Posted by Jay T (IP: 209.86.5.195) on January 15, 2000 at 22:40:50:
In Reply to: Re: There's got to be a way to improve the steering on these cars... posted by Jim Glover on January 15, 2000 at 22:00:18:
: : I promise I won't ask again, but I'm at the point of reassembling the front end on my Mav. So far I've found ways to upgrade pretty well every system on the car except the steering. At this point my plan is to put in all new front end parts and go with the original power steering set up, but to be honest with you the thought of it breaks my heart. After all that work and money I'm still going to have a car that has the road feel of a stick in a bowl of pudding and takes 8 turns to go lock to lock (slight exaggeration). I've considered rack and pinion but have yet to find a practical set up for street use (maybe you know of one?). I've thought about converting to standard steering, but most of the opinions I've heard suggest that the effort will be too great with a V8. The one option with some appeal showed up in some old magazine article on Charlie's site where they say "Mustang power steering gears were slipped into the Maverick steering box,easily done since Ford uses linkage assist rather than integral power assist. The new quick steering takes only 3.5 turns lock to lock against the stock 5.2 turns lock to lock and turning effort increase is negative". Any comments, suggestions or better ideas before I take the big plunge? Thanks for your as usual great help. John B
: My suggestion to make the car more modern feeling is to replace the entire front suspension with Mustang II rack and pinion and a-frames. There is a shop somewhere in South Carolina that makes the entire kit to convert Mavericks!