manual steering rack in a rx. Benifits??

[yodannyc]

So my power steering rack has been leaking and the other day i was thinking. So i got a pretty big power gain from taking out the AC. would i even get more power taking out the PS rack and pump and putting a manual steering rack in?? Less accessorys for the crank to run. plus my car is light enough where it wont be too much of a hassle to turn. it would also help when i do my engine swap. (EJ22T) less lines and crap to join together. and it would clean up the engine bay alot. my one concern is the steering ratio. would that change? cause i like the (go kart) feel of my rx

[daeron]

You CAN just find a way to couple the steering fluid lines coming out of either end of the rack to each other, and remove the rest of the power steering system. The power rack is lubricated by the fluid, so you need to keep the lines there and the fluid sealed in the system, but the pump and parts of the lines could be removed.

 

BUT, you won't gain much power. When the steering wheel is held straight, the power steering pump hardly takes ANYTHING away.. its like an alternator when you have a fully charged battery and no accessories on. Believe it or not, once you turn the headlights and foglights and 47 pairs of driving lights on the roll bar and AC fan and 60,000 watt stereo on, the alternator puts MUCH more load on your engine than it does at a low amperage draw.

[yodannyc]

well considering my PS pump is going bad it seems to draw more and more power. I think it would be cool to just not have Power steering. Feel like a real race car! lol and i could build up my arms so the ladys would go crazy! hahahaha:banana:

[idosubaru]

yes you will loose some ratio with the manual racks, not sure how noticeable it is or not. it's an easy job at least. a manual rack should feel nicer than a power steering rack without any fluid pressure.

[Jub Nub]

i did that on my gl twag, but i took off the ac at the same time so im not sure which one had the biggest power boost. you will lose about 50 pounds of crap, and the ratio is about the same. plus its really not that hard to turn a 5-inch wide tire. go for it

[Caboobaroo]

XT6 powersteering rack FTW. It has a closer ratio and will work in an EA82. XSNRG did it in one of his RXs and it made a noticable difference and he rally x the car.

[yodannyc]

i thought about doing the xt6 rack but its got that electronic crap i gotta swap over right? i havnt done to much research on them but i heard all though they improve ratio they are more likly to fail? i think i am going to go the manual route seems easier

[GeneralDisorder]

Good luck finding a manual rack - would have to be from a STRIPPED DL. Even most DL's had power steering.

 

But really you won't notice any difference as the power steering pump has almost no drag. You can gain more power by having a switch to turn off your alternator.

 

Add to it that you have a turbo car with a turbo engine cross-member. Fitting the manual EA82 rack isn't a simple bolt in because the rack is smaller in diameter and uses different mounts and brackets. To get a manual rack you WILL have to pull the entire engine cross member from a donor as on manuals the rack only slides out through the end rather than dropping out the bottom as the skid plate mount is welded in place.

 

Once you modify your turbo cross-member to accept the manual rack (I suspect welding might be involved here, so removal of you cross-member will be required) you will need to have the car aligned

 

For the cost involved, and the labor needed to make it work it's just not worth it. The power steering system is an insignificant load on the engine - you won't even notice it's not there. I've run with the pump disconnected on my lifted wagon many times and there's no difference - even with the EA81's HUGE pump. Just makes it harder to steer.

 

GD

[Gloyale]

Good luck finding a manual rack - would have to be from a STRIPPED DL. Even most DL's had power steering.

 

But really you won't notice any difference as the power steering pump has almost no drag. You can gain more power by having a switch to turn off your alternator.

 

Add to it that you have a turbo car with a turbo engine cross-member. Fitting the manual EA82 rack isn't a simple bolt in because the rack is smaller in diameter and uses different mounts and brackets. To get a manual rack you WILL have to pull the entire engine cross member from a donor as on manuals the rack only slides out through the end rather than dropping out the bottom as the skid plate mount is welded in place.

 

Once you modify your turbo cross-member to accept the manual rack (I suspect welding might be involved here, so removal of you cross-member will be required) you will need to have the car aligned

 

 

 

GD, I agree that this would be a fruitless swap.

 

But you are mistaken about a few differences.

 

First off, Manual steering is not inly on DLs, many GL's had manual steering as well, but only in 85 and 86. I believe after 87 all EA82s for the US market had power steering.

 

Secondly, there is no difference between the Turbo and non turbo racks, at least for bolt in purposes(ratios may be slightly different) but a non-turbo PS rack will bolt into the turbo crossmember no problem.(I've done it) No welding. Manual steering cars do not have a welded on skidplate. You can remove the rack without removing the whole crossmember

 

All that said, I still say it would be lame to have manual steering on an RX. Espescially if you like to corner hard, the manual rack really makes for alot of bucking and jerking with hard cornering. You really wont gain any power. I would just get a new power rack. Don't get a used one unless it's from a newer Loyale. But it could leak soon too. If you are gonna do the work of Removing and installing a rack, might as well cough up $150 for a new one and never have to do it again(till 2025)

[Caboobaroo]

I heard XSNRG used the XT6 rack with all the regular EA82 powersteering setup, no cybrid from the XT6.

[[HTi]Johnson]

Couldn't you get hoses to bypass the Pump? I can't remember if the pulley gets in the way of the rest of the routing. I think it does, if so, remove the pulley. I had a gl-10 that someone removed the pump on and didn't ever cap the lines going into the rack. I found this out when I had the engine out, so I just pinched the lines and called it good. Had no problems.

[Gloyale]

Johnson']Couldn't you get hoses to bypass the Pump? I can't remember if the pulley gets in the way of the rest of the routing. I think it does' date=' if so, remove the pulley. I had a gl-10 that someone removed the pump on and didn't ever cap the lines going into the rack. I found this out when I had the engine out, so I just pinched the lines and called it good. Had no problems.[/quote']

 

It's not his pump leaking, it's the rack. Capping the lines or routing them in a loop would not solve anything. The rack still needs some kind of lubrication, once all the fluid leaked out he'd be screwed(espescially cause now the filler cap is gone, how you gonna add fluid?)

 

I suppose you could remove the PS lines and drain the rack. Then removethe boots form the end of the rack, remove the circlips that hold the seals and then pry out the seal, and inject a ton of grease up in there, then reassemble. You'd probably want to remove the big bolt near the pinion gear(steering wheel) shaft that sets the gear clearance, and shoot grease in there too. Essentailly converting the it to a manual rack, "lifetime" lubed by grease.

[Numbchux]

when MorganM lifted the PoopenVagon (5+ years ago...and many thousands of miles here in MN...), he removed the A/C and PS. he simply removed the pump and lines. didn't cap the lines, didn't run them in a loop or anything. it's still going just fine (my buddy now beats the crap out of it at his farm....never sees the street, only offroad abuse)

 

yes, in theory it's lubricated by the fluid, but in use, IMHO the inner tie rod boots are more important to the prolonged life of the rack!

 

also, I don't think the PS pump really robs almost any power at all. and the pump and lines don't really weigh anything (the A/C crap, however....yikes!).

 

 

so, you guys talking about the XT6 rack.....I thought it was the 4-cyl XT rack that had the quicker ratio. but I got one of those from a junkyard....and noticed virtually zero difference.