Pinto Rack
 

I was wondering if anyone has a pinto rack in their car with 16x8 or bigger front wheels? How hard is it to drive? Is this primarily for a car with skinnies? How much weight is saved vs the power steering?

Depending who's claims you read you are looking at saving 20ish lbs off the nose of the car compared to a typical GM steering box. If you are considering going from the iron box to a manual rack in your 84 I would suggest going with an aftermarket k-member that is designed for use with the rack. There are changes in geometry required to do it properly and the headache savings in the long run of having the lighter, stiffer, and properly engineered k-member vs doing the fabrication on the flimsy and heavy stocker will pay off in performance.

Steering with a manual box or rack isn't really difficult while rolling. The steering is slower with manual boxes, but that just requires a little getting used to, not really a problem. If you are going very slow or having to stop and steer to maneuver through tight areas it can be a bit of a PITA.

If doing a whole k-member conversion isn't in the cards right now the 84 can save some weight by switching to the base, manual steering box from a S10. Bolts right up, just swap on your pitman arm and go.

Skinnys is what its designed for.

16x8s on a manual rack you really feel the road. It kinda sucks when your not rolling at all to turn the wheel. When your moving its fine

Got it. I don't want to drive around on skinnies forever so I got a kmember with stock steering.

i run the manual s10 box in my third gen, i love it except for the ratio. sometimes i do feel like im driving a truck spinning the wheel so much. i dont really notice the heavy steering except in the parking lots.

i whip it one handed with a coffee in the other while rowing gears. i have a 18x8 255/35/18 bfg sport comp II tire. not sure of the weight savings but i would guess its in the 40lb range.