[AnorexicSTI]

I installed a quick rack without the power steering and I'm experiencing an EXTREMELY HIGH AMOUNT of effort required to steer the car.

I've been in cars that were manual steering (17:1), and even cars with power steering with the pump disconnected. With the pump disconnected the effort while stationery or moving slowly is quite large, but once under speed, the effort is only marginally more than with power steering.

However, I am experiencing EXCESSIVE steering effort required to barely BUDGE the steering wheel. I have never experienced anything like this before. It is actually UNSAFE to drive the car since so much effort is required to steer that I cannot steer fast enough.

When installing the clutch we did at the same time, the part that gets replaced by an ALK was removed to allow the subframe to drop so we would have more clearance for the engine to mate to the tranny. In hindsight, we didn't need to do that... but just wondering how much that could affect the alignment and hence steering effort.

Could excessive toe in or toe out cause this kind of steering effort? The car more or less tracks straight... I don't need to fight it to keep it going straight, but man do I need to put in a lot of muscle, even to change lanes. It's insane.

I have not had an alignment yet, but basically a buddy and I measured the center to center distance of the tie rods and kept it the same for the Q-rack.

What Tibor did was run a metal line with a flare fitting from one end to the other (where the PS lines used to be)... in other words, the whole rack was air sealed. I thought maybe I was "compressing" the air inside which made it hard to steer... but then I disconnected one of the lines so that both were essentially venting to atmosphere... same thing... did I get a bad rack?

Has anybody on here with PS ever disconnected the belt just to see what it would be like? At high speeds, was the effort still SUPER high or did it become a lot easier to steer?

Thanks for your help guys!

[BoostJunkie]

Why would you remove the power steering? With an 11.5:1 or 12.5:1 ratio and manual steering, it will be nearly impossible to turn.

[STIfrog]

Originally Posted by BoostJunkie

Why would you remove the power steering? With an 11.5:1 or 12.5:1 ratio and manual steering, it will be nearly impossible to turn.

Yeah, as the car goes faster, the steering should be easier... but a ratio that low is gonna be like trying to start a bicycle on the smallest cog. You're gonna need power assist just to beat the inertia.

[VSGTS14]

no power steering? ugb.