I've searched all the forums and found mostly "why do you want to convert to a manual steering box?" as the replies. So here is the simple question again in March 2006: To those guys running a manual steering box on the street, do you want your power steering back? I don't mind increased effort, but I couldn't handle anything close to power steering with the engine off.

Is a Madman (or Pinto) manual steering box on a full weight f-body unreasonable for a daily driver?

 

i personally think it depends on you're tires, if you're running some pretty thin tires, then u could get away with a manual box without a problem, but if u have some 245's or so, you're gonna feel it alot more

then again, i dont have a manual box so i couldnt tell u from experiance

 

I've driven an '87 Mazda RX7 with manual steering only, with medium-wide tires on the front, and it's ok.....as long as you're moving. if you're not moving it's another story entirely...takes your entire strength to move the wheel. if you're looking for every last horsepower, probably a good switch, butfor anything really driven, just get a better power steering box, and I bet you'd be better off (hope it didn't sound like a "why would you want to convert" responce...really trying to give helpful input)
~Erik~

 

Full weight
Daily driver
no skinnies on the front

I would not do it.
Having said that my car has the alternator relocated and I have no power steering.
My car weighs less than 3100 pounds
It is NOT a daily driver
I run skinnies all the time

 

Go to the gym, do some lifting, stregnthen up those GUNS! Nah, i'm a little 155lb kid and I drive around my 66 truck all the time. only accessory it has is an alternator! i have 9inch wide tires and from a stand-still its difficult. when i'm going at a near snail-pace it gets much easier to turn. you'll get a workout every time you drive, but its somewhat practical. (oh and i dont have a real wide steering wheel either)

 

LJ,

I wouldn't run a manual rack on the street. I run the Madman rack and it works fine in my drag race only application, but can be annoying when trying to manuever tight pit areas. I certainly wouldn't want to drive it everyday like that with big tires. If you only drive the car to and from the track then I would do it, but not on a daily driver.

It probably would work well if you switched to a steering wheel from a 5,6,7 shoebox. IIRC they are about 20" across, plenty of mechanical advantage. Plus the chrome would look sweet in 9 sec ride.

 

I've been driving a manual rack for about a month now with 275-40's on the front. I would call it manageable, but certainly not ideal. Turning in tight spots is pretty much a PITA. It would be just about impossible to parallel park.

As a side note I had the passenger side bump steer rod come completely off on the way to work today. Scared the living hell out of me and ground a real nice gouge on the inside lip of my brand new rims. I'm a little upset about it and needless to say I'm going to look at the install pretty carefully. I thought I was just dealing with a brake caliper issue, then I go to turn and figure out real quickly what the grinding was. Could have been way worse, and one of my buddies thinks that having the wide front tires kept it going straight down the road. I think I'm going to figure a way to wire the bolts, I don't want that happening again, and I'm positive that I torqued everything down. Very scary to say the least.

 

I'm not sure about all brands of manual racks, but the Madman rack was designed for race use, with skinnies in mind. A few memebers have had issues with a wide tire rubbing at full lock. I will be getting one in the near future, but I run skinnies all the time.

 

I am running 275/40/17's in the front and the inside of the wheel rubs like crazy. Not even at full lock. At about 80% turned it starts to rub. I was going to sell my wheels but I found a place in Michigan that is going to narrow the rims to about 6.5 inches for me. Plus the Hind joint sits inside the wheel with practically no clearance. It just looks dicey. I would say you need skinnies.

Even without the rubbing I would not want to do this on a car driven a lot. My car is a weekend toy with a big block, so it's got a ton of weight up front. And I have a 13'' Grant wheel. It's a PITA to turn. You really need to be moving and then it's manageable. I would not want to deal with it everyday. For weight savings in a daily driver I would say it's not worth it.

 

I was considering doing this on my car. It is a weekend warrior, street legal stripped down car. NO interior or HVAC. I guess it will be the LAST weight savings I do from what I've read.

 

Neversummer: Your car sounds very similar to mine. I would say if you do it to make sure that you get skinnies up front.