Thoughts on de-powering the rack?
#1
Thoughts on de-powering the rack?
Anybody done this: Flyin' Miata Guide'?
I have a niggling problem with my power steering hose routing and a recurring leak from a modified 90-degree bend. I'm mighty tempted to ditch the whole thing. I've been driving a lot of sub-1000kg cars with manual steering recently and driving the MX5 again felt floaty light - to be honest, too light.
Has anybody done this mod (either the difficult way above, or the simple looping-the-hoses way)? What did you find? Honest opinions please?
Is there much difference between just draining the fluid (reversible) or chopping the seals off?
I have a niggling problem with my power steering hose routing and a recurring leak from a modified 90-degree bend. I'm mighty tempted to ditch the whole thing. I've been driving a lot of sub-1000kg cars with manual steering recently and driving the MX5 again felt floaty light - to be honest, too light.
Has anybody done this mod (either the difficult way above, or the simple looping-the-hoses way)? What did you find? Honest opinions please?
Is there much difference between just draining the fluid (reversible) or chopping the seals off?
#2
Lot of threads on this, do some searching.
Many of us, I'd guess over 50%, have depowered racks, and love them. Cutting out the seals makes it a little better, but it's been my experience that people do more than just that seal when they're in there, so it's hard to tell. If I did it again I might just loop the lines.
Many of us, I'd guess over 50%, have depowered racks, and love them. Cutting out the seals makes it a little better, but it's been my experience that people do more than just that seal when they're in there, so it's hard to tell. If I did it again I might just loop the lines.
#9
Half the people like them depowered, half like power steering. I've deleted PS on both the miata's I've owned and have no regrets. It's really no big deal, a little tougher to turn below 5 mph, but nothing major. I let a autocross instructor (miata owner that weighs probably 100lbs more than I do) drive my car and he damn near broke down in tears whining about how hard it was to turn so it's really just personal preference.
#10
Tour de Franzia
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PM Bond and see if he agrees with you after driving my car around. My car feels like it's on tank-tracks instead of tires.
I thought it was worth the work and would definitely do it on any track Miata as a requirement before I ever saw the track. I had a ghetto depower by looping the lines and it was OK, but this is like another world of steering feel. You can also dial in resistance on the rack, so you can make the steering as heavy or light as you want. Mine is pretty heavy because it makes it easier to hold steering angle and helped me to slow down my hands.
My ghetto-depowered rack was so tired that I had about 10* of slop when I first depowered it, and 20* after a few years. The PS rack will eventually eat itself without pressure in the bleeder valves.
I thought it was worth the work and would definitely do it on any track Miata as a requirement before I ever saw the track. I had a ghetto depower by looping the lines and it was OK, but this is like another world of steering feel. You can also dial in resistance on the rack, so you can make the steering as heavy or light as you want. Mine is pretty heavy because it makes it easier to hold steering angle and helped me to slow down my hands.
My ghetto-depowered rack was so tired that I had about 10* of slop when I first depowered it, and 20* after a few years. The PS rack will eventually eat itself without pressure in the bleeder valves.
#12
Tour de Franzia
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FM put it back in their write-up and you don't need it; mine is sitting in the land-fill. We're basically making those two pinion fittings one by welding it.
#14
Hmm after I depowered it still was not as tight as I wanted it to be. Little undulations in the road at 130mph make me very nervous since the wheel and the car moves around. I want my rack to be tight. I thought this might be cus of alignment but even after getting 0 toe it is stil not very stable.
I liooped my lines. I will buy a properly depowered one but won't do iit myself. I would **** it to death.
#15
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Hmm after I depowered it still was not as tight as I wanted it to be. Little undulations in the road at 130mph make me very nervous since the wheel and the car moves around. I want my rack to be tight. I thought this might be cus of alignment but even after getting 0 toe it is stil not very stable.
I've never done an NB rack but I imagine it all looks the same.
#16
Have you already dialed in all the caster you can? You can also install an external damper. Another possible way to slow things down is to leave in the piston, fluid, and loop the lines so the piston pumps the fluid from one side of rack chamber to the other. You might be able to adjust the damping by adjusting fluid viscosity.
#19
Anybody done this: Flyin' Miata Guide'Has anybody done this mod (either the difficult way above, or the simple looping-the-hoses way)? What did you find? Honest opinions please?
If you don't weld the shaft, I wonder about the durability of the rack because there's not much meat in the pinion for transferring steering forces, and what little meat there is gets pounded pretty hard . I would expect the parts of the pinion shaft that transfer forces to deform or even break over time, and become sloppier or even fail. Hustler confirmed the increase in slop with his own ghetto rigged rack. Like Hustler, I don't recommend you skip this step as it's really what makes a depowered rack work properly.
No, so long as no significant fluid remains.