DD without power steering

[tomis blair]

Who's daily driving their trucks without power steering? I am! I even had 31x10.50x15's on there untill yesterday. Parking lots are my worst knightmare. You have to know where the open spot is in the lot before you get there or you aint getting there without a 9 point turn.

[Littletony]

My K5 does not have power steering and I have 33 12.50s on it. When I am home I try to drive it 3 or 4 times a week. The way I look at it is if the OO who passed at 70 could still drive the thing when he was 68 then so can I. It also had 31s on it when I bought it.

[tomis blair]

Theres no turning the wheel unless the truck is moving huh? Your shoulders get in great shape quickly tho.

[shawno72]

I drove two of my trucks as daily drivers for about 3 years until I added power steering about 3 months ago. Now its a real pleasure to drive.

[ole dollor]

just something to check. jack up the front of your truck and see how hard it is to turn and listen to the gear box while you do this, it could be that your gear box is binding up, i had one that was dry of oil and it was a bugger to turn. while jacked up move the wheels to turn it also from stop to stop, you will hear the gear box if its noise.

[LockDoc]

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My Green '67 doesn't but it will next spring, that gets old fast...

LockDoc

[big bad orange]

well I drive mine every day to school and I learned 2 things. 1) my box is worn out because I have 50* of play in it ( I am getting a new one) 2) you better park someplace you dont need to do alot of tight turns. As long as the trucks moving it ok but from a stop forget about it.

[longbed67]

Once you get used to it, its not bad at all except for parking lots.... they still suck. but with classic vehicles people are usually patient with you.

[MikeyMan]

My 71 C/10 LWB Fleetside has 31x10.5 tires with no P.S.
The factory original steering wheel really helps to crank the wheels.

The majority of my work is in downtown Chicago. It can be a real chore to navigate the tight lanes in multi-level parking garages. Also, got pinched in on a side street once. My front is up to the "No Parking Here to Corner" sign, so easy out straight ahead. Not so fast. Some joker illegally parks about a foot in front of me. If my front chrome bumper wasn't perfect, I would've rammed that sucker into the intersection. Well, with a little clutch chatter and a 12-point maneuver I was finally free.

[bobs409]

Originally Posted by longbed67

but with classic vehicles people are usually patient with you.

Maybe I should move to your area then. I don't park in tight spots so can't say anything on that but I'll say that when the light turns green, other drivers expect you to floor it and get up to 40 mph immediately. That just doesn't happen when you have an SM465 trans. The impatient pricks can't wait a few precious seconds for my truck to get through a few gears so right away they are passing. Of course, we all meet up at the next light anyway. Then we do it all over again...

Oh yeh back to topic. I have manual steering in my 3/4 ton and it doesn't bother me at all. I've been meaning to change it to PS and probably will someday...

[Shyguy]

Originally Posted by bobs409

Maybe I should move to your area then. I don't park in tight spots so can't say anything on that but I'll say that when the light turns green, other drivers expect you to floor it and get up to 40 mph immediately. That just doesn't happen when you have an SM465 trans. The impatient pricks can't wait a few precious seconds for my truck to get through a few gears so right away they are passing. Of course, we all meet up at the next light anyway. Then we do it all over again...

Oh yeh back to topic. I have manual steering in my 3/4 ton and it doesn't bother me at all. I've been meaning to change it to PS and probably will someday...

In this part of the country many people seem to be impatient and pass me no matter what I am driving, but like you we meet up at the next light.

All my old trucks have had manual transmissons and two of them have had the SM-465s which I like.

I have never had a problem with manual steering or manual brakes, but as I get older that may change.

[tomis blair]

Mine is a manual 4spd too. The only good thing if they decide to "tap" you to hurry you up is that our sheet metal is a hell of alot thicker than cars now days so who do you think is gonna get all the damage. But then again i dont have a nice paint job like some of you out there. Ive got good patina tho.

