I heard of people doing this conversion using a manual steering box from an S10. Can anyone tell me how hard is the steering?? I've heards its not to hard to steer and some say keep the power steering because it will be really hard. I am planning on running skinnies up front so it should be easier i hope. The car is driven alot so i would like to know if it will be an issue of the steering wheel beong to hard to turn. Can anyone give me some info Please

 

I have one and it bolts right in. No issues with steering at all. A few more turns then a Z28 box.

 

Yea i agree we did this swap on our street strip car and its a nice weight reduction. plus works great on the car

 

I just drive mine around in the pits so it's hard to give a good opinion. The only difficulty I have is sharp turns like turning in or out of my pit space. I have to do a hand over hand steering to make the turn. While driving, I don't notice anything at all.

Don't use a small steering wheel. It will only make it worse.

 

Good to hear thanks for the info all of you. I will deifnately do this im going to start driving the only drive my car on the weekends after i get a daily driver in a month or two so it wont be to big of an issue.

 

I did it on my car and I love it. Definately free's up quite abit of weight. It took alittle getting used to at first, driving around in parking lots can be alittle bit of a chore but it's not too bad. I prefer it because there's quite a bit more "road feel" in my opinion.

 

Did this mod and hated it. I noticed no increase in performance of ET. Not worth the difficult steering wheel turning. Unless its a drag only car, Id never do it again.

 

I wouldn't expect to see a ET reduction just on a steering box replacement. It's just part of the process of lightening the car and freeing up space under the hood.

 

what year s-10 do you get it for?

 

i did this to my last 2 drag projects and i would def. recomend it.. steering isn't difficult in the "hard to turn the wheel" way, but it does take more turns of the wheel to make tight turns. i think i got mine from an 85' s-10 with a manual transmission.

 

i use my car as a daily driver but i really would like to do this to free up space, GOOD IDEA?

 

I use mine as a daily driver and it doesn't bother me a bit. I say go for it.

 

Awesome thats all the reassurance i need lol what year s10 do i need to get it from? what do i look for if i go to the junkyard?

 

Look for an 84+ iron duke (?) S10. You want the box with a 4 bolt top cover. Just to let you know that at first the car is going to be a BITCH to turn during LOW SPEED driving i.e parking lots or what not until you get used to it. After that it's not a big deal at all. Once to start to swap it over you'll need to put the Camaro pitman arm on the steering box to keep proper geometry. Luckliy when I got mine it was rebuilt and came out of a Camaro that a friend had already set up for it, so all I did was just swap straight over.

 

Has anyone tried swapping to the S-series idler arm when they did the manual steering swap, and just keep the S-series pitman arm on the box? Seems like that would be easier for most people, and it should reduce steering effort.

 

you need to use the camaro arm.
any parts stores rent the tool free of charge.
the only trouble you will have is an extreme hard left while sitting still, or maybe some difficulty with parallel parking.
its not going to make you any faster, but it does clean up things under the hood. no more worries about burning a pump or popping a line either.

 

I tried it in mine for a day or two and took it back out. Driving it wasn't bad and I liked the way it freed up a bunch of room under the hood. What I didn't like was the number of turns to go lock-to-lock, the effort required(13" steering wheel), and the fact that I have to parallel park my Camaro every time I come home. For what I want out of the car, its just not a good fit for me. If I was building more of a straight-line car I would have kept it, but I am aiming for handling and corner-carving so its just not worth it.

 

I think you are misunderstanding me. I swapped to an S-series manual steering box a long time ago, and I did swap on the F-body pitman arm, but I was wondering if the S-series idler arm can be used instead to reduce steering effort.
I don't have an S-series manual steering box on my car anymore, I'll be using manual R&P to lose even more weight, but I am just curious if the S-series idler arm can be used.

 

Steering wheel diameter doesn't make much difference in steering effort. Most of the difference is made by vehicle weight, pitman/idler arm length, and steering arm length. Have you ever driven an S-series truck with manual steering? Even with a tiny steering wheel, they are very easy to steer.
But if you have to parallel park everyday, manual steering probably isn't for you.

 

I guess the main reason I decided to go with a manual box is because after I hit 7,000 rpm I get oil all over the outside of the pump. I got tired of cleaning it after each drive. Plus, with power steering gone the engine bay looks cleaner. The s10 box only cost me $20.00 from the scrap yard. I still have the car in pieces and haven't driven it yet.

 

82-93 S10/S15/Blazer/Jimmy, it's the 80s boxy body style. You'll have to look around a bit though, because I think it was only the really base line trucks that got manual steering.

 

the angle of the arm would throw off suspension geometry, making it steer harder, IMO. have i ever tried it? no.

the steering wheel makes a HUGE difference in leverage. i had an s10 box with a grant 13" wheel and it was a tug battle. i now have a stock 15"?? 4th gen wheel and steering effort is minimized.

yea, i got that spray too. one reason why i got rid of it. you can switch to a small cavalier type pump and eliminate the problem, but for race, rack and pinion is the lightest option with the most room in the engine bay.
my pinto rack turns easier than the s10 box ever did, but my steering arms are modified.

 

I never heard of that. Which year cavalier?

 

It might throw off steering geometry, it might not. But that wouldn't make it harder to steer.

I have a 13" grant steering wheel in my S15, and it is very easy to steer. Not hard to park, turn, drive at low speeds, etc. Those 4 cyl. trucks frequently have manual steering because they don't need power steering. The only real benefit from power steering in those trucks is increased steeing ratio.
My Camaro was much more difficult to steer, but overall wasn't that bad, and it had the stock Z28 steering wheel. It had a little more front end weight, but the main difference was because it had shorter steering arms and longer pitman and idler arms.

 

http://www.jegs.com/i/Unisteer/668/8060200/10002/-1
other brands are available. you can get a stock replacement from the parts house as well, for prolly half the price.
buddy of mine had one on his s10, another friend has one on a camaro.
it uses a remote reservoir.