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by Waterluvian 1203 days ago
I’m also of the impression that dry turning the wheel isn’t great for the tie rods. But I welcome a car person to teach me the truth.
3 comments

Park the car with the front tires on two pieces of cardboard (each) to limit the turning forces.

I wouldn’t sweat it for the duration of demo or until you (quickly) got bored with it. You do the same everyday you parallel park a car.

Dry steering will also damage your concrete or pavement. Should probably jack your car up while doing this or turn up the sensitivity so very small inputs translate to larger turns
It will damage your tires more than the concrete.
Concrete, yes. On the other hand, a hot residential asphalt driveway can be boogered up pretty easily.
Or just on jack stands
Worry about your tyres.
The amount of force you're putting into the system, regardless of if the engine is running (and therefore the power steering pump is pumping) or not, is a fraction of the forces the system handles constantly while going around a corner at 60 mph or hitting a pot hole.

It's perfectly fine.

For steering you're exactly wrong. Drive an old car without power steering, on the highway you'll barely notice, but you'll be using all your might to park. It's much easier to steer a rolling tire.

Power steering systems create heat and rely on airflow for cooling...so prolonged steering back and forth in a parking space is a worst case scenario for the system.

> For steering you're exactly wrong. Drive an old car without power steering, on the highway you'll barely notice, but you'll be using all your might to park. It's much easier to steer a rolling tire.

So you're talking about the force the human has to use to turn the steering wheel. In a car with power steering, the human doesn't have to do much, because the pump effectively amplifies the force and exerts it on the tie rods, steering, etc. etc.

Either way, the forces on the steering components are the same, and they're not a problem.

> Power steering systems create heat and rely on airflow for cooling...so prolonged steering back and forth in a parking space is a worst case scenario for the system.

I assume you mean while the engine is idling.. in which case the main cooling fan will kick on when the temp of any component requires it, so it's perfectly fine.

I'm no expert, but what you're saying goes against everything I've ever heard, including from a driving instructor and senior engineer at Ford. The internet also seems to disagree with you.

https://www.eptyres.com/news/details/why-dry-steering-is-bad...

https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/16575/dry-st...

Doesn't matter if the engine is running. It only matters whether you're in motion or not. The engine running just enables power steering but the strain on the steering system and the tires are the same.
Thanks! I’ll chill out about avoiding it then. What you say makes complete sense.
Won’t damage tie rods or anything mechanical. May shorten life of tyres.
I... don't think you ever driven anything without power steering.