[motorcritter]

tomis blair, your truck just has that 'Don't dare mess with ME!' look about it. It's a lot cooler than the nasty-looking econobox sitting next to it. I mean, who's gonna 'tap' the rear of your truck and crack their windshield! Only an idiot would try to cut you off from the right, with no right-hand mirror!

I like the beautiful paint jobs and snappy wheels and all that, but a rough looking truck is a wonderful sight to see. I am going to install power steering in the '70 C10 (along with power discs and an economical rear-end gear ratio)- I distinctly remember my '60 Impala convertible without power steering- and that was over 50 years ago. It sucked then, too.
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[martindc1]

My 67 didn't have PS, it wasn't bad once I figured out how to maneuver with it. The key is making sure that you are moving, even if the wheels are barely turning. Creeper gear and the low ratio in reverse helps that. I parallel parked it a few times but tried to avoid it when I could...

[snj8198]

grew up riding in non-power steer vehicles. You shoulda seen granny wheel that thing!

"My what big forearms you have grandma"

[67ChevyRedneck]

When I was in high school my 67 was my DD and it didn't have PS or PB. I was about 5'6" and all of about 135 pounds when I was 16 I drove her without any problems, but I sure did get some muscular arms! Almost 16 years later... I grew a couple more inches and added about 35 pounds... and I added power discs about 11 years ago and I've had a complete PS set up in the garage for at least 5 years now, but I haven't had the motivation to take everything apart, remove the inner fender (maybe you don't need to, haven't looked that hard yet) to dimple the 67's frame. As others have stated, going down the road is fine... parking lots to suck. So does backing up into a tight space, but I always park a mile away from others anyway, so it's not really an issue for me.

[LEEVON]

I went to look at a '63 a couple of years ago, and the lack of power steering killed it for me. The guy said it was his wife's daily driver for a decade...and she would have been about half my size. In MIAMI!!! I can't imagine trying to navigate around those crazy people without power steering. Country and Sunday cruising maybe. Of course that used to be the norm, which makes me feel a little wussified. I wonder what Phil Robertson would say about that?

[ChevLoRay]

I work with a guy who is the original purchaser of his '67 LWB C-10. Two years ago, he got the pump and brackets from a later (67-72) and installed it all on his truck. He's 70-something years old, and the Armstrong Steering option finally played out.

[Resto-Rand]

I recently purchased both power steering and power brake set ups, after driving it without either for the last 19 years. Haven't installed them yet though, too busy with work.

[vectorit]

My K20 burb has manual steering, and 33-12.50 tires.
I actually enjoy it more than the K10 with power steering and same size tires.

Probably because I have been driving the burb for the better part of my life now, I am use to it and I automatically know the certain parking/turning situations that are a hassle with manual steering so I avoid most of them.

Trick is to keep rolling..

[lowrollin70gmc]

Another hint is to back into parking spaces, as the switch to negative caster makes steering a little easier and pulling out normally only requires a single turn and motion can be maintained while leaving.

My 70 GMC is manual steering and will remain for simplicity. My 67 Chevelle daily was manual turned power(sold), and my 63 Chevy II is manual steering and will remain that way when the rack and pinion gets put it.

[motorcritter]

I'm doing a crossmember swap, so it'll all get done at once. I got the math wrong on my Impala- it was over 40 years ago (senility already!). Now, do I keep the 3OTT, hunt down an OEM earlier overdrive set-up or go T5? Not ready for a slush-box. I'm not that bad. Yet.
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[steelhorse]

I road bulls many years ago and got stomped on and cracked a few ribs. Driving a manual steering vehical with cracked ribs is no fun. After that everything had power steering.

[tomis blair]

going from 31x10.50s to 275/60s made a world of difference and is sooooo much easier to turn now. Still not as easy as power steering.

[ricks71pu]

Yes, the old days , we called this ARMSTRONG steering for a reason. Luckily, i have power steering.