Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

I have skinnies in the front, I have removed lots of weight off the front, and I plan on removing more, so is powersteering really still necessary? Im trying to lighten up the car and I thought maybe I could get rid of powersteering, but I was wondering if I could still drive the car every so often on the street. I dont plan on driving it much on the street, just maybe to weekend meet ups and such. The car stays in the garage most of the time anyway, so should I remove it? How do I remove it? By the way, my car is an SS, I want to get rid of the cooler as well. Thanks.

taqwache

as long as you got skinnys like you said, you will be ok. sure its going to be harder to steer, but the skinnys make all the differents in the world. you are going to have to remove the pump and lines first. then on the rack and pinion, i would strongly reqemend looping the two fittings together that were going to the pump. this will keep fluid in there so it can stay lubercated and keep trash from entering it. on the cooler, just remove it and use a hose that is desinged with out it. then just get a short belt and enjoy your new power and less weight. if you feel like the steering is was too hard for you, i think madman sells a maunal rack that is geared lower for less resistance but it is expensive.

AdioSS

iTrader: (2)

I've been driving my impala with the power steering going out for over about 2 months now and it hasn't been too bad. The skinnies that I had on the front were 215/75 15s on 5" wide draglites, but the tread was maybe 3" wide. It wasn't easy to turn the 2 ton barge. Now with real 215/75R15 BFGs on the front it is even harder to turn. I don't have a front sway bar on either.

Personally, I'm going to fix the PS pump and put wide tires back on for a while. My ABS doesn't work, so stopping can be tricky and sometimes involves manual downshifting the auto. Braking got better with the wider radials, so it should be a lot better with 255/50ZR17s Racing your daily driver is crazy.

Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

Well the Bogarts, skinnies, and ET Streets are the only wheels and tires I have for this car now, I sold my street wheels and tires for it a while back. So I want to remove the powersteering. Is there any write ups on how exactly to do this? I dont wanna mess anything up and plus I like detailed instructions because it makes me feel a whole lot better about performing something Ive never done before. If there arent any write ups, anyone willing to make one up for me? Thanks.

dug

iTrader: (10)

I put the short belt on and never took it off. Its not that hard to turn without power steering. You get used to it. Still its a pain driving around in parking lots without it. Like when going through a drive through. Sharp turns are a bitch. The car has the stock 245s up front. Im gonna try some skinnier 205s up front and see if it helps.

Get a short belt and try it. If you dont like it you can always go back to the old belt.

Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

Well I went to go mess with trying to remove the power steering, but I havent gotten anywhere. I was going to remove the resevoir with the pulley on it, but I cant tell how it comes off. I tried removing the pulley, but it was hard as a **** and I didnt want to pry to hard and break something. Its a 3/8ths allen head. Anyhow, I was going to take off the whole bracket, but how am I going to get the bolt behind the resevoir out if its in the way. Im totally stumped and I havent even begun. How do I remove it? Also, what do I use to route the 2 fittings in the rack to each other. Do I have to go buy some line, bend and cut it so that it fits, then put a screw in fitting like it uses, then flare the end and screw both ends into the rack? If so, what size line do I need and what size screw in fittings do I need? Thanks.

Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

Also, does the small pulley thats below the powersteering pulley need to be removed? Its the one above the alternator pulley below the powersteering pulley. Its kinda off to the side, but in between them. Thanks.

SilverGhost

iTrader: (53)

i haven't had powet steering for 2 years.

i drive the car anywhere with 17" boy coddingtons and am ok. when the skinnies are on its much better though LOL

SUX2BU

iTrader: (14)

you can get the pump and resivoir off by taking out the two bolts that are fairly easy to get to off and the one behind the pump just use a 15 mm open end wrench it will take forever but its better than pulling the pulley off.
and i just unpluged my lines from the rack and left it as is.
And yes you can get rid of that little idler pulley. Also you have to either pull out or cut down the bolt or cut a chunk of the mounting bracket out of the bottom left bolt holding the alternator on.

theblur98ss

iTrader: (71)

You need a power steering pully pully. It'll pull the pully right off and then the reservoir is easy to get to.

Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

I finally got the PS pump off! Man it was a pain in the butt! I wound up having to drop the alternator to get to the bottom bolt, then having to loosen the water pump to get the left bolt out, then I was able to work the bolt behind the resevoir out! So now all I have to do is close off the fittings on the rack. I was looking at it and had an idea...ok you know the fitting on the T-56 tranny for the drain plug...its threaded into the tranny but instead of having a head on it, its indented with a square in which you use a 3/8 drive racthet to take out. Well I was thinking of putting something like that in the 2 fittings on the rack. Is this possible? If so, what size thread do I need because Im thinking of going to the parts store and picking up a couple. That way I can just thread those in and not have to worry about buying tubing, bending it, flaring one side, etc. to route them together.