<VV> High Tire Pressures - long (sorry)

[Craig Nicol]

Bill Wrote:
> I find that even with fronts at 25 psi, I have to wrestle with the wheel 
> when attempting to parallel park.
>
> Although I believe the tire pressure differential is needed for the 
> Corvair's design, they should have offered power steering for city 
> dwellers who need to jockey their cars into tight parking spaces.
>
> Wife and kids won't even attempt to parallel park the thing with the 
> manual steering, as good as it is when the car is in motion.
>
> Guess we're all spoiled, since virtually all new cars have assisted 
> steering as standard equipment these days..Bill H. 69 Monza 110 PG

Craig replies:
Standard-steering equipped Corvairs had five-turn lock-to-lock steering and
it's very light; not quite one-finger, but close. If your car has three-turn
lock to lock "quick steering", it would be much more difficult. Factory
quick steering is very rare and quite valuable; if you don't like it you
could easily change it out for standard steering. Aftermarket quick-steering
arms are also quite common (I've installed at least ten sets over the years)
and they were sold in a variety of ratios between 4-turn and 2.5-turn. 

If it turns out that your car has 5-turn but it's still difficult to steer,
you may have a tight ball joint, tie-rod end, or steering box.  FWIW, I can
kneel down next to my parked Corvair, grab the tire at 9 and 3 and just turn
the tire on the pavement. Try that in a front-engine vehicle!
Craig Nicol