Powersteering Power Gains?

[dabum]

I have a 92 240sx SE. I am looking for more control and power while driving so i think im going to take the belt off my powersteerin wheel and no longer use the powersteering. I dunt like how it feels like I dunt have much control going at fast speeds. I have a couple of questions though if anyone has done this on this forum.

1. Will my steerin feel the same as if my car had not come with power steering or is the rack all different and feel all weird?

2. What kinda power gains am i looking at by removin tha belt off the pwstr wheel?

3. Is it wise and how hard would it be to turn this huge a*s iron block motor w/o pwstr?

ANYBODY who has ever done this or experienced anything like this can you please help me out. id be very gratefullll thxs

ALSO if you have done this recommended belt to turn my fan and water pump?

[p00t]

its all about taking off reciprocating weight. there are other areas that will help you besides the PS. but if you want it can be done...

You cannot have just a belt conected to your water pump, there is no tensioner to keep the belt tight to prevent slippage. Only solution to this is to run the PS without any fluid. you can try to take it apart and see if you can take off the pump blades to remove some weight, but i dont know if thats possible. Or you can have a custom box made up that uses the tensioner system already in place.

I suggest instead:

* convert mechanical fan to electrics

* disconnect the AC compressor

* lightweight pulley kit or just light weight crank pulley. This works well but you need to bump up your idle cause the alt will probably be underdriven and produces less power at prev idle speed.

more control? your looking in the wrong spot...

* if your steering seems like it has alot of play, your tension rod/LCA bushings are more at fault... either spherical/metal or polyurethane are your choices. also worn LCA/tie-rod ball joints can cause loose steering

* could be even as simple as needing an alignment

Remember your steering linkage is solid metal the whole way... looseness is usually caused elsewhere where there are softer joints.

And i bet a car with sr20 is SO MUCH EASIER TO TURN :rolleyes

ka is maybe 50lbs heavier... so instead of your car weighing 2780... it would weigh 2730.... difference? i think not

[dabum]

What im tryin to say by gaining more control is, like most everybody's driven or has a car with no ps and in my opinion i think it feels like you have more control in how your car reacts at high speed with no ps.. thats what id like to acquire.

Thanks for your responce and obviously takin out weight will help but wont i gain power if theres less power taken away from my motor due to it having to power the ps? less to power and turn = more power??

oh and theres no problem with my powersteering or car, i just dont like having it wen im going 180km+ on the highway

[p00t]

i didnt mean to say its bad to not have PS... but its a luxury i cant do without... its hard enough to turn as is with the stiffer tension rod bushings i have. Underdriving the PS is almost as good as removing it, so Im satisfied with that.

If you have driven cars ment for PS with the PS disabled and didnt mind it, then go for it. But remember the belt still needs to be hooked up. Also new bushing will improve the cars feel AND handling, so its something else to look into. (nice to hit two birds with one stone)

[JNM240]

I would not recommend removing the power steering at all. First of all, it would be EXTREMELY hard to turn in close quarters. But more importantly, the steering rack needs the lubrication of the fluid going thru it. Without that, the rack will fail much quicker than with the powersteering hooked up. If you feel like you wander on the highway, take it somewhere and have them check your tie rod ends (inner and outer), your upper strut mounts, your tension rod bushings, and everything else suspension related. Your car should not wander, if it does, something is either worn out or the car is out of alignment. A low caster could cause wandering, but you would need to replace the tension rods with adjustable ones. Hello JIC.

Also, have you done any mods to the suspension yet? Like springs and/or performance struts? Hardened bushings will make a big difference too.

[dabum]

I have yet to upgrade my suspension in any way, i recently started working on it alot since the summer is coming(toronto,canada), i bought springs but they havent been installed yet.. do you have any recommendations for a better suspension nothing big like new struts(budget)? thanks

[p00t]

As long as you have access to a machine shop to press bushings for you then definately check out whiteline tension rod bushings. Its 45 for a set and makes your steering stiff and linear.

Ill probably come under fire for saying this but for people on a budget ebay strut tower bars are also worth it. For 60 bucks I had front and rear bars shipped to my door. Best bang for the buck i ever spent. Steering was improved since the tired frame was pushed back into its proper place (gets rid of some of the dead slushy feel in the center steering).

Ebay lowering springs however are a thing to be avoided. They lower the car too much on soft spring rates. Beware.

So for 105 bucks you can have the car back to how it felt when it was new. However dont skimp on the shocks/struts tho. If the springs are a bit stiffer than stock go koni/AGX adjustable. Its worth it, just read through the forums to see how many people are satisfied with that set up.

[JNM240]

Well if you have springs, you may want to get struts to go with them, since the whole spring/strut assembly will have to be removed, taken apart to swap the spring, and reinstalled. Might as well pay the labor once instead of twice. I have the KYB GR2 strut for about 2 years now and they are fine. No adjustability, but i probably would only set the AGX one time and never fool with it again.

Basically, before you do anything to your suspension, TAKE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL and have them check it. You will probably spend a lot of money having those springs installed, but you will STILL wander if your tie rods are bad! Check it all FIRST so you can decide where to allocate your funds!

[aspinballer]

A non-PS car will steer like a PS car except the gear ratios are much larger to make the wheel able to turn with ease. A PS car come with smaller gear ratios so you can turn with less motion and the PS pump makes the wheel easier to turn.

disabling the PS will give you the same turning ratios, but make the wheel quite difficult to turn, especially at low speeds.

But do what you like.

[Altiman94]

If you have a power rack, it is good to have power steering. If you want to run without powering steering, buy a manual rack. I bought my car w/o the PS working, and it sucked big time nuts driving it around town. Just a thought.