MANUAL STEERING FOR DAILY DRIVER
Manual steering work with my new daily driver, '65 Dart 4dr, /6, /auto?
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.