never having driven a car this big with manual steering isn't a big deal to me unless it will be atrocious on the road. my aftermarket setup has some issues and to be honest i cant quite discern what may be the problem. there are obvious items like a huge leak down by the control piece, plus the power assist ram is bent where it attaches to the drag link and is missing all of the bits to actual secure it to the frame tab. on top of that the steering wheel itself has some play and i was going to replace it anyway as its a smaller aftermarket one that i dont care for. lastly i have no idea if the pump itself is any good. so in other words i can try and make hat i have work and go piecemeal in trying to sort it and hope i find the cuplrit. i could be a ram install kit away froma perfect system or i can go full on and buy a whole new kit (not a great idea lol ) and bascially overspend on a possibly small issue, or simply spend 230 on the power to manual control valve from greg donahue and drive it like 60 year car drives. i dont do a ton a parallel parking lol. losing all that weight and complicated business is a benefit but not something i am overly concerned about. i wish i culd test the individual components tho i honestly dont know how. the problem is the prices of these power steering bits are crazy. 150 for a pump, 150 for a power ram, another 200 for a control valave, plus lines, bushings etc. it actually almost cheaper to buy a whole new kit at one time and be done with it. so long post short - how driveable is a 64 galaxie 500 with manual steering? i assume id need an aligment as well after going to the "new" manual steering? - jason
I have a '64 with huge front tires, and manual steering. It is not too bad, but power would be nice. I have rebuilt several Ford control valves with kits bought on Ebay and have had excellent results. The slave cylinders are not rebuildable, but I have had good luck resealing the ones I have.
I had one '64 Ford with manual steering and it was fine. I had Pirelli radials (F78-14 or so) up front on it. A little more muscle was needed with tight parking spots, good exercise! Bob
In the 60's, Ford used a steering wheel that was one inch larger in diameter on their cars with manual steering. The larger the steering wheel, the more leverage for turning.
My '62 406 car came with manual steering and brakes (no power options with the solid-lifter engines even though it's a 500XL) with the big steering wheel and it steers fine with 8-1/2X15 Americans on the front- much easier to steer than my '69 Mach1
Yep. I'm switching my '64 Marauder over to manual steering. That stock power assist shit sucks. I have enough oil stains in my driveway.
I converted my 64 XL to manual and ran 265 50 15 tires on the front. It wasn't too bad except in parking lots.
Old ladies and grannies drove them. You will need to have the front end in top shape, by that I mean ball joints, tie rod ends, shock absorbers and tires. Not too wide on the tires, OEM bias ply or narrow radials. 32 PSI in your tires. Get an alignment done. If everything is to factory specs you will have no trouble steering except when at a dead stop. So, don't turn the steering when you are at a dead stop. If you are moving even slightly steering is much easier.
Word... mine had 106K miles on the original front end, tight as a clams ass too. The radials made it easier to turn, agree.. don't try it if you're not moving. Bob
I switched my 63 back to manual...make sure to get all the right parts though as some are year specific as well as manual.
My '64 has power steering and I've had it rebuilt twice in the last 4 years....it still leaks all over the floor......A local guy with a '58 put one of the Borgeson power steering boxes on his ($700 or so)........he loved it...you use the same power steering pump, but it does away with all the slave cylinders and control valve junk....I'm seriously thinking about spending the money if I can't trade it for a '32 Roadster.
My '64 is manual steering and drives fine. I like it just the way it is. It also had power brakes when I got it and I converted it to manual and it stops great.
Even though I have a 50 Chevy, it does just fine with manual steering. I'm sure others will chime it, but I dont think you can just remove the power part of the steering, I think you might have to get an actual manual steering box, the ratios might be different, and if you try to use the power box, it might steer hard.
Big cars are great down the Hi Way with manual steering, it is just maneuvering in tite parking places that is the issue.... I drive my 52 IHC with 7" wide front wheels. SBC motor & manual steering daily. Up here in the mountains it really gives the upper body a workout...
Had a 63 1/2 w/manual steering. Dont remember it being too hard to steer other than standing still. As suggested, I would go with the Borgeson unit if I went that way. May cost more in the begining but at least you'll be done with it.
My son has a 64 Galaxie with manual steering and a smaller after market wheel. Works ok. If it had the larger stock wheel it would be better. I wouldn't sweat the manual steering. It's different, but easy to adapt to. Car also has a hopped up 429 & top loader 4 speed. The brakes need to be upgraded. Was playing a bit last time I had it out. Un-intentionally blew by the turn off to our place as it would have been an all out effort to make the corner. Sorry, I know it goes against the grain here, but most any of these old cars need better brakes if you intend to turn up the wick at all. Good luck, Worken2much
Rusty O'Toole had it down. The first car I drove was a two year old 1958 Dodge Royal, big old four door, virtually no one had power steering back then and my 100 pound mother drove it just fine. We didn't know any better back then
well decided to drop the 40$ on a rebuild kit for the control valve and the proper mounting bits for the assist ram. if this doesnt clear it up there is a hamb member who has a complete setup for PS or i found a 50$ off coupon for the manual conversion. figured 40$ was worth it to see if i can fix what i already have.
My 64 Galaxie has manual steering and compared to a modern car, the steering is really heavy. When you're driving along the highway with the top down, it's no problems whatsoever, but parking in a tight spot, you realise how far cars have come. Am I worried about only having manual steering? Nup, not an issue. You'll be fine either way.
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