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When doing the center link, pitman arm and idler, to convert to manual steering. I heard it said that 1, the power steering box may be used, and 2, it had a quicker ratio than the manual steering box. This sounds good but brings up a question. Is there any drag caused by the power steering box due to it be used without a PS pump? or maybe drag caused by the quicker ratio? When converting to manual steering, which handles better at speed, assuming both front ends are properly rebuilt? The one utilizing the manual box or the one utilizing the power steering box?
It'll defiantly be noticeable to at least 15-20mph... Going from a manual sector to P/S box on my 428 Fairlane increased effort very noticeably, even at moderate speeds... That car has never had P/S but I'll be adding it after I get the Comet on the road...
That's due to the extra weight of the 428. I had a 67 BB Mustang with manual steering, it was only hard to steer sitting still.
agree...biggest difference to me...it tightened up the slop in the steering...that wasn't..."steering harder"... I have...manual rack N pinion now. Krazy, I notice a lot of your troubleshooting examples are from cars other than...Mav/Comets....not apples and apples...
I had a 74 with a power steering box converted to manual, I now have a 71 with a manual box. I can say with confidence that at speed the 74 handled a lot better, the 71 seems to wander a lot more... I wish I kept my power steering box in the 71 too...
No not quite, but a additional 350Lb isn't much when one is comparing 1400Lb to maybe 1750Lb... The two vehicles still have same steering geometry, even EXACT same steering sector...
I don't think I was clear on my question. It wasn't a manual VS. power steering question. It was Manual with manual box VS. Manual w/ PS box question. Does that make since or have I muddied the water. The other way would also be a good debate but I asked due to pondering going manual I had always heard it's not good useing the power steering box when doing the conversion..
I believe everyone was clear with the question but it sounds like your not clear with the answers. The power steering system is independent from the steering box. The only difference in the two boxes are the steering ratio.
Everyone's answers were good and provided a lot of insight to many pros and cons, but until your answer, was I hearing what I was really looking for. I haven't until now, done much reading on the differences between power VS. power assisted steering. So thanks for everyones comments. I do have one more question concerning the different sizes of the center link. I'm guessing one has a larger bushing where it attaches to the pittman arm? Is the center link any larger or more robust, making it stronger than the other? My 71 was originally a 4 bolt car and the steering components really looks flimsy, or at the least smaller than others I've seen.
Take a look at this video featured on Stangssite.com. It shows how weak the drop down bracket can be when used on the power steering on fords. Because it so weak it should not be used unless some major work it done to make it stronger of just welding it in place permanently. If you want to eliminate the ps you either need a manual steering center link or one of the adapters as shown on Stangerssite to eliminate the control valve but retain the ps centerlink. You might want to consider replacing the ford power steering with an EPAS (Electric Power Assisted Steering) system. that's the modern way. R http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&gl=GB&v=UJtshfIO614
