Power Steering

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jcprov21
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Power Steering

Post by jcprov21 »

I haved always bitched about the steering in my mother pt cruiser, BUT THEN, i drove yesterday a 1986 Mazda B2000 with no power steering.LOL first of all it wuz a friends truck, he thought it had bummed clutch, it turned out to be fine. The gears were easy to move, and the clutch was nice but the steering was a bitch. Anyway, i now live the steering in the pt.
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potownrob
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Post by potownrob »

Yeah, I never understood why people complained about not having power steering and how hard it is to turn the wheel until I drove a car with no power steering. Let's just say I wasn't ready when the wheel wouldn't turn when I went to pull into a parking space :lol: . No more complaints about my steering after that :D
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streetbreed19
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Post by streetbreed19 »

yea driving w/o power steering is'nt bad as long as your going over 5 mph. The previous owner of the car removed it so i've been driving w/o ever since which has been like 5 months now. One thing I do like is that you feel more connected to the road somehow. Guess it's just the amount of effort you have to put in. needless to say i try to avoid parallel parking all together.
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scionkid
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Post by scionkid »

If the previous owner simply removed the hydralic pump and did not replace the rack, I would put in a new pump ASAP. Cars that have failed power steering are harder to steer than those that don't have power steering to begin with. The latter has lower gearing so they are easier to turn. Nor do they have any fluid seals that a non-functioning power steering rack has to push around. Point is, one day you may not steer away from something that you otherwise would have.

Also, stressing the steering components more than it was originally designed for is not a bright idea. If power steering fails and you have to drive around for a couple of days, that's fine. But you've been driving around for 5 months + x amount of time that the previous owner had put on the vehicle.

BTW, the first car that I ever drove was a Mirage w/ 3 spd auto and no power steering. I did fine in that thing. Then I got a job at Saturn where I had to park a few cars w/o power steering backward.
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Post by Johnf514 »

The 1986 Corolla I learned stick on was without power steering, but the car was so light on its feet that you could barely notice. I imagine I was also more concerned with shifting than steering at that point as well. :wink:
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streetbreed19
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Post by streetbreed19 »

I plan on replacing the pump soon atleast I think that's what's wrong. The pulley that the belt goes on is frozen so i've tried to get it moving. Driving with no power steering while trying to learn standard proves to be a bit more of a challenge than I orginally thought
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scarface
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Post by scarface »

my mom had a 91 toyota tercel with no ps and thank goodness it was automatic because I don't think I could have turned that sucker doing a left or right turn from a light had been stick. :oops:
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aphexcoil
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Post by aphexcoil »

I was coasting in an empty parking lot and turned off the engine (which kills the power steering) .... let me tell you this -- with the 18 inch tires ... when you're crawling at 3-4 miles per hour, you have to turn with all your might just to get the steering wheel to budge. I was amazed at how much assistance power steering really gives.

To that end, do they make any sports cars with adjustable power steering? Do some cars adjust the power level based on speed?
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