well my power steering hose has blown. i was thinking of get rid of it anyway since i knew it was going down hill. im also thinking of ditching the a/c system too and just getting rid of that whole side of the motor. anyone tried it? its gonna be a while before i get that hose so im gonna have to do something soon.

well its gone. both power steering and a/c have been taken off the car. stuff weighs about 100 pounds too. steering stiffer but easier on highway. takes a bit of fidling to set up the manual conversion. unexpected side effects are a much smoother ride and more pep. that and the nearly 5mpg i gained. now cruising at 35ish mpg. ill have to do abit more mileage checks to be sure but im thinking its good.

How are you driving the car with no power steering?

its a little tough at dead stops but once you get any speed its very easy.

Try pumping your tires up to about 55psi that should make it easier to steer.

im in the process of ttracking the mileage gains from removing the pumps so im gonna wait on the tire inflation so it doesnt screw up my numbers. the trick getting it to feel right was to cut all 6 lines at the rack and run them into a common reservior that breathes. at a dead stop its only slightly hard to steer and at speed its unnoticable. the tire inflation should make dead stop turn almost as easy as p/s.

Never knew anybody who did sumthin like that.