Oaky8

Hey guys,

tl;dr I got play in the steering, like every other fb. But it happened to suddenly to be just wear and age I think. Seems like its coming from between the steering box and the steering wheel, in the column.

I own a 1982 FB, NA 3 spd auto (slowest of the slow lol) with manual steering. I'm having a lot of play in the steering wheel. I know play is completely normal in the old rx7's. Thing is my steering is tight. No play in the tires when jacked up. No drifting across the road when driving.

I have 3-4 inches of free spin in the steering wheel. When I take the keys out of the ignition I can still turn the wheel those 4 inches. When I do this I can feel it click. Like as if a lock goes into a notch but then back out, instead of getting stuck in it.

The play started all of a sudden one day. It was a wet Saturday morning. I took a left onto a bigger street and gave it a little too much gas. The rear end came out and I fish tailed a little then straighten out like normal. Immediately after my hektik skidz I noticed the play in the steering wheel. I had done some light drifts and donuts before this, so I think the steering box could handle the forces.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

welcome to the board.

just check the lash anyway. how it behaved before is not really relevant now. what matters is it's happening currently. is the steering wheel doing that infamous telescope impersonation, too? how old are the front end bushings?

Oaky8

lol so its been a year since i started this thread... and im just now getting around to really fixing it (hasn't gotten any worse in that time). The steering isn't letting me enjoy the manual swap I recent did.

Yesterday I did the steering fix on mazspeed's site. It made the steering feel tighter and not floppy, it was really tight before it went floppy on me last year. But that didn't fix the dead spot in the steering, just made it tighter, i still have about 4 inches of play. I took apart most of the steering components today, the center link is out and the tie rods are just hanging from the spidles. One of the tie rod ends grease filled bushings has a crack in it and all of the grease has come out. I guess this is why i have the dead spot still? Is there a way to replace that bushing or do i just need to a whole replacement tie rod?

Also my front struts look like they could be adjustable or are they oem? I got a set of koni struts and realized that they are inserts for the front, maybe what's in my car currently aren't original? Suspension feels tight enough not not be original.

Oaky8

tie rod dust boots seems to be the name for them. Should i just replace the ruptured boot on my tie rod with some energy suspension dust boots? Seems easier and cheaper. My tie rods are fine.

Also i did check my idler arm, its pretty tight, no play at all.