manual steer swap ?'s

The power steering gearbox is a closer ratio (less turns from lock to lock) so it may make turning a little harder. That happened on my car when I changed over to manual steering. I changed to a 14" steering wheel and it helped somewhat but when I changed to a manual gearbox it got much easier. Some of the guys on here are still running the p/s gearbox with no problems. I'm guessing I could have made mine easier by getting an alignment shop to adjust the caster on my front end but I had the m/s gearbox so I did that first. I'm happy with it just like it is now.

 

OK, i'll probably just use the M/S box if it'll be easier on me while menuevering the car



believe it or not this will probably be the first car i ever driver without power steering lol

 

Well, you're gonna have a wonderful time while parallel parking the first time. The first time I drove the Maverick I was sweating like if I had done an extensive workout.

You'll start growing some muscle in your forearms. BTW, don't toss the PS gear box. Test both boxes driving your Mav. Maybe you'll end wanting less turns on the wheel, or maybe you will like turning the steering wheel like crazy on every corner or while parking.

 

I believe it's only about 1 1/2 turn difference between the two.

 

As light as these cars are, you will be surprized how easy they are to steer with a manual box. Now my 84 4x4 F 150 is a diffefent story, especialy when the pump runs dry.....

 

I drove my '76 parts car about 150 miles, it was originally a power steering car that of course none of the power steering crap worked anymore. I actually like the P/S box better then the M/S, I can't say I noticed a huge difference in steering effort, but the car steered quicker. If I don't go Mustang II front end on my car, I'm definitely going to use the power steering box out of that '76 in it (with manual steering).

Now my grandpa's '78 Bronco with 35 inch tires was originally power steering, and all that quit working in the early 90's. Man, you'll get some muscles driving that thing.

 

Nice to know that! Maybe I'll switch to the PS box.

 

I can't tell much/if any difference between m/s and p/s. They both do fine

 

I forgot to add that when I put the new wheels on the mav, the steering became lighter too. Perhaps with 6" wide aluminium wheels the effort will be way less than with steel wheels.