1983 fb rx7 steering up grade
 

hi guys i was looking to up grade my steering in my fb but i cant find a site for it. i"m looking for quick turning with less play in the wheel. help me rx7 brothers and sisters :scratch:

Another fb driver with wonder-steer. If you find anything let me know I'm in the same boat and I drift mine.

replace all the bushings, adjust the box, and get the moog idler arm. The result is amazing.

That still doesn't get rid of the guessing game the steering commands. I can see where it tights it up though.

I think the stock FB steering, when properly maintained, is excellent.

I'm not sure what all this "wonder steer" is about, the only time I've had loss of pitch perfect tracking was when a steering component needed to be replaced (idler arm is notorious, go with the Moog unit).

I actually don't mind it either but sometimes when going down a straight into a s-turn the steering will float. It will either understeer or over steer. It's not always perfect. For me it's not a conventional setup in the steering and suspension. I use mine as a drift car and try snapping the wheel through a transition. Leaves a lot to be desired.

All you young guys didn't grow up with worm gear steering that all cars had up into the 80s.
Rack and pinion was usually only found on expensive or exotic cars back then.

When the 7s steering gear is all working as designed its pretty good. Theres no way it feels like
a rack though and it never will.

You may be referring to the young kids now a days but I'm a little older than that. Of course I know reciprocating ball and socket steering. It was all there was. I've been in a shop since I was in diapers. I've seen it all. I agree with you one the feeling. Replace the links in the system and you'll love it.

Or worm drive boxes. Parallelagram steering worked fantastic back then but with the availability of a rack, I'm definitely in the market for a custom setup

I have put a smaller diameter Nardi steering wheel(smaller diameter than the OEM steering wheel) and to my surprise I find the steering easier than before, even when just moving in a tight parking space???!! That shouldn't be the case but still....???

of course there is converting to a rack n pinion setup .... none available now that I am aware of .... there is also a product called a quickner that will double the input but not sure I'd want to use a street driven car

The Mazda comp manual for first gens lists a fast ratio steering box that they used. It would be sweet to find one of those but I bet they are pretty much unobtainable at this point.

Yep I bet they are made of unobtainium as well

Yeah tighten your steering box a bit you'll be amazed. I absolutely love the fb steering. Still wish I could have nabbed one of those rack and pinion kits tho... *sigh*

I've had remarkable improvements in steering wheel play with a few careful adjustments of the steering box tension (or whatever that nut and screw on top of the box is) for both my 84/85 GSLs and my more recent 83 GSL.

With a little fiddling I've been able to get them all to back within the 1" steering wheel play designated by the FSM.

Add a moog idler arm, new outer and inner tie rod ends (if needed), maybe ball joints (but these seem to never go bad) and a good toe-in adjustment (I use the string method, way more accurate than those new-fangled computers at the tire stores) and you'll be amazed how nicely an SA or FB tracks.

I prefer the stock non-power steering units myself, but if you have power steering, you can simply disable the power hydraulics and remove the PS pump to get a 100 lb. weight reduction, along with the faster turning ratio of the power steering unit. Takes a little more muscle on the steering wheel (which is why I prefer the stock non-power unit) but a lot of folks down this way see the depowered PS unit as an upgrade over stock non-power steering. It's one of the first things I do when I get a car with PS.

Good luck finding a p/s box anywhere. I would love to get my hands on one. I have some great options for p/s without losing any hp

you can make a mustang rack/pinion work - ive seen it

or find someone with an respeed stuff and trade them your arm for it lol

I think the leg would also have to be included.

Yes, when it works right, its alright, problem is they all suffer the same after alot of miles. (The stock steering box) My FB has 226,000 on the clock.

They get slopped out and goes where it wants. I had good results adjusting mine, although after a few trips it loosened back up a bit, Im gonna go back and snug it all up a bit.

Ive owned 1 SA and 3 FBs. my latest has the P/S option.
I love this factory setup, quicker ratio, great feel, and variable assist.
Parts are still available, I just had the pump out to rebuild. And There is no way it weighs 100lbs..

I'm gonna fab up a mount to do a rack. To be honest nothing beats it.

Do NOT de-power the power steering box. Horrible horrible driving experience (have had 2 FB's with this done). If you want manual steering do it properly and swap for the box with the ratio and internals thats designed for it.

The "driving experience" with the depowered PS is something that each individual driver will need to assess for his or her needs.

Depowering the faster ratio PS system certainly makes the car more difficult to maneuver around parking lots and at low speed, you need to put some muscle into it (that's why I prefer the stock non PS, a little slower ratio but easy to manage at low speed).

I've depowered a couple of my GSLs, when the PS pump started leaking or making noise, makes for an easy and inexpensive repair. Since virtually all my driving is at speed, mostly out on the highway, I found the stiffer steering in parking lots only a minor nuisance. But I agree with IoTus, the PS is nice if you want a little help at low speed and don't mind the maintenance and extra weight.

And removing the PS system is a big weight reducer. If you remove the pump, plumbing, cooling pipe and that super heavy cast iron mount the PS pump sits on, you ditch about 100 lb. from the front end of the car.

For general information, it is a power steering assist, not full power steering. It is speed sensitive, and as speed increases the power assist decreases. At speed, the power assist is bypassed completely.

There is no benefit to de-powering the power assist. The solution to a leaky or broken component is to fix or replace it, not bypass it.

This is my personal philosophy, I realize, but I value these cars as much / more than Porsches and Ferarris, and hacks simply will not do under my hood.

To each their own, and not trying to start an argument or condemn others' methods, just sharing my philosophy in case it inspires someone else.

I de-powered mine and like it much better. More feel, especially offroad. I don't think it's even necessary with a car this light, not even with sticky tires.

I haven't been able to get rid of my wondersteer either. I got the Moog arm, checked out the bushings, got an alignment, and adjusted the box... it was good for a few hundred miles but just slowly went back to the normal ridiculous amount of play. I can tell the problem is in the box itself. I can turn the wheel with one hand from under the car and watch the whole system work. There's a good 2-3 inches of steering wheel input before the box even engages the rest of the system. There's no slack in anything else.

On a side note, I wonder if the early 90's B2000 box swaps over, and if the ratio is different?