_Remi

Hi friends,

I switched from PS to manual steering and have no regrets. When I am driving my 67 it comes as a package: big V8, lots of noise, steering is difficult and give a lot of feedback, braking is ... old

But ... it is really hard at low speed, parking and street driving. I certainly don't want to spend a lot of money on this but my goal is to make it 15% easier (pure random number just to show that I want it just a little easier).

My plan:

- Moving the battery to the trunk (30 lbs less in the wrong, 30 lbs more in the trunk). I should get a better overall balance and less contraints on the steering

- Installing a roller idler arm (http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/idlerarm/)

With this two things (assuming the second one will not cost more than $250) I should be able to make it a little easier, exactly my goal right?

What do you think?

Thanks!

Nabster

I don't think you'll get any improvement in steering at all out of moving the battery. If anything moving it will just add more weight to the car what with having to run a heavy low gauge wire the length of the car. You'd be better off buying a new lightweight battery and leaving that in the factory spot.

Swapping out the steering control stuff like your second step there is where the money is.

JMD

When you changed from POWER steering to MANUAL steering, did you have the car realligned to NANUAL STEERING SPECIFICATIONS?

Often, (or even typically?) the alignment specs are different for power vs. manual. Power steering applications will often use more caster than manual applications. Caster is what makes the steering come back to center. The effect is that when turning the wheel either way from center the front of the car is lifted slightly.

Less caster = less lift = less work for the driver

By reducing the caster, steering will be easier. If I were in your position, I would make sure the alignment is set to MANUAL specs, and would consider experimenting with even a little less caster than these standards if I had made other suspension improvements.

Starfury

The catch is that you need to run more caster with a roller idler arm, if you go that route. The roller idler reduces some of the return-to-center function of the steering.

For now, I'd get the car aligned like JMD said. Set caster at +1.5*, camber between 0* and -0.5*, with about 1/8" toe in. Don't go by what the shop book/computer says.

kalli

didn't changing the heads already make a huge improvement? mine did. the only downside is that the car sits now higher in the front. it settled already but is still high. so i'll have to go and align as well. Since I'm replacing UCA bushings soon and ordered Day's drop template I'll wait for that though
So i'm with the others. Check alignment first as well as all bushings, balljoints (whatever they're called) in the linkage

urban_cowboy

I think the best thing you can do to help with steering effort is to go to a lower geared steering box. Many Mustangs have a 16:1 steering box. Going to a 19:1 steering box will help with steering effort, but will also take more turns of the wheel to get you around the corner . Less responsive steering vs. More steering effort. You decide.

4reboy

Not to hijack the thread, but what do you have to do to convert from P/S to manual? From my logic, all you have to do is remove the pump/hoses/control valve/cylinder, but I saw online some adapter you have to install when converting from P/S to manual.

The reason why I ask is I'm getting fed up with the horrible design of my P/S, i've had to replace the slave cylinder 4 times now and no matter what or who's product I get it leaks in one way or another. I'm just thinking about ripping all the stuff off and going manual when I redo my suspension.

Starfury

You either need to swap all of the steering linkage (gearbox, center link, idler, pitman, inner tie rods) with manual parts, or you can get an adaptor that replaces your p/s control valve in your p/s linkage.

_Remi

Thanks for your feedback. I do believe that it was realigned to manual steering specs when I had the change done, it would not hurt to do it again and play with the caster. By the way, what is it exactly?

As far as changing the box, should I go for something like this: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

How can I be sure that I have a 16:1?

How much labor are we talking about?

Thanks!

kalli

wiki is your friend:
toe in is when you look at the wheels from the top and the front is a bit closer together. like when looking down at your feet and the toes are closer together than the heels

camber:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...berCar1960.jpg
that's a lot of negative right there

and caster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caster_angle.svg
that's a lot of positive (when front of car is on left side of picture). would you have the same angle negative you'd fall flat on your face on a bicycle when you let the handle bar go. I guess even with the hands still on the bar ...

for the steering ratio you need to measure:
a) the amount of turns from lock to lock
b) the angle the wheel turns from lock to lock

let's say you have 4 turns lock to lock and your wheels turn 45 degree in each direction

4*360=1440 (that means steering wheel turns 1440 degrees from lock to lock
tyres do 2*45 (45 each side)=90
1440:90==16:1 this gives 16:1 ratio