LGS_18

Not really sure what thread to put this in so i put it in general but has anyone ever taken power steering out of their 3rd gen? I have 1990 firebird and have the engine out right now and am doing the belt system trying to decide. Any info is helpful! Thanks!

86IROC112

Why would you want to do that?

LGS_18

Car at this point is a dedicated drag car/street car. Figured id free up some power.

86IROC112

Ahh, gotcha..

2knight

iTrader: (1)

It sounds like a good idea and less stuff under the hood to leak and in the way, I wonder if anyone has put in a manual rack & pinion in these cars, that seems like it would be less weight and simpler design too.

kaydoe

iTrader: (1)

Certain S10 boxes will work

LGS_18

Yeah so i know that you can usw manual boxes from mid to late 80's s10's. But i also read that it was nearly impossible to steer because of the way the front end is set up. Im not really sure about that though. I do have a 4inch tire on the front so kinda just wondering about that. Iv driven many cars without power steering but just wondering about this setup.

AlkyIROC

Manual steering boxes work fine in S10's. Why should driving with one in a third gen be any different? I wouldn't recommend using over wide steering tires. Parking lot driving just becomes a little more difficult.

You need a manual steering box from an S-10. They were only available in S10's that came with a 4 cylinder 2.5L engine but not every S10 with a 4 cylinder has a manual steering box.

Roughly 1984 and newer has the 4 bolt top cover steering box. It's a direct bolt in. To keep the same steering geometry, you should use the third gen pitman arm but the S10 arm will still work just fine. They're slightly different lengths.

You don't want the early 3 bolt top cover steering box. This is not a direct bolt in and will require some modifications to make it work.

LGS_18

Ok great! So is that all i actually need to make this work? Just the manual steering box?