whitestang86

I'm trying to find out if its worth taking out the power steering and put in a manual rack and pinion from flaming river. I'm not really looking to save weight cause i only drive it on the street, would be nice to clean up the engine bay but i'm not concerned about that so much, but looking to find out if its a lot of effort to steer with a manual or just keep the power assist and replace the rack, since my old one has tons of play in the steering before it actually wants to turn the wheels. Any input from people that have the manual rack and how they like or dislike and wish they had kept a power rack in would be greatly appreciated!

stevednmc

Seems to be yur trying to talk yourself into the manual rack. I cant speak for your fox, but ive driven some manual steering cars and at low speeds they simply suck. And if you keep the stock steering wheel diameter itll be harder still. I say if you arent racing, and its street only, stick with the power assist.

Are you sure its the rack that has all the play? MAybe bushings or tie rods are contributing?

whitestang86

It could be the bushings in the mount never thought of that, the rack seen better days it leaks alot , I just replaced inner and outer tie rod ends so its tight with all new parts, my first thought originally was to go with the AGR power assist since my fox is street driving and figured that a manual was gonna be a pain in the *** and wouldn't like it after awhile

GTnotchback

i put a flaming manual in my car 2 years ago because my power steering pump started leaking. i have since put about 5 miles on the car with it. Wish i would have stayed with power steering.ill probably go back.

whitestang86

i was afraid of that if i put the manual rack in, it would have been one less thing to leak over time but it's not worth risking the comfort of driving the car, would basically make you to not wanna drive it. that's why i wasn't sure how bad the manual racks were actually if just used on the street and by the judge of a few people telling me it's not the way to go they really must be a pain in the *** so i'll stick with the power assist.

UPRSharad

Most of my daily driver Mustangs in the past few years have been manual steering. I've used standard width front tires and "skinnies". It doesn't bother me at all.

But I'm not a super picky driver.

I like how they clean up the engine bay (only three pulleys on my '93 notch) and I like the weight savings.

Here's our Flaming River kit.

http://www.uprproducts.com/mustang-manual-rack-79.html