VIP Steering Wheel Size

[Gary Miller]

Ahhh. The old steering wheel size debate.

If your power steering goes out, and you're moving, my experience is
that the adrenaline is high, and the steering wheel being a couple
inches smaller in diameter doesn't matter much because slight changes
aren't that hard to make. City driving will be out of the question
in any case, regardless of steering wheel size.

What is important is preventing the power steering failure in the
first place (which is extremely rare, by the way). Have a good belt
on it, have a good pump (no leaks), and you may want to install a
vent in the reservoir since it should have one and likely doesn't if
it's an FC in the '83 to '86 range (don't know about PT's). Fluid
expands when it's hot and if there's no vent, it hurts the seals and
oozes at the hose connections.

Flat tire? Had those too. Wheel size is not important, they're very
controllable if you don't panic and over-correct. Again, prevention
is key, run good tires.

This experience comes from helping Jeff buy old FC's and get them
home for restoration. Eventially, we wised up and just replaced all
the tires b4 heading home.

Gary Miller
83 FC 33 - For Sale
Milwaukee area

[Scott Forman]

I actually drove my FC without power steering on one trip...quite an
experience. I had the original white plastic steering wheen and was
glad to have every inch of leverage it provided.

Scott Forman
86 PT38
Memphis

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Miller"
wrote:
>
> Ahhh. The old steering wheel size debate.
>
> If your power steering goes out, and you're moving, my experience
is
> that the adrenaline is high, and the steering wheel being a couple
> inches smaller in diameter doesn't matter much because slight
changes
> aren't that hard to make. City driving will be out of the question
> in any case, regardless of steering wheel size.
>
> What is important is preventing the power steering failure in the
> first place (which is extremely rare, by the way). Have a good
belt
> on it, have a good pump (no leaks), and you may want to install a
> vent in the reservoir since it should have one and likely doesn't
if
> it's an FC in the '83 to '86 range (don't know about PT's). Fluid
> expands when it's hot and if there's no vent, it hurts the seals
and
> oozes at the hose connections.
>
> Flat tire? Had those too. Wheel size is not important, they're
very
> controllable if you don't panic and over-correct. Again,
prevention
> is key, run good tires.
>
> This experience comes from helping Jeff buy old FC's and get them
> home for restoration. Eventially, we wised up and just replaced
all
> the tires b4 heading home.
>
> Gary Miller
> 83 FC 33 - For Sale
> Milwaukee area
>

[Gardner Yeaw]

Gary,
I agree on the power steering maintenance. As the old saying
goes, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'. But I did
have a PS failure on my Jeep Grand Cherokee on a hair-pin exit ramp
once and it scared the cra# out of me. I have taken a lesson from
that experience and tend to take exits much slower than I used to.
The reality is, however, that I am trying to justify the expense
vs the reward. The fnacy steering wheels are a bit pricey.

Gardner
78FC33 (with a 'Big Wheel'

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Miller"
wrote:
>
> Ahhh. The old steering wheel size debate.
>
> If your power steering goes out, and you're moving, my experience
is
> that the adrenaline is high, and the steering wheel being a couple
> inches smaller in diameter doesn't matter much because slight
changes
> aren't that hard to make. City driving will be out of the
question
> in any case, regardless of steering wheel size.
>
> What is important is preventing the power steering failure in the
> first place (which is extremely rare, by the way). Have a good
belt
> on it, have a good pump (no leaks), and you may want to install a
> vent in the reservoir since it should have one and likely doesn't
if
> it's an FC in the '83 to '86 range (don't know about PT's). Fluid
> expands when it's hot and if there's no vent, it hurts the seals
and
> oozes at the hose connections.
>
> Flat tire? Had those too. Wheel size is not important, they're
very
> controllable if you don't panic and over-correct. Again,
prevention
> is key, run good tires.
>
> This experience comes from helping Jeff buy old FC's and get them
> home for restoration. Eventially, we wised up and just replaced
all
> the tires b4 heading home.
>
> Gary Miller
> 83 FC 33 - For Sale
> Milwaukee area
>