1st Gen. S W/ 60,000 Orig. Mi. Freeplay In Steering ( Recirculating Ball Type ) Is Way Out There( 3-4"). Any Adjustments ? New Box ? Tricks ? I Would Appreciate Any Info You May Have.glad To Have Found This Group Of Afficionados.

 

There is a rack and pinion mod that I've heard about but never investigated. It's good chance to introduce you to the search feature of the forum. Searching for rack and pinion (from the buttons at the top of the screen) should get some decent results for you - in the advanced mode you can limit yourself to 1st Gen section too.

Beyond that the best thing to do is readjust the steering box. It's an involved process, but once you get it done, it should be good by all accounts. You can read up on it here. http://www.mazspeed.com/steeringgear.htm

But with that much play I don't think it's all coming from your steering box. It would be a good idea to replace your ball joints and other steering components before digging into your box. Then once your other components are tight you can redo the box and you should be off to the races.

And welcome to the forum!

 

http://www.mazspeed.com/steeringgear.htm

ONLY do this if you do it word by word. dont try to just guess, you will mess it up.

also before you start, make sure you check your tie rod ends , wheel bearings, and idler arm, and make sure those bushings are not shot!

carl.

 

Welcome to the forum. The link Carl provided and his advice is the place to start. The idler arm bushings are probably shot as they sit next to the exhaust and tend to get cooked.

 

There are a lot of opinions about the Rack and Pinion steering system, some good, some not-so-good. The basic consensus seems to be that while it is tight and eliminates ANY play in the wheel, you loose a bit of turning radius. It's not alot, but it's enough to be noticable when parking and pulling U-turns and such.

The stock steering boxes suck. With that being said, you should check the steering assembly before going crazy on the box, because if you don't do the box correctly you'll have to get a new one. Not to mention of course, that 90% of free play is from worn tie rods, idler/pitman arms or bushings therein.

Considering how expensive the Rack and Pinion setup is (and how anything from CP Racing will take foreve-and-a-half to get to you) I'd suggest just buying new inner and outer tie rod ends, and idler/pitman arms and that should fix you up better than you are. If you're stil having problems, *then* go to the steering box.

Jon

 

Sound Advice ! Thanks To You All. A Special Thanks To My Canadian Friends...i'm A Maple-leafer At Heart.

 

I have an 82 GSL. My steering freeplay is about 3" and in the middle of the free play it feels like something is flipping over. like from being / to \ I'm sure that my idler arm bushings are bad, because... well its an old car. I cant really jack the car up here due to apartment complex rules, just trying to find all i need to buy before trying to fix this steering freeplay. Tie rod ends seem to be a problem too, but I dont really know what to look for other than i know my boots are tearing. I have pictures of them which will be attached.

 

You dont need to jack the car to change the idler arm bushings. Pop the hood and look on the frame by the exhaust manifold. Remove the 2 attach bolts (they go thru the frame, you need to have help holding the bolt head or be a contorsionist like me), then the cotter pin and nut. The housing will slide off and you can swap the plastic bushings for new ones. Dont forget to grease them. If you wanna check the old ones first, have someone move the steering wheel back and forth while you look at the idler arm. Any side to side motion is no good.

The torn boots will lead to premature wear, but they may still be ok for now. Have someone move the steering wheel while you lay on the ground and watch for any play in the tie rods. HTH

 

Alright, thanks for the help! going to check it out now.

 

If anyone needs a tight gearbox and column, I have one for sale in the for sale section. Here's the link.


https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=385329

 

Here is a post that I added to a previous thread on this topic.

Inspect all the suspension componets for wear and address any issue there AS WELL as trying what I say below.


Original post is :----

The steering on my 84 Series 3 was like yours but I fixed it with a simple adjustment that takes about 2 minutes and only needs a spanner and a large blade screwdriver.

On top of the steering box is a cap about the size of a thimble. Underneath this is a lock nut on a threaded shaft. The shaft has a slot in the end. (The shaft is what the steering arm coming out of the bottom of the steering box is attached to. )

Undo the lock nut and use the screw driver to turn the shaft anti clockwise (unscrew). The shaft is keyed so that the teeth mesh differently depending on the position of the shaft in relation to the teeth on the steering column shaft. The meshing is tightest in the unscrewed (up) position.

The nature force of steering pull the shaft down if the lock nut is not locking correctly.

Do up the lock nut replace the cap and you should be down to about half to one inch of steering wheel play.

The adjustment should take less time than a post to this thread.

P.S. My car is right hand drive (being from Australia) but the adjustment is the same for left hand drive and I do not think that power steering makes any difference because the power steering mechanism is at the top end of the steering box.

 

Woah thanks rx7cam that cleaned up about an inch of play

 

Kouta - What was the improvement? - are you down from 3inches of play to 1 inch or from 3inches down to 2 inches???

 

Just be careful not to over adjust it or youll speed up the wear of the gears.

 

From 3" to 2" still going to replace idler arm bushings once they come in (ordered some supposed to get here sat or mon). Once I get a little more cash i am going to replace the tie rod ends.

 

I know how you feel my car does the same thing