Hey guys I took the FB on the Freeway for the 1st time today and the damn thing was wandering all over the the road. I got it home and immediately jacked it up and checked my tie rods and it had no play. Any suggestions on what I should check or adjust to solve this? My 83 did not have this problem.

Thanks, Ed

 

replace your idler arm with the HD version with ball bearings in place of bushings.

http://www.mazdatrix.com/getprice.asp?partnum=MOOK9369


EDIT: Better yet, check Rock Auto and see if they have the Moog idler arm.

 

Yeah, go to rockauto for the Moog. This is the same "race version" that others are selling for 30 bucks more.

If all other front end parts (including ball joints) are in good shape, and you are positive that the play is in the steering box, hit me up for instructions on how to adjust it...

 

I forgot to mention I have already replaced my idler arm with the Moog unit to give my turbo more clearance. I'll check the ball joints out. Yeah but the car felt unsafe on the freeway.


Thanks, Ed

 

Hey Ed, get someone to check your pitman arm while you wiggle the steering wheel back and forth, if your moving the steering wheel more than a couple inches and the pitman arm does nothing then your steering box is no good. Adjusting it will only help for a month or so.

 

I adjusted my box two years ago and it's still good...

 

how are the tires? alignment? its an old car are the suspension bolts even tight?

 

Kentetsu,

What size of socket did you use on the steering box when you adjusted it? I've got a 40mm socket per the tutorial, but it doesn't seem to fit on the nut right. What gives?

 

Your strut mounts (upper part has a bearing) may be corroded if the car sat for long. I put gear oil up there and was amazed at how it helped the steering. I have new ones planned. This was with new balljoints, bushings, tie rods etc.

 

Ball joints and tie rods are tight. The strut mounts and shocks are good. I have new Tokicos blues with GC coil overs (350lb eibach springs) up front. I was poking around the steering box and it seems to have been adjusted before by the previous owner. Anyways on the street the car tracks fine thats why I was shocked as hell when I got on the freeway. Joe I'll check out that pitman arm.


Thanks, Ed

 

I noticed the same thing. 40mm DOES NOT FIT. I also noticed a few other things wrong with the tutorial that I attempted to fix through multiple edits once upon a time. Then posted it here to lackluster response.

I think when the time comes to adjust my steering box, I'll just go at it without the aid of a tutorial. I've never needed them before, other than the Nikki thing that Sterling wrote, but it was only because I didn't want to spend the time it would take to let the Nikki share its secrets with me. Sterling writes well enough though. That steering tutorial was like sour creme without the chives.

 

Well if your joints are tight, your bushings are good, your ends are tight and your strut bearing is fine.... Is your alignment correct - like too much toe out or not enough caster?

 

Well, I just spent $20 on a 40mm socket that I had to order from McMaster Carr because no one carries the dumb thing. So now I've got a socket I can't use, and more money wasted. I guess that I could always try going at it with a large adjustable wrench maybe?? Or a socket of the corrects size? Any ideas? Kentetsu, what did you do to get the nut off of there?

Jamie

 

Not sure which steering box you have... But if you are lucky, you have this one...
Remove the 3 bolts holding the top, carefully back out the adjuster, the top comes off nicely and you can remove the nut on the bench....

Scott

 

I'll double check the size of the socket when I get home today. Sorry if I was mistaken in my old post. I do recall that the socket had to be "persuaded" to go onto the nut with the help of a hammer. I'll post back with the size later today...

 

No worries. I found the socket size in the original writeup on the Mazspeed website. He lists it as 40mm in the writeup. I also measured the nut with my dial caliper and it's right at 40mm, but for some reason the socket just doesn't go on. Any further info would be great. I don't want to ruin something trying to do it the wrong way. If I'm going to start hammering sockets down over nuts I at least want to be sure that someone has done it successfully before me, ya know?

He also mentions grinding the bevel off of the socket in his writeup, so that it doesn't slip off of the nut. Did you do that?

Jamie

 

I used a 40mm impact socket with the bevel ground down and it went on with a slight tap. You can also use a hammer and chisel to loosen the nut.

 

I was just trying to slip it over the nut by hand. I guess that I'll go ahead and grind her down and give it a couple of smacks. What exactly do you adjust after you get in there? I found the writeup to be somewhat confusing. Do you just tighten down the adjustment nut until there isn't any slop in the pitman arm?

 

Mine looks like it was shocked with a chisel.

Thanks, Ed

 

The size I used was 1 9/16

 

Loose or worn out front wheel bearings will cause the front end to wander. As wil an out of whack alignment.

 

Here's the writeup I did in another thread:

Okay, I copied this from an old post that I responded to some time back. Hope this helps. It worked great for me, and was a lot simpler than the other methods. Might be a cheap shortcut, but like I said, it worked so I won't complain....



Okay, if your's is the same as mine, here's whatcha do;

Very important! Grind the beveled edge off of the large socket that you are going to use. It is almost impossible to get that one loose without rounding the corners off even without the bevel on the socket.

Okay, once that is done then get that large nut broken loose. If you manage to do that then you are home free. Once it is loose, then hold it while you turn the next largest nut (mine has a series of holes drilled into it). I used a hammer and cold punch to turn it. Tighten it about 1/8 of a turn, then retighten the large nut and take it for a drive.

This will be a trial and error type of thing. If its still too loose, then tighten that inner nut (the one with the holes in it) another 1/8 turn. If you end up getting it too tight then your steering will loose its self-centering properties and will quickly wear out completely.

I got lucky the first time I tried this. Took it for a drive and there was damn near zero freeplay, but not too tight. I used to have about 2" of freeplay, which was a really exciting setup, but not too practical. Now, when driving down the road small adjustments are almost done telepathically! This changed the entire feel of my car. By far the best thing I have done to it as far as improving the driveability and fun factor...

 

There's no need for trial and error when doing this. I'm not saying yours didn't work but if you follow these steps it will be spot on every time. I agree that it completely changes the car. Mine also went from 2" of play to having laser like steering.

The first thing you need to do is set the worm shaft preload as per the Mazspeed link. You need to turn the shaft clockwise in tiny bits and keep checking the steering wheel until it you feel a slight resistance. That's it.

Likewise when turning the large plug on the sector shaft you need to keep checking the play on the steering wheel. When it feels a bit tighter than after the worm shaft adjustment you're done.

The last step is to adjust the small adjusting screw on the sector shaft. You may need to turn this either clockwise or anti-clockwise depending on your wear so give it a turn and check the play. If the play has increased you need to go in the opposite direction. I found that turning it until is starts to feel tight and backing it off slightly works the best. Just don't over tighten it.

 

REVHED, do you do these adjustments with the car on the ground or up on jack stands? I'm assuming that you also have all the steering linkages hooked up when you make the adjustments? I'll probably have some more questions for you after I dive into the steering gear. Hopefully I can get this done sometime over the weekend.

Thanks,
Jamie

 

It has new bearings. I will try new tires and get an allignment and see what happens.


Thanks, Ed