MANUAL STEERING FOR DAILY DRIVER

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A/MP

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My '65 Dart gasser has manual steering, so I know how is steers thru the pits and down the track. Manual steering work with my new daily driver, '65 Dart 4dr, /6, /auto?
 
I drove a 64 Fairlane with a 351 Windsor and no power steering daily for 6 years. It never bothered me.

Remember real men drove semi truck for years with no power steering. To many cream puffs today can't drive anything without power steering.

Tom
 
PROSTOCKTOM said:
I drove a 64 Fairlane with a 351 Windsor and no power steering daily for 6 years. It never bothered me.

Remember real men drove semi truck for years with no power steering. To many cream puffs today can drive anything without power steering.

Tom
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So did the women !
 
RAT ROD AL said:
So did the women !
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A/MP said:
My '65 Dart gasser has manual steering, so I know how is steers thru the pits and down the track. Manual steering work with my new daily driver, '65 Dart 4dr, /6, /auto?
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Early As, especially with a slant 6, are so light in the front I can't imagine ever NEEDING power steering.
 
I agree with @Professor Fate, you don't really need PS. I bought a new 69 Barracuda FB 340 Formula S in 1969, and it was manual steering. I never once wish it had PS. My current 69 Barracuda FB has PS, and it is a bit sloppy. Sometimes I consider switching to manual steering.
 
harrisonm said:
I agree with @Professor Fate, you don't really need PS.
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Well.....if the ratio is the super high 24 to 1, sure....any pipsqueak like Pee Wee Herman can steer the car.
The 20 to 1 or the super quick 16 to 1 is another matter.
A couple of months ago I drove a FABO members 68 Dart with manual steering.
Now, I'm used to quick ratio power in my own cars. I have a Borgeson in one car and fast ratio arms on a stock box in another. My other cars are standard Mopar power steering.
His Dart handled well but I didn't feel comfortable with the extra amount I had to turn the wheel when cornering. Maybe I'd get used to it over time but at first drive, while the steering effort was fine, the amount that I had to turn the wheel felt excessive.
It could be a matter of preferences. If you're into handling and enthusiastic cornering, the slow manual ratio feels too slow.
If you're not into that sort of thing, manual steering may be just fine.
 
once you're past walking speed it's a non issue.

paralleling up with big sticky tires and a bunch of caster is a bit of a work out though, but how often is that happening?

go with the armstrong steering and worry not.
 
Parking with manual steering and having a manual trans sucks. But the feel of the road is much better when driving with manual steering. Also when in a slide and on the throttle and you leave off the throttle while counter steering there is a momentary loss of power steering. It will feel like the steering locks.

I always like manual steering. Now at close to 70 yrs old and past drifting and sliding age . Power is looking to be a choice I'm considering. Manual steering did suck with a small Diameter tuff steering wheel on the street.
 
My first car was a 71 Duster with manual steering that I inherited from my MOTHER so I have always preferred manual steering. I had a 20:1 in my last Dart and other than parking, I never even really thought about it. I plan on removing the PS from the Duster when I change the engine this winter.
 
I prefer manual steering myself. Makes you feel like Cale Yarborough turning laps at Darlington.

PUX5eO.gif


Plus you build up enough muscle to whoop someone's *** for putting you in the wall.

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I have power steering on my '66, and honestly I feel it's way excessive- the only reason it's on there is because my wife has a bum shoulder, and it's much easier for her.
As for myself, I don't see the need for PS unless it had 16:1, 40 series tires, and never drove above 5 mph. And had a snow plow hung on the front end.
 
