Looping the Steering Rack
 

All,

I have reviewed the archrives for removing the P/S pump and looping the steering rack. I realize there are a number of opinions concerning this procedure. What I would like to know is if anyone who has done this conversion...have they/you ever had any failures because of it

Thanx,

Jim

i did it cuz my power steering pump failed, twice, and was done messing around with it

i don't mind not having the power steering on the car, i can drive it just fine without it and i'm 140lbs

however, i did the loop procedure and i'm not happy with the handling afterwards, it's a little jittery and sometimes scary at high speeds

go with a manual rack, either the maval conversion or the atomicrex.

the atomicrex would be my choice considering the reviews i've heard

I have been running mine looped for the past 2 years and no sign of problems or wear what so ever, you can also ask Rich "GoodfellasFD3S" as he has been running his for at least 5 years now with no problems...

Did the loop and i have agree with tt7hvn, i really do not like the jerky feel that comes with looping the line. Feels like it could jerk the wheel out of your hand if your not careful.

Yea, the looped line deal isnt the greatest, but it will work. If you drive the car a lot, especially in a city and are in and out of tight parking sports frequently I wouldnt delete it. Not much weight savings but does clean the engine bay up a decent bit.

Converting yours to full manual is also an option. I plan on doing this in the near future. Rx-7's are very light so power steering is not necessary.

I did the looped for three years, no issues. Then I converted mine fully myself. These is a thread addressing how to do it. But if your car is squirrelly at high speeds then you have other issues.


later

Looped.......
 

Guys,

The car is strickly a track car for The Glen, Limerock, etc. Looking to get rid of some weight and get a better feel for the road. Strength is not an issue, neither is convenience.

Jim

I got rid of my PS & AC 2 years ago and have never looked back. I looped mine with a Gotham kit (not the best but it works). I agree with badddrx7-if it's jumpy at speed you may have other problems.

I looped mine about 6 months ago and love it - it really cleans up the engine bay and increases road feel. It's a pain at low speed (<5mph), but it's not a daily driver so I don’t care. At any normal driving speeds, it really improves the drivability (especially for the price :) ). It's certainly not jittery or jerky at all... that's a different, unrealated, issue.

looped mine a couple of years back.. no problems.

Had mine fully rebuild and converted to manual.
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/170...ingrack010.jpghttp://img27.imageshack.us/img27/new...jpg/1/w800.png

looks nicE!!

who did it?

I would really like to get an unbiased review if it truely is worth converting to a true manual rack. Ive had mine looped for years now and love the feel over the p/s. I just cant get over the cost of a true conversion when it works so good now. I feel like its one of those mods that people spend a ton of money on, then glorify it due to the expense/hassle they went through to get it.

I just purchased a full manual rack, I will respond once installed which will likely be after the first of the year. I have driven several with the loop line so I know how it should and shouldnt feel. I have no bias so I will gladly post results. If this doesnt make the car a decent bit more pleasurable to drive I will be reinstalling the power steering. I thought my car would be a track car but I enjoy driving it too much. :)

Are you talking about having the stock one converted or going with the aftermarket racks that were designed to be manual racks? I really can't see what major difference there would be between an aftermarket manual rack and the stock one fully converted. (which is actually pretty simple) I know some of the aftermaket ones change the gears to allow less steering wheel travel, but that would just add some extra resistance for low speed maneuvers.

I can see how having the quill welded up and all seals removed would greatly enhance the steering feel and response. This is what I plan to do, should cost me about $0.00.

For a while my PS pully was broken and I was just running no PS with all the PS stuff still there. At speed it was just fine... so I can only imagine it will be really good with a fully converted rack.

There was a thread a while back where some guy did a write up on fully converting the stock rack. ill see if i can round it up.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+%2Bconversion

Pics arent working though...

Theres a good writup on flyin miata. I'll post it when i get home

here it is, don't be fooled by the first pic of looped lines, go through the others to see the full teardown and conversion.

http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/depower.php?x=14

You can also swap for a FC3S manuel steering rack. It' a bolt on mod for and FD3S

Eric

That looks pretty good, I'd like to know who did it as well

Reeeeaalllly? Can anyone else confirm this?...... or done it?

Can anyone confirm this?