the ONLY pressure. If anyone else could confirm this it would be great.

 

Definetly make a line to go from the main to the return, pretty sure if you keep going like you are your gonna blow some seal somewhere.
Edit: why remove all that? i like having power steering and AC. so what i can live without a little power gain(in your head of course)

 

i took it all out because my friend told me i would need to get a new a/c compressor and power steering pump because the ones off my D15 wouldnt mount to the LS, and also. i dont really care that much ahah, ive owned a truck for two years and havent hit the a/c button once so why bother

 

pressure might not have been the greatest word for me to use.or maybe i didnt explain it the way it was told to me but. think of it this way.. the less resistance to a certain extent (being the p/s fuild) within a colsed area would make it harder to move the pistons if u will inside the rack when the wheel is being turned. less fuild in the rack sould make it easier to steer due to the fact of ur not trying to compress p/s fuild..this is what i was told not 100% sure if it is total true but seems parctical