How much freeplay should I have in my steering? I have heard that 1st gens can have some pretty lazy steering when they get old and I wanted to see what I could do to correct this

Right now my steering can move anywhere from 10-15 degrees each direction before the steering recieves the input.

I was going to get all the bushings in the steering replaced with some poly ones and have it alinghed, would this take care of my steering freeplay?

thanks

 

You can adjust it to gain some tension. The guy who sold the car to me did it in front of me before I bought it, so I will know how but I don't really remember. I will ask him to help me this weekend or next weekend. Maybe I will camcord it and post it up so then you guys can have some idea how to get it adjusted...

 

You need to adjust your steering box...

 

what part are you referencing exactly?

 

Enjoy!
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ox+adjustments

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ox+adjustments

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ox+adjustments

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ox+adjustments

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ox+adjustments

As you can see its only been covered once or twice before.

 

Exactly what I wanted to say but couldn't come out off of my mind.

 

thanks dan, now if I can ever get some time off of work I have about five things I wanna do to my car with no time to do them. That other thread looks like it will cover me good with info.

 

check your tie rods, ball joints and idler arm bushings first, I have ordered all these over the past two weeks, idler arm bushing in delrin, making delrin tension rod bushings, poly control arm bushings, 2 ball joints and 4 tie rods. Each part contributes to the freeplay, then I'll address the steering box if its still an issue.

 