gxlbiscuit

umm ok well i had a cutting wheel skip across my power steering cooling line while installing my FMIC.. put a hole in it.. so i disconnected the belt to slow the ooz ad jammed a screw in the hole till the morning.. i drove it back into its parking space... what the hell do you guys mean its ok for driving..... its HORRIBLE granted i never went above 35 and didnt take any turns while doing it but the parking lot was horrible 15 mph wasnt fun either.. im not super strong.. but i think im average.. that crap is horrible... i have 235s upfront.. maybe that has something to do with it.. dear god as much as i dont like it i want the PS back .. holy ****.. i dont see how you can steer quick enought at lower speeds..which is when you need to avoid stuff most often...

jimmyv13

It's tough, but I'm used to it. It's not leaking, but I have another rack on it's way that I'll be doing the proper gutting to. I like the empty engine bay over having help when I steer in low speed situations.

n/a-luvr

I got a 15.2 depowered rack in my car with the fluid, hoses and pump still connected and my girlfriend drives it to work everyday with no complaints... guess it's time to hit the gym gxlbiscuit! lol

the ratio is how many degrees the steering wheel has to move in order to turn the wheels 1 degree. A faster rack is one that requires less input to turn the wheels a given distance thus losing mechanical advantage and increasing the physical effort needed.

~rich

ScrapFC

iTrader: (5)

I depowered my rack last year and it's awesome! I cut/epoxied the connectors at the valve body, looped the lines on the rack and threw the rest away, including the PS computer and the now extraneous pullies on the motor. The steering effort seemed pretty heavy when I was backing the car out of my garage the first time, but after a few days I was used to it and now it feels really strange driving anything with PS. After driving my car for a while, I drove a friend's S4 base and HATED the slow ratio of the manual rack. It felt like driving a damned truck! My wife and I both autocross regularly, we both love driving in the mountains and the extra effort is never a problem even on the longest road trip. OTOH, the quicker response has saved us both from an off-course spin more than once. (Has anyone else here ever out-paced their PS pump? It goes from full assist to heavy drag randomly at the pump's limit. Scary.) The increased road feel has helped our lap times due to less understeer. Engine bay access is easier. There is one less system in the engine bay to leak/require maintenance. The engine revs a little quicker. There is less weight in the nose of the car. It all adds up, right?

JMART

I have a 87 turbo 2 with no ps and looking to trade for all ps parts to put on my car.

jimmyv13

PM me for the pump and bracket.

Alex Rodriguez

iTrader: (137)

bringing this thread back from the dead...can some one give me , no **** step by step on removing everything power steering related

i read all 3 pages and didnt find nothing usefull but a head ache from ratios/weal/hard/handle etc.....

i have a 91 turbo 2- what do i start with to remove it all

sciff5

iTrader: (1)

THank you I would also like to see a step by step guide. I have an 89 GTU.

Black91n/a

Already done. See my post in the 2nd Gen Archives. If you've got any more questions please ask (try to be as specific as possible).

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-archive-72/how-de-power-your-steering-rack-right-way-440198/

Alex Rodriguez

iTrader: (137)

yeah i talked to rotaryresurrection and he told me for now to eliminate everything and leave the lines open after its all drained

Black91n/a

That's not such a good idea, the rack will have no lubrication and dirt, water, and any other crap can get in there. It's better to loop the lines, and leave it full of fluid, that way there's still lubrication happening, or drain it all, plug the holes and grease eveything inside (require taking the rack out and apart, at that point you might as well do it my way).

ScrapFC

iTrader: (5)

Looping the lines on the rack keeps the rack closed and allows lubrication to circulate until you stop procrastinating, open the rack, remove the internal hydraulic seals and pack it with grease. (Maybe some day I'll get to that...)
Last month, I installed a set of camber plates and set my camber to -1.5deg. It lightened up the steering feel quite a bit! Steering feedback is (of course) amazing. My handling is finally neutral!

