[necro5.0]

Has anyone here done a power steering to manual steering conversion on a street driven fox body? If so, how do you like it? Would you do it again? How hard was the conversion? I'm asking because my power steering pump is going out on my mustang, and I could either replace the pump, or i could spend a bit more money and go manual steering instead. Thanks in advance!

[Spike Digidy!]

im doin a manual rack on my 85, from what ive felt, its not that bad, i get a lot more feel outa it, but at the same time the wheel doesnt turn back on its on too well, but i like it. if u wanna do a swap its as easy as installing a new rack, just no lines to fuck w/ and break and piss u off so bad u grab a gun and robb a liquor store just to get shot and arrested and get ganged in the holding cell by two dudes named neil and bob while theyre telling u this is just the beggining, prisons worse, and then your like aww damn if i only got that manual rack and pinion...... by the way, screw ordering a manual rack, just go to your favorite auto parts store and order 1 its cheaper and just as good, a direct fit that works w/ ur old tie rods and steering linkage. just tell em you dont have/want power steering...

[necro5.0]

Originally Posted by Jmanspike im doin a manual rack on my 85, from what ive felt, its not that bad, i get a lot more feel outa it, but at the same time the wheel doesnt turn back on its on too well, but i like it. if u wanna do a swap its as easy as installing a new rack, just no lines to fuck w/ and break and piss u off so bad u grab a gun and robb a liquor store just to get shot and arrested and get ganged in the holding cell by two dudes named neil and bob while theyre telling u this is just the beggining, prisons worse, and then your like aww damn if i only got that manual rack and pinion...... by the way, screw ordering a manual rack, just go to your favorite auto parts store and order 1 its cheaper and just as good, a direct fit that works w/ ur old tie rods and steering linkage. just tell em you dont have/want power steering...

Thanks for the advice! Any idea why your steering doesn't return to center by itself anymore? on a scale of 1-10 how hard is it to turn the wheels at a dead stop?

[86_Notch]

I used the flaming river manual rack and it's gravey to turn. You don't even realize you don't have power assist 95 % of the time. A word of advice, do NOT get a quick ratio rack, it'll be much harder to turn , stick with the standard ratio.

[Spike Digidy!]

Originally Posted by 86_Notch A word of advice, do NOT get a quick ratio rack, it'll be much harder to turn , stick with the standard ratio.

1+
but on on a scale of 1-10 i give it a 9, its the gearing in the rack itself tat makes it turn smooth, i honestly dont know why it doesnt turn back too well. on my 91 lx it did that but i had a small line leak, it would turn real smooth but the returned kinda sucked. but i like the manual. id take that over power anyday. im one of those that like to feel every lil thing from the road up....
i might be slightly black but would never rock a cadillac

[Timm10221]

Jmanspike

I went on to autozone and advanced and cant find a manual rack and pinion on there at all like mentioned above. I have a 95 gt that I am currently tearing everything apart and really would like to get a rack and pinion if I could that used all the stock tie rods and stuff like u mentioned. Can you point me in the right direction to get this.

I was looking at Flammingriver and I just dont have the 6-700 bucks right now for the hole shaban. Thanks for your guidence

Tim

[flyin ryan]

I have the flaming river standard ratio kit and have had it for two years. I've daily driven the car and it's one of my favorite mods. Yes steering completely stopped sucks balls but how often does one have to turn the car full lock while not moving?

The feel and response of the manual setup is well worth the money and little time to install. The weight saving factor and the cleanness of the engine bay are bonuses along with the fact that you won't have anymore fluid to worry about leaking.

[Timm10221]

Did you have to buy the whole kit??

[necro5.0]

Originally Posted by 86_Notch I used the flaming river manual rack and it's gravey to turn. You don't even realize you don't have power assist 95 % of the time. A word of advice, do NOT get a quick ratio rack, it'll be much harder to turn , stick with the standard ratio.

Thanks! what else did you have to buy with the rack to make it work with your set up? was it a straight bolt in like the factory set up that was mentioned earlier?

[necro5.0]

Originally Posted by flyin ryan I have the flaming river standard ratio kit and have had it for two years. I've daily driven the car and it's one of my favorite mods. Yes steering completely stopped sucks balls but how often does one have to turn the car full lock while not moving? The feel and response of the manual setup is well worth the money and little time to install. The weight saving factor and the cleanness of the engine bay are bonuses along with the fact that you won't have anymore fluid to worry about leaking.

Thanks for the info! how hard was it to install? what had to be done? does it just slide in or am i going to have to take out my headers or anything?

[flyin ryan]

Originally Posted by Timm10221 Did you have to buy the whole kit??

