A'ight guys, this one isn't going to be for everyone. I'm sure this will be seen as one of my more hair brained ideas/write ups, but here we are anyway. My power steering went out a few weeks ago. I ran without it for a few days and honestly it wasn't too bad. I ended up rebuilding my pump (rebuild video coming), but found the lost gas mileage increase outweighed the steering assistance. My truck runs 33" tires; with power steering I was getting about 12 mpg. That was after a 1 mpg increase from my electric fan conversion. Now I'm getting 13.5-14 mpg. Not too bad if you ask me, for a lifted truck loaded down with tools and equipment running tires this large.

At a dead stop the steering is pretty heavy; you've got to work at it. Up to 5 mph it's a two hand job. Once you get up to 5-10 mph you can do it one handed, but it's a little work if you're turning tight. Slight curves are easy. Once you're up to 15-20 mph it's easy all the way around. Not quite as light as with power steering, but just as easy as some power steering equipped vehicles I have driven.

At some point I would like to retrofit electric power steering, but for now this is perfectly fine. Alternatively, if anyone knows of a possible manual box that could be retrofitted for a lower steering ratio I would be interested to know about it.

Ok, let's get started. This is pretty simple. It took me about 20 minutes. There were quite a few things I wasn't required to get out of my way because of other changes I've made. i'd say on a stock truck it would take 35-40 minutes as you'll also have to remove the intake and possibly the fan shroud. I couldn't tell you for sure.

The first step is to drain the power steering reservoir. If you do not have ACE you will also have to lift the reservoir out of its holder and tip it to allow the remaining fluid to drain into the primary side.



I'd recommend a bucket under the truck to catch the power steering fluid you're about to drain.



Now use an 11mm socket to crack open the bleed valve on top of the steering box.





I also removed the other line leaving the steering box. This will aid in draining the power steering fluid. You don't want the box full of fluid; only a very small amount. If the box is full then steering will be more difficult and the box doesn't need to be full to prevent wear.





With the line removed and the bleed valve cracked, hop in the truck and start turning the wheel back and forth. I recommend lifting the front of the truck off the ground. This will make the turning much easier. You'll want to turn back and forth quite a few times.

I would start the truck for a few seconds. Turn the wheel lock to lock once and shut the truck back off.



This part isn't necessary, but I recommend it. Take a length of hose and slide it onto the bleed valve. I believe the hose I used was 1/4" ID.



I then blew through the hose to remove as much remaining fluid as possible. I blew using my mouth. You can use an air compressor, but I couldn't find my little blower attachment. This worked fine. I didn't have to blow long to get air coming out the other side of the box.



Now re-install and re-tighten the line coming out of the pump and re-tighten the bleed valve.





I'd recommend spraying everything down with brake cleaner to remove the power steering fluid in the engine bay and on the underside of the truck.





Very last is the serpentine belt. I can't tell you exactly the belt you'll need. I also have my AC deleted so my belt is shorter than the one most would need.

If you also have your AC deleted, I will add the belt number for you later. I can tell you the length is 53.5". It is a 6 ridge belt; not a 7 ridge. This isn't an issue as long as the belt is correctly lined up on the pulleys. I have found a part number for an 8 ridge belt, which could be used after cutting out one of the belt ridges.

If you have chosen to keep your AC as most people will... well, chances are you're not deleting your power steering. That said, if you have, then you will need a separate belt that is another length. I've looked at the routing I used without the AC with power steering retained. I used a 700K7 belt, but you will need a longer belt than that. You can easily find the required length by taking the factory belt on the pulleys you intend to keep in the line. Tighten it and form a loop of the extra belt over the alternator. Make a mark on either side at the bottom of the loop to match the length of belt you need. Cut the belt in the loop and measure the length from mark to mark. You'll want a belt that an inch or inch and a half shorter than what you measured.

I hope this helps a hand full of you out there. If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, please post them below!

 

It won't pass Va state inspection without power steering, since it was factory, safety. Unless you know someone that will look the other way.
I drove mine for a few weeks without ps, not bad, and a smaller tire too.

 

It's still mounted. If they give me trouble I can slip the belt back on, but I've never had anyone look that close.

 

An older school (bus) larger diameter wheel would cut down on the effort.

 

Great write up.

another way to get more mileage is to also remove the front driveshaft. You will gain another 3mph

 

Did i miss the part if you looped a line from the rack? This was a huge VW thing for Mk2's to do the PS delete but you needed to loop the line on the rack to keep fluid in the rack.





This was the part you could either buy or fab up for the inlet / outlet for the PS rack

 

Haha, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it.

THATS what I call country music. Pretty accurate, too.

 

Thanks! Unfortunately, I use the 4wd on a regular basis. Ashcroft made a selectable unit to go in the transfer case to switch between red and 4wd, but you'd never make up the cost in gas.

 

Nope! I left everything installed. The pump, all the lines, every bit. I just drained the fluid and put on a shorter belt.

 

Hmm.. well if you did a closed loop you could just get rid of all that other stuff. I'm no LR whiz but its probably a good idea to have fluid in the rack?