JWteknix

iTrader: (2)

i have a powersteering rack i have converted to a manual rack through the nopistons write up and i have no problem with steering but then again my other car doesnt have powerstreering also

13bturbofc

iTrader: (4)

if you dont want power steering just get a manual rack....imo its much better then the power rack...i have two 7s my vert has a power rack and my t2 has a manual rack and i like the manual better...you have much more feel for the road around turns and its easier to counter steer when you kick the *** end out...the only down side is when your in a parking lot...or if your girlfreind needs to drive it...lol

Black91n/a

Well that's all fine and dandy, but to get a manual rack costs money, converting the power rack is free, and it's got a faster ratio.

osiris7442

not to change the subject...but a question on dissasembling the rack....do I need to take the tie rods off before dissasembling it, and to do that do i just unskrew the nut on the inside of the dust boot?

arghx

iTrader: (3)

just put a manual rack in

Black91n/a

If you take the tie rod ends off the suspension, then you can take the rack out with them on the rack, then just unscrew the entire tie rod assemblies off the rack. They do need to come off to get the rack apart (the drivers side at least, but I took both off, so I can't say for sure if you can leave the passenger side one on). If you unscrew the outer tie rods you'll need to reset the toe afterwards, that why I left the tie rods together.

As I've said before, the depowered rack has advantages over the manual rack, and you'll still get good road feel and all that, but with less cost and a faster ratio.

sciff5

iTrader: (1)

I want to depower my steering rack in an 89 GTU. This will be a race car with some pretty extensive weight reduction. I wont be driving it on the street much at all. So extra steering effort is of no concern to me. I just want the steering to be as quick as possible and provide a MAXIMUM amount of feel. I have no interest in switching to a manual rack as it takes too much turning of the wheel to get around tight autoX courses.


So based on what I'm looking for I think depowering my steering rack (which is supposedly the quickest ratio rack 15.2:1 ) will be perfect for me but I heard the wheel can be ripped out of your hand very easily when the steering rack is like this. Sometimes it can happen mid corner if your trying to drift or whatever and that can make the situation kinda hairy. I wanna know from the people who have already de powered their steering rack have you ever run into something like this while at AutoX a road course or while drifting?

osiris7442

i have a manual rack if any of u guys are interested in it..its off a 90 T2...I cant use it cause my 7 is right hand drive..wish I woulda realized i couldnt use it before i bought it

Black91n/a

Unless you hit something solid I don't see that the wheel's going to be ripped from your hands, just keep a good grip on it, and maybe wear gloves.

darrin1

anyone got pics

TitaniumTT

This thread is full of fail and mis-information. It makes me angry even though I've been laughing at most of the replies. But then again I guess I wasn't around much in '06 with my end all be all conversion complete with quill welding to eliminate the 5* of slop and making a 15.2 rack the ultimate in manual racks with better feedback and quicker transitions than a manual.

Yes is is a bit of a PITA to park and slow slow speeds but I have no issues moving the smaller than stock wheel around a sticky lot with hot 235/40 R-comps on. The key is to be moving while rotating the wheel. Makes things a little easier.

For those of you with limited math/physics skills I have the rack with the least mechanical advantage and I'm using a smaller than stock steering wheel further reducing my mechanical advantage and I run tires stickier than your last nights wet dream.

To all you people who say to remove the belt and keep driving - sell the RX7 and buy a honduh or some POS nissan and GTFO

By the way, way to bump a 4 YEAR OLD THREAD

Gurew

iTrader: (4)

ive driven with both and they feel the same not harder not stiffer..just the number of turns is more.....you get that rickets taken care of? time for some steroids maybe?

RX_Lucky7

I have a properly de powered (power) rack... I autox and drift... just trying to increase my car's performance on the track... so, after reading this thread it seems that this argument between power/manual is entirely personal preference... sooooo... I understand that my power rack is "faster" because of the fewer rotations necessary to turn the wheels the desired direction... and the manual rack is "slower" because it takes more turns of the steering wheel to reach the same direction... so my question is this; I want to increase the ease of turning while not losing too much control and steering speed - do I re install power steering or get a manual rack?