Thinking about deleting the power steering in my 89

Hello all,

So I bought an 89 Fox a few months ago. It was an automatic and I plan on swapping that out with a T5. Along with this I was thinking about getting rid of the Power Steering and going with a Flaming River manual rack setup or equivalent and wanted to get some opinions on it. For people who have gotten a manual rack, how is it, how much of a pain is it to do slow turns. how is the sensitivity of it.

A little about my car plans as to know what im doing with it:

Car is NOT a daily driver but will be mainly driven on the street and sometime the strip. MAinly a weekend warrior.

car will eventually be turbo'd (if that matters)

Thanks for the opinions
 
  • Sponsors (?)


JMO
Don't do it, the only benefit would be for drag racing, the 5-7 hp (maybe less) you gain and few pounds you lose will not be noticed on the street, the effort steering at low speeds will be noticeable.
just for fun, cruise through a parking lot at about 4-5 mph, turn the engine off and turn into a parking spot or turn a corner, keep in mind though, it takes a little more effort to turn a non functioning ps than non power, also tire width, steering ratio and tire pressure effects effort
 
  • Agree
Reactions: 1 user
Going from your daily with p/s to your weekend warrior without will suck the fun put of it.
Sausages own, we will all get blown.
 
I'd go Volvo EPAS. It's one of the best things I ever did to my car. It's an electric pump that you can use with mustang factory PS lines. Mine is mounted behind the front bumper support.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Don’t delete it . Either use the Volvo pump or the stock pump . I’ve been mid 9s with power steering pump still. Not worth it
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I'm going to try to remain neutral, but I went with a manual rack in my II and have 0 regrets. I agree with most everyone, though, that keeping power steering in a car that you're intending to use as you've described wouldn't hurt much of anything. Tire width would be one of the biggest factors when swapping to a manual as @General karthief mentioned. I have 165s on the front of my car and have absolutely no problems with slow speed maneuvers. To highlight some of the benefits; there's no power steering fluid to worry about, no annoying pump whine, one less thing to worry about malfunctioning, and one less thing "cluttering" the engine bay. One con would be that if you ever decided to go with a wider tire you'd probably end up getting a good workout when you take it for a drive.

Another thing to consider - I know that the input shafts for rack and pinions in IIs are different lengths between power and manual. That would most likely require a different intermediate shaft or that you fabricate one to work. Again, apples and oranges in some respect, but I had to modify the intermediate shaft in my car to make the manual work. Now, there is no going back to a power rack unless I either locate a different one or fab a new one. That might be different for Fox cars, but it's something to watch out for. It might not be as easy as swapping one for the other if you choose to go that route.
 
I’ve had manual racks in several mustangs and I like them. Is it harder to turn into a parking spot at the grocery store? Yeah, you’ll probably need two hands to do it, but that’s not something I have to do terribly often. If the car is actually moving anywhere over 5mph then turning really isn’t difficult.

We all have different levels of things we can put up with though, some people don’t like the manual racks. The reason I go with them is they’re just simple, easy, and they always work.

If you do decide to go manual get the flaming river rack with a maximum motorsports shaft. Way easier install than the FR shaft you have to assemble.
 
Thanks guys. I have owned a few cars w/o power steering but not in a while. Still kind of ion the fence as the car will be more on the street Than the strip. The main reason for considering it is for more room to install an on3 turbo set-up. Just wanted to make room for ease of installation. I'm also moving the battery Over the back tire and may...MAY go with a tubular K-member also.
 
See if there’s someone local to you that has a fox converter to manual rack. Maybe they’ll let you put it around a bit. I’ve put 10s of thousands of miles on manual steering mustangs, and I’m sure I’ll put one in my next car.
 
Thanks guys. I have owned a few cars w/o power steering but not in a while. Still kind of ion the fence as the car will be more on the street Than the strip. The main reason for considering it is for more room to install an on3 turbo set-up. Just wanted to make room for ease of installation. I'm also moving the battery Over the back tire and may...MAY go with a tubular K-member also.
Just do a Volvo pump then and hide it somewhere and done .
 
I have an on3 turbo in my 93 with power steering and AC with ZERO fitment issues. I didnt have to modify anything at all to do with PS or AC.

42154.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
is there a kit or would I have to source all the parts to make the Volvo system work. I don't really know a lot about it.

Good thread here. Someone finally developed a controller for it. The volvo pump defaulted to 70% capacity, but with the controller it can now be tied into a VSS or manually controlled.



I barely drive my car, but I kept PS. I need it for the hydroboost. With an SN95 rack, i like how it feels. I drove a manual rack car once and just wasn't a fan.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user