I did because :

A: I don't like using that tiny weak looking adapter that you can buy to use your stock power steering shaft with the manual rack.
B: Yes because the kit comes with everything to get it done, no runs to the hardware store or surprises.
c: Yes because the correct length tie rods are provided (manual and power use different length tie rod)

Originally Posted by necro5.0 Thanks for the info! how hard was it to install? what had to be done? does it just slide in or am i going to have to take out my headers or anything?

I didn't have a problem with the steering shaft install but I had shorties headers. Looking at the turbo header that's on the car now it might have been a little bit more of a pita but still do-able. Not sure if it's harder or how much harder it is with longtubes but it's probably a little bit more challenging room wise.

The install is straight forward and not difficult at all but you will need an alignment afterwords.

[Spike Digidy!]

Originally Posted by Timm10221 Jmanspike I went on to autozone and advanced and cant find a manual rack and pinion on there at all like mentioned above. I have a 95 gt that I am currently tearing everything apart and really would like to get a rack and pinion if I could that used all the stock tie rods and stuff like u mentioned. Can you point me in the right direction to get this. I was looking at Flammingriver and I just dont have the 6-700 bucks right now for the hole shaban. Thanks for your guidence Tim

Man, they suck then, i work for orielly autoparts and i can just look em up like regular parts, if u want call any oriellys up and ask for 1, now i dont know if they make for a 95 but i can definitly get 1 next day for a fox, even though they should be the same, i can find 1 for my 85 and 91....

[FOX347]

Originally Posted by Jmanspike Man, they suck then, i work for orielly autoparts and i can just look em up like regular parts, if u want call any oriellys up and ask for 1, now i dont know if they make for a 95 but i can definitly get 1 next day for a fox, even though they should be the same, i can find 1 for my 85 and 91....

I work at autozone and can also find manual steering for 79-86 fox's and while you are going to have some trouble finding a OE manual rack for the 87-95's because they did not have that option in those years, its not to hard to retrofit your system to run manual its just going to be a little more time consuming but can be done. I have a 84 with a 93 drive train, the biggest hassle i came across is the tie rods and such. If your willing to do the hrs its definitely worth it!

[necro5.0]

Originally Posted by FOX347 I work at autozone and can also find manual steering for 79-86 fox's and while you are going to have some trouble finding a OE manual rack for the 87-95's because they did not have that option in those years, its not to hard to retrofit your system to run manual its just going to be a little more time consuming but can be done. I have a 84 with a 93 drive train, the biggest hassle i came across is the tie rods and such. If your willing to do the hrs its definitely worth it!

Thanks for the info! what's involved in using an older stick manual steering in a 89 gt?

[FOX347]

The conversion is relatively easy; maybe a 4-hour job if you go slow.There may be someone on the list, or a junkyard owner, who would gladly give you his or her manual rack in exchange for your power steering (PS) components.

Put the front of the car up on ramps, not jackstands, to hold the wheels straight. Remove the PS fluid reservoir. It’s held on with a few 10-mm screws and you need to drain its contents by detaching the far end of its hose. Loosen and remove the PS belt by loosening the bolts securing the PS pump to its brackets and swinging the pump toward the engine. Disconnect the small electrical connector attached to the pump, that comes from the front of the engine’s head. Tie the now-dangling wire to the engine’s head with a tie wrap.

Remove the PS pump by removing its remaining mounting bolts. Drain any fluid as you disconnect it from the hoses that connect it to the PS rack. Remove the PS pump mounting bracket from the engine by removing its mounting screws. You must use a mallet and block of wood to slide the bracket’s mounting sleeve to one side (it moves in only one direction; I can’t remember which) to get at one of the mounting screws.

Disconnect and drain the metal PS fluid tubes that feed the rack. Carefully snake them from out of the car’s "mouth." Detach the steering tie rods. You have a choice here, between unscrewing each tie rod in the middle and removing it from the corresponding wheel hub. On one side I removed the cotter pin from the steering knuckle at the wheel hub, inverted the castellated nut, and beat the knuckle out of the hub with a hammer. On the other end I unscrewed the inner tie rod from the outer tie rod.

Remove the rack by removing its four mounting screws and loosening the attachment to the steering column, right above the universal joint. (BTW, you’re swapping U-joints so your manual rack’s U-joint will accompany the rack—this fact dispels the fatuous suggestion that your PS U-joint mightn’t be up to the job of turning a manual rack.) Note how the U-joint lines up with a white dot painted on the column. Wipe away any grease covering the white mark (this mark denotes "straight-ahead" on the steering wheel).

Install the manual rack, using new cotter pins to replace any pins that you removed, and doing your best to make the tie rods of equal length. Also it will behoove you to use all new tie rods.

Get the front end (toe-in/toe-out) aligned immediately. Your car won’t steer right until you do and it could be extremely dangerous to drive it in that condition. It will also wear the tires unevenly.