4th gen Camry manual steering conversion

[2000mc]

I'm all for de-powering the rack / taking off the belt, but vehicles vary in how much further modification will help reduce steering effort. Get the front wheels off the ground and see how much effort it takes to spin the steering wheel with the engine off. I could spin mine as fast as I could move my hands with virtually no resistance. If not for the higher ratio in the manual gear, I would have left the entire power steering system in the car without any modification beyond belt routing to bypass p/s pulley.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Is there any manual steering rack suitable to be adapted into the 4th-gen Camry?

[Xist]

I found a great deal of partial information on Civics like mine, although I imagine that it would be less favorable with a larger car. So far, I have found:

[Third generation]

Uh.... doesn't your power steering pump also drive your hydraulic radiator cooling fans?

Power steering to manual steering - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Manual steering with the V6 (especially the 3VZ-FE) is not safe at all. Especially at lower speeds your accident avoidance ability will be greatly compromised.

Power steering to manual steering - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Only used on 92-94 6cyl.

Power steering to manual steering - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

I used to have a 1966 Continental and the the windshield wipers were powered by the steering pump.
Will your car pass a safety inspection without PS? Some states are stricter than others.

Power steering to manual steering - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

That is it. One guy asked about converting the steering on an earlier Camry and the thread died. I could not find anything about compatible racks, but since Toyota had not made them for years, it seems unlikely.

[JMunn55]

I read all the threads I could find on Camry's, there's not much. I used to drive an Accord, with the same size engine, and the pump died on that so I drove it for a month like that without rerouting anything. It wasn't awful but it was a bit too stiff at low speed. The guy saying it would be unsafe was referring to driving with just the belt pulled off, and that V6 engine is also a lot heavier.
And no, there's no manual rack available. The last Corolla with manual steering was 1992 and even then, it wasn't common. And that rack would be too small.
I don't mind it now, I might leave it, but if I get bored or if I get a leak I'll try it sometime.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Instead of looking for an entire manual rack, isn't there an option to look just for a manual steering gear and bolt it to the Camry's rack? I guess it might be less difficult...

[JMunn55]

Could do that as well but my most likely option is looping the lines and eliminating the pump.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Anyway, are you considering some trick to reduce the effort to steer manually, such as a wider steering wheel?

[JMunn55]

Yeah that's definitely an option if I find it too stiff. I'll leave it if possible. It's not incredibly stiff with just the belt off, but I'll run the power steering until I have time to loop the lines and try it that way

[oil pan 4]

Remember an actual dedicated manual steering apparatus tends to have around double the mechanical advantage as a powered unit.

Now adays its almost impossible to turn the steering wheel on a power steering car because most OEMs use approximately between 12 and 14:1 gearing and a 14 or 15 inch steering wheel.
In the days of manual steering the mechanical advantage of the steering apparatus was about 25:1 and the steering wheels were big, typically around 18 inches in diameter.

I am running my 3/4 ton suburban with the belt off the P/S pump. It has most of the weight of a camery on the front axle and I am doing alright.

The people saying that the camery is dangerous with no P/S are just completely ignorant of the situation or have the upper body strength of a tea cup poodle.

[JMunn55]

That's what I'd like to hear! If it's not bad on a Suburban, it shouldn't be bad on the Camry. Planning on looping the lines though, it's a little too stiff with just the belt off because the fluid has nowhere to go.