Thread: power rack

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Hello all , I am new to this forum. I am currently installing a power rack in place of a manual rack . It is a flaming river rack and I am using a gm pump. Some say the steering will be to quick . What do you all say about this ? all opinions please ! Thanks .

I don't have a lot of experience with the MII racks and GM pumps, but the one I have and others I've driven didn't seem too fastto me. They just feel how a nice steering system should be. Effortless sort of. A lot of old school hot rodders swear by no power racks but after having a power one I think it'd be super tough to back to a non power unit.

Here's my post and inputs about the mix of the 2 units.
Power steering pump
I got a valve from speedway.

The GM pump is 800 psi and the MS2 rack needs 1200 psi. Been there, done that. Had a GM pump and wondered why the power steering didn't work. Called Fatman where I bought the rack and was told about the differences. Got a 1200 psi pump and voila.........power steering.

Let me also say that I bought just the new 1200 psi pump and put it in the GM housing.

As I understand it there are several different GM pumps out there, and their maximum pressure varies, generally in the 800 to 1200 range depending on the application. This is the maximum pressure, not necessarily the operating pressure. A system may be operating in the 300 to 500psig range, depending on load, but you don't want to have a rack (or hoses) with a max pressure of 800psi and a pump that can crank 1200. The Saginaw Type II pump is a more efficient design as I understand, with less internal bypass which generates heat and eats more HP, and the pump used on Corvette's is most desirable as it has a smaller shaft, supported by a bearing vs the bronze bushing used in the nominal 3/4" shaft pumps. Borgeson makes kits to reduce the pressure of the pump, to let you fine tune your system to your comfort zone. If it's too fast or "twitchy" for you just drop the pressure a bit. Each shim you add to the pressure reducing valve drops your system pressure by nominal 100psig. Link - Borgeson Universal Company :: Pumps, Brkts & Hoses :: GM P/S Pump Pressure Reducing Shim Kit I'd call the tech line at Borgeson if I were questioning what pieces/parts work together, and what won't. They've heard it all.

Thanks for all the input guys I guess the best thing to do would be to just try it and see how it feels , maybe just rite . And it is like you have said the car drove great out on the road but was a bear to try to back into a spot without power steering. One more thing friends have told me is if you remove the valve on the pump there is a pressure spring behind it . Was told that I could cut the spring to shorten it and that would help with the twitchy feel . Any comments on that theory ?

Originally Posted by longtops

One more thing friends have told me is if you remove the valve on the pump there is a pressure spring behind it . Was told that I could cut the spring to shorten it and that would help with the twitchy feel . Any comments on that theory ?

I believe that the "twitchy feel" is caused by too much pressure. I've not done it, but from several video's showing how to adjust pressure you want to shim the valve out to reduce pressure, and the shims are thin with each one dropping output pressure by nominal 100 psig. Again, I'd call Borgeson's tech line, tell them what you've got and get their advice, but then I like to talk to experts when I can. Their "kit" is less than $25.

Ok all ,54 p/s is done lets hope everything works out !