Is disconnected power steering ok?

I am doing a frame swap. The donor frame has power steering. I don't plan to use the power steering pump.

I can get the manual box and swap it, but I was wondering, for laziness' sake: Is it ok to use a power box disconnected from the pump? I always thought it would be harder to steer a power box unpowered, but is it really? Can/should I do this? Why or why not?

Thanks in advance.

 

sure, put some fluid in and connect the 2 ports so it can "vent". Its not the best solution, but it works in a pinch. Think about when people take the belt off of a bad pump and do without, it still steers.

 

Get the manual box and switch it out. The energy you save no doing this now will be used every time you tug on that P/S box especially parking. No boost to P/B bad idea too

Terry

 

You can do it, won't hurt anything......but it is harder steering than a manual box.
I drove my '68 Charger for 4 years without a pump.....it builds arm muscle.

 

Might be rough on the stearing column and takes some brute force in parking lots but i'm doing it on my 81 camino daily i've had no problems for 3 years

 

You have my permission

 

All pain, no gain.... I'd switch it out now.

 

It will be much harder to turn than a manual box because of the ratio. Also it will put a whole lot more stress on your steering colum. When I was poor and in college I drove my Camaro for a few months with no PS. That stopped one day when the steering colum snapped doing a U turn and the wheel came off in my hands.

I would not recommend it.

 

Been working for me the last 20,000 mi. I like the way it handles.

 

I agree. I have seen many drag cars and street cars do this. My friend has his ports connected, on his Olds, and says it steers fine.

 

You ain't kiddin', drove my '70 charger with skinnies on the front w/no belt, freakin' rediculous.

 

I should add that I had pretty wide tires on the front, 275's. It would have probably been fine w/o the road race rubber

 

You can also drive around on a flat tire for miles.....

 

You can use it but...you'll spill your beer!

 

Power steering boxes have a control valve where the upper shaft enters the box.
The valve operates by having free play in the shaft that opens the valve as resistance is put to the shaft.
There is a small torsion bar passing thru the valve that gives the valve some "on center" so the valve doesn't stay open when the wheel is released or the resistance is overtaken by the hydraulics.
With no hyd pressure, your gonna have some free play in the steering wheel thats only resisted by the little torsion bar.
If the torsion bar broke you'd feel it even more...but you'd still have steering. The torsion bar only resists between two stops.

I don't like steering you have to chase back and forth...but you could use it if you had to.
WHY though?

 

It works fine up until somebody jumps out in front of you and your reaction time is equal to a granny on the cell phone and changing the radio stations and you bash up your car. I've had cars in the past with disconnected power steering and I would never do it to anything other than a track car if that.

 

If its that easy and available, change the box now. I have a disconnected p/s pump in my daily and it sucks. But I effed myself on that one so now I have to live with it. Manual box one day though, the ratio is much worse than that of a manual box.

 

i did that on a 68 nova. i unhooked the power steering pump, put some fluid in the box and just plugged off the holes in the steering box. never had a problem, and it wasn't any harder to turn that if it had a normal manual box on it. i was using a 10" steering wheel and 70series front tires.

 

I don't have any experience in this, but I have heard it can be bad news. In older cars it's not that big of a deal, but in newer cars, the steering boxes are not made to be driven without the pump, and could overheat and weld the gears together while driving. That is probably not gonna be good.

 

Is the donor frame a General Motors product? I see G.M. manual steering boxes at every swap meet I attend, and they're not expensive. Believe me, you'll be better off with one.

 

if you can get a pump and brackets it dosnt take that much power and makes driving a heavy car better,with manual steering you have to crank that wheel alot. I have 1 no pump,1 with a pump,and 1 manual. the p.s. is best to drive! good luck, cjc

 

Turning the wheels at a dead stop is the worst part. Once you are moving it isn't that bad at all. I put three pumps in a car in less than a year and they all quit. So I said the hell with it and drove it with the belt off. Once you get used to it, it ain't bad at all.

 

I drove a 65 Marlin for about 6 years w/the power steering never hooked up, with no problems. I currently drive a 62 f-100 w/the 2 ports routed to each other at the box for the last 6 months w/no problems.

 

Having driven an average car with the PS not working, I wouldn't make a habit of it.

The steering box will be much easier to change now. Unless you need like a Vega box you can probably find one for close to scrap price.

 

Thanks for all of the replies, guys. Good to get a lot of different opinions.

PS is not an option I can use in this case. I was just wondering if the steering effort would be objectionable due to ratio, valving, or whatever.

The last time I drove a disconnected PS car I remember it being more difficult, but that was a long time ago. Perhaps I was just trying to get "approval" to take the lazy way out, since I have so much else to do on this project.

I'll get the manual box and swap it in.

 

It depends. If it has ram assist you can, but an integral box is different. Internally the balls, worm and race is made to run with the ATF fluid pressure assist with controlled and regulated internal leverage. Without assist, it puts the box at risk for internal breakage from the leverage hitting it in the wrong place. Also manual boxes are made to run front end grease as a lube, non circulating ATF has no lubricity to speak of, it will just sit there while you tear everything up.

I would switch boxes while it is easy to get at. Manual boxes are different.