Hey guys. I've got a problem. My power steering pump is leaking like a mother, and I don't feel like coughing up the change to fix it. The way I see it, I can live with a little bit harder turn of the wheel in low-speed situations, and it's cheap weight reduction.

The car is a daily driver, and I really don't care about the steering being harder. I don't have wide wheels (16x8), and the car is lightened, with the weight now being under 3500lbs with me in it.

For the record, I'd really like a Madman manual rack, but I don't have the cash for it right now.

What are the pro's and con's of doing this mod on a daily driver, and how exactly would I go about doing it.

 

just take it off. some people loop the two fittings on the rack, some people block them off. I just left them open.
If you want the no power steering to not be as hard you could run on skinnies all the time. thats what i do.

 

PRO- your arms and shoulders will get bigger quick.

 

With regular sized tires it sucks in parking lots and taking right turns out of side streets. Not bad with skinnies though. The Pros are the weight reduction, short belt, and the car is much easier to drive when it starts to skate on a slick track.

 

Looping the stock rack sucks IMO, I never liked it. Steering felt too stiff. I think you need to be on skinnies to drive around with a stock looped rack.

 

I tried to drive with 17x9 fronts (275-40's) when my Madman rack was first installed.

I just about killed myself and Paul @ Thunder taking a right turn.

Skinnies. Definitely skinnies.

<- Grover Arm Equipped

 

What do I need to look out for if I decide to go ahead and remove it? I seem to remember seeing something about grinding down the head of one of the alternator bolts.

Also, would it be alright to daily drive skinnies, so long as the tire was a radial with a decent speed rating? I might could look into that.

 

if you want to get rid of it for sure then you can chop up your alternator bracket to make two spacers for the alternator. its the cleanes and lightest way to mount your alt . and no grinding bolts required. i'll try to get a pic on here tonight.
daily driving skinnies is fine. i daily drive mine 90+ miles a day everyday, rain, snow, ice and shine. Just make sure you get the ones that have a MAX psi of 44. there are some that are MAX psi of 36 and those or more light duty.
Another thing if your car is slammed you might wanna rais it up cause skinnies will drop it down about an inch in the front. Skinnies are very delicate when iot comes to your alignment too. if your alighnment is a little off you wouldn't really notice with regular tires but it will wear the skinnies funny.
Another good thing about skinnies is they take 50 lbs off the front of your car, reduce rolling resistance and tires are $60-$75 for two! .

 

Car is stock height, and the more weight I take out of it, the more it looks like a 4x4.

What wheels and tires are you running for the skinnies? I've seen guys mount smaller size regular radials on skinny wheels. Big Geek (local guy on this board ) does it.

Thanks for all the advice so far SUX2BU.

 

I run 15x3.5 Weld Draglites with Metric 165r15 tires. There is no sidewall number for these tires (275/40r17 40 is the sidewall number) its just 165r15.
DO NOT i repeat DO NOT get the 4" wide Draglites. they have a HUGE lip on the inside that makes you have to grind ALOT off your rotors even when you use a spacer. i ground off a good amount to run my 3.5" Draglites without spacers on my stock brakes. i now have aerospace brakes and they bolt right on now, no grinding required.
you can grind a little bit and run a spacer or grind some more and run no spacer (with stock brakes). i suggest running no spacer. it looks better and is MUCH safer. the stock studs are just barely long enuff if you don't run a spacer. And i don't think spacers are NHRA legal anyways.

 

The short belt mod needs a Electric WP right?

 

No that would be the SUPER short belt mod. The "short belt mod" just by passes the power steering and the fixed idler pulley.

 

oh, How is the belt routed on the Short Belt mod?

EDIT: Is a manual rack lighter than the stock one?. If so.. How light?

 

The same as stock except after the water pump instead of going up over the PS you go south east around the alt and then under the crank, then back up around the tensioner pulley.

 

Hey, SUX2BU, what if I got the 15x3.5's, a spacer, and longer (ARP) wheelstuds. Would that work? I'd like to grind as little as possible.

 

That would be better than running the stock stude. Im not a fan of spacers though.

 

yeah what he said.

 

What do I do about the PS cooling lines that went through my upper radiator hose? Can I just put a piece of pipe in place of that metal piece or what? Do they make a hose for the ls1 guys without a PS cooler???

 

Yes, there is a one peice hose that you buy. just ask for a 98 upper radiator hose without a power steering cooler.

 

Thats cool. Thanks! Now as far as the rack, what is best? Looping the fittings, remove them, leave them open?