On Jun 27, 2010, at 3:49 PM, Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
wrote:

> Folks:  After like 5 years of driving my PS equipped Vanagon(90 GL)
> without power steering, the u joint was starting to complain by
> clunking around.  No doubt more stress on it as it took more effort
> to turn the wheel all those years.

It's doubtful that you can exert more power than the powerassist
system on the u-joint. More likely, the tendency to 'muscle' the wheel
with jerking movements as opposed to the smoother turns of the
assisted rack is the culprit.

BenT