Suspension Steering rack questions

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 26, 2021

So my power steering rack needs replacing. It's got bent hard lines and the pump whines more than my ex wife. All in all to replace it all it's something like 300 bucks but everything is remanufactured and I'm sure unreliable. I've been considering a manual rack. I'm not worried about it being difficult, I drove a 67 c10 with manual steering and never had problems. My question is, how the heck do I route the belt or where do I get a pulley to replace the PSP? I have no AC and no smog pump. So I'm already running damn near no accessories as it is.

Mustang5L5 · Apr 26, 2021

And old school trick was to disassemble the tensioner and "flip" it so it pulled up. Then you can route the belt for the crank, WP and alt.

Downside is there night not be enough wrap on the water pump pulley.

Belttensioner

You can also switch to a standard rotation water pump which will change the direction the belt wraps around it and might still work fine as well

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 26, 2021

Mustang5L5 said:
And old school trick was to disassemble the tensioner and "flip" it so it pulled up. Then you can route the belt for the crank, WP and alt.

Downside is there night not be enough wrap on the water pump pulley.

Belttensioner

You can also switch to a standard rotation water pump which will change the direction the belt wraps around it and might still work fine as well

I don't have my tensioner anymore. I switched to the turnbuckle style cause my bearings were going on my tensioner. Could I just run the power steering pump pulley with no hoses attached and no fluid? Just for the time being or is that not advisable haha

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 26, 2021

Is there anybody out there!! Lol

Boostedpimp · Apr 26, 2021

AbhorrentSpecies said:
I don't have my tensioner anymore. I switched to the turnbuckle style cause my bearings were going on my tensioner. Could I just run the power steering pump pulley with no hoses attached and no fluid? Just for the time being or is that not advisable haha

You could run the lines looped with some fluid in them but it's going to be even harder to steer than a manual rack and you run the risk of them seizing up.

Right thing would be to pickup a manual rack and steering shaft if you want to go manual.

As far as the belt routing is concerned I've ran just the alt, water pump, crank with a short belt and march turn buckle style mount on two or three cars fine. One was a daily driven car for years with no issues. Some say you don't have enough contact on the waterpump pulley but I never had an issue and the daily driven car got ran hard out of frustration in and out of traffic for years. The catch here though, is that I would not recommend this small belt setup to you if you are still using the stock mechanical fan setup that is bolts to the water pump pulley. You could try it I've never done it, I always had an electric fan when running this setup.

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 27, 2021

Boostedpimp said:
You could run the lines looped with some fluid in them but it's going to be even harder to steer than a manual rack and you run the risk of them seizing up.

Right thing would be to pickup a manual rack and steering shaft if you want to go manual.

As far as the belt routing is concerned I've ran just the alt, water pump, crank with a short belt and march turn buckle style mount on two or three cars fine. One was a daily driven car for years with no issues. Some say you don't have enough contact on the waterpump pulley but I never had an issue and the daily driven car got ran hard out of frustration in and out of traffic for years. The catch here though, is that I would not recommend this small belt setup to you if you are still using the stock mechanical fan setup that is bolts to the water pump pulley. You could try it I've never done it, I always had an electric fan when running this setup.

First off, I never said anything about running a power steering rack. My intent is to run a MANUAL rack and steering shaft. My ONLY question is, how to route the belt and can I run a dead steering pump pulley. For now....

General karthief · Apr 27, 2021

Running a power steering pump with no fluid in it will likely seize up,

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 27, 2021

General karthief said:
Running a power steering pump with no fluid in it will likely seize up,

Does anyone have evidence of this happening or is it just "likely"?

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 27, 2021

AbhorrentSpecies said:
Does anyone have evidence of this happening or is it just "likely"?

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a dick. Just a skeptic. There's got to be a way.

Mustang5L5 · Apr 27, 2021

I would also say the pump would burn up eventually as well.

Why not just go standard rotation water pump

General karthief · Apr 27, 2021

Well since the outcome is uncertain, why not try it? It will give us a definitive answer, and may give you a small amount of time to fix it right.

AbhorrentSpecies · Apr 27, 2021

Mustang5L5 said:
I would also say the pump would burn up eventually as well.

Why not just go standard rotation water pump

You don't have any problems with cooling? I live in Vegas so cooling is extra important lol I only ask because it seems that there very little contact with the water pump pulley

Mustang5L5 · Apr 27, 2021

Not my car, so you'd just have to do your due diligence and research if this is the right path for you to take. I know many people have done this method though, but i do not know if water pump pulley slippage is an issue.

I have all my accessories so i can't offer personal experience.

Boostedpimp · Apr 30, 2021

AbhorrentSpecies said:
First off, I never said anything about running a power steering rack. My intent is to run a MANUAL rack and steering shaft. My ONLY question is, how to route the belt and can I run a dead steering pump pulley. For now....

First off yeah my assumption was wrong.. I seen you mention power steering pump and assumed you were doing it the half assed way with leaving the power steering rack in. My fault but to answer your ONLY question which I ALREADY did. You can run a shorter belt as long as your not running a mechanical fan. Or get yourself a bobo idler pulley if your not comfortable with the shorter belt.

Willybill32 · May 1, 2021

Just use a shorter belt.

Rcdgl · May 9, 2021

If you have ac, just use the shorter belt per the last post. I rigged up a junkyard pulley bracket on my 82 when I pulled the ps because I did not have ac. Later I went to a std rotation waterpump. This harder than you would think.

AbhorrentSpecies · May 9, 2021

Rcdgl said:
If you have ac, just use the shorter belt per the last post. I rigged up a junkyard pulley bracket on my 82 when I pulled the ps because I did not have ac. Later I went to a std rotation waterpump. This harder than you would think.

I don't have AC or Smog pump. It's all good. I've just decided to keep the power steering. Too much of a hassle to delete it. I need a new power steering rack. Anyone have any recommendations? I don't want to get some junk that starts leaking again in 6 months.

Mustang5L5 · May 10, 2021

You really only have 3 options.

#1) Good used part.

#2) Reman rack. There are only so many mass rebuild shops doing these.

#3) Turn One steering - Pricey, but supposedly a high quality rebuild.

If you are going to invest money into this, an SN95 rack would be worthwhile, but by the time you buy a rack and the steering shaft adapter this gets to be quite spendy.

Rcdgl · May 10, 2021

The Autozone ps racks always worked in my 79 and 89.

nickyb · May 10, 2021

Oreilleys reman.Ten years and only replaced bellows twice.

Suspension Steering rack questions

AbhorrentSpecies

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Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

AbhorrentSpecies

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AbhorrentSpecies

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Boostedpimp

AbhorrentSpecies

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General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

AbhorrentSpecies

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AbhorrentSpecies

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Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

AbhorrentSpecies

Active Member

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Boostedpimp

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Willybill32

But at least it's tight!

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Rcdgl

AbhorrentSpecies

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Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Rcdgl

nickyb

I gotta say i never painted my nuts, Never Ever

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Suspension Steering rack questions

Active Member

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

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Active Member

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Active Member

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Attachments

But at least it's tight!

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That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

I gotta say i never painted my nuts, Never Ever

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