1965 Dart Steering upgrade questions

[ppsi]

My 65 4-dr Dart has manual steering and this is preventing me from allowing my twin girls the use of the car. I did a disk brake upgrade and now have 15" wheels in the front and rear which may make it harder to steer?? I have read a few posts about putting a manual rack in an A body and I would love to upgrade the steering to a rack/pinion system. I would like to know if there is anyone else that can help with this situation.Is a manual rack easier to steer than the original steering setup?
Thanks-Howard
Hampstead, NC

 

[375inStroke]

I don't see what's so great about rack and pinion. For you, you're concerned about steering effort, and you still need to scrub those tires against the ground with the weight of the car on them. Things like wider radial tires, different wheel offset, and altered suspension height, camber, and caster all combine to make it more difficult to turn the steering wheel when at a complete stop. At stock settings, the steering axis of rotation intersects at the center of the tire's contact patch. When they are altered, handling may be better, but the tire won't rotate in the center of the contact patch any more, and you are actually dragging the tire against the ground a little bit forward and back when turning. Nothing will change the effort required to turn the steering wheel except power steering, or a lower ratio steering box. Just go power. Many on this board are going the other way. Parts should not be hard to acquire.

 

[C130 Chief]

Rack and pinion steering will not reduce effort much at all compared to a recirculating ball gearbox (what you have now). Certainly not enough to b worth the hassle of retrofit. In fact a R&P system will almost certainly be a quicker ratio and therefore increase effort.

You could certainly convert to power steering, if you wish to lighten steering effort. This would probably be the easiest. In fact you could possibly swap column and box with somebody wishing to convert to manual, making this a cheap swap.

Yes tire selection has an impact on steering effort, how wide are you front tires? Also, don't expect to be able to turn the wheels with the car standing still (a bad thing to do with PS even if it's possible). Creep the car forward or backwards while turning the wheels, better for the car and driver.

 

[ppsi]

I actually have all the parts for a power steering conversion except the lower engine pulley. I thought if it was an easy swap it would save a lot of weight with R&P. I have after market A/C in the car so the left side of the engine compartment is a bit crowded and fitting a power steering pump and box might take some reworking of the bracket I fabricated for the A/C compressor. I suppose the main issue would be the pulley setup for the slant six with A/C & PS. Any serpentine conversion ideas?
Thanks-Howard