I plan to go to manual steering on my 68 Dart.. if I buy a new box it’ll be the 20:1 middle ground I guess.. but if it’s used, I’ll get whatever is a good deal. Mancini sells new boxes for 299 and the power column adapter for 110. Power is nice but I want to have one less thing that can spring a leak and one less accessory for the engine to turn. Simplicity
 
A/MP said:
Manual steering work with my new daily driver, '65 Dart 4dr, /6, /auto?
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yes.
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For the rest of you guys
here's my DD set-up.
360/4-speed/3.55s, all aluminum top-end, P/S, P/B, battery in the trunk, 3650 pounds me in it, 52% front bias, so 1900 pounds on the front. My 2nd-gen Barracuda wears a 12.5" thick foam-rimmed, steering wheel, a stock front end, 1.09 bars, and 3.5* caster. I took my Mopar steering box apart and de-sensitized it with additional reaction springs.
The results;
So what I ended up with is the 16:1 ratio, speeded up* by the tiny steering wheel, and enough assist to do figure eights on my driveway, and a good amount of roadfeel. It doesn't steer like Grandpa's New Yorker anymore, but is lightyears faster than Armstrong.
When I say speeded-up*, I mean; with the stock; what was it 16" steering wheel?, at 3.5 turns lock to lock, the total travel at any one point on the rim is
16 x3.1416 x3.5=176 inches, whereas in my set-up, it is
12 on the foam centerline x3.1416 x3.5=132 inches,
That's a decrease of 25%.
The performance;
You guys gotta try this; I steer that with the palm of my left hand on the thick foam wheel; the Right hand being on the shifter, ready to pounce.
But I warn you, don't try this with a Thompson Pump cuz it can't keep up and it will boil the fluid right over the top. The Saginaw pump I bolted on works just fine.
I too, steer with the back-end, using two assists; firstly is the 24 psi I run in the 295/50-15s on 10s, that allows the car to "roll over onto the sidewalls" quite a bit. and Secondly of course is drifting.

So then, with three modes of steering available, she is a fun car; sometimes maybe a lil too much fun. If the back-end steps out a lil too far, and I'm outta steering, then a lil slip on the clutch allows the rear tires to regain traction, the drift stabilizes, I'm outta trouble, but now the car may be going in a direction I really didn't want to go ; this is where the 16:1 and "fast-ratio steering wheel" earn their keep.
Brakes you ask?
Um, you trying to spoil my fun? Brakes are always on the table, but rarely used. I mean rarely. I got places to go and things to do, brakes just slow me down.
If one of you Armstrong experts had a chance to pilot a car set up like this, I'd be willing to bet you'd be in trouble in a heartbeat.. and NO!, you ain't getting to pilot mine! Butum hey, strap in and I'll give you a ride around town.
OK, but hang on, I got a rod-knock, so you'll have to wait until spring.
 
FlamesAreWicked said:
I want to have one less thing that can spring a leak
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I put new lines on mine in year 2000. Lines still going strong. Ima thinking leaking is not a good excuse, lol.

But this I get
FlamesAreWicked said:
one less accessory for the engine to turn. Simplicity
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Cuz the header install is a lil easier, and less frustrating.
But not for any power-sucking, cuz on a 360 it's a non-issue.
However, as to the header thing;
I used to take my 360 out every fall, and swap in a 318. Then in spring, I swapped the 360 back in. I did this for 5 maybe 6 years in a row, cuz the car was my DD.
If you think about it, that's a lotta header swapping going on. TTI's for the win. The very first time, there were a couple adjustments to be made. And a lil fine tuning on a subsequent swap. But after that, it was a breeze. The point is this, don't let header installation scare you out of a sweet power-steering experience.
 
AJ/FormS said:
I put new lines on mine in year 2000. Lines still going strong. Ima thinking leaking is not a good excuse, lol.

But this I get

Cuz the header install is a lil easier, and less frustrating.
But not for any power-sucking, cuz on a 360 it's a non-issue.
However, as to the header thing;
I used to take my 360 out every fall, and swap in a 318. Then in spring, I swapped the 360 back in. I did this for 5 maybe 6 years in a row, cuz the car was my DD.
If you think about it, that's a lotta header swapping going on. TTI's for the win. The very first time, there were a couple adjustments to be made. And a lil fine tuning on a subsequent swap. But after that, it was a breeze. The point is this, don't let header installation scare you out of a sweet power-steering experience.
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Well get it or not, I wanna go to manual steering lol. I’ll be glad I did once I do put headers on it .. whether it’ll be Doug’s or TTI.
 
How do you determine what the ratio is? Is it printed on the box? Mine takes so many turns I was thinking about adding a suicide ball to the steering wheel.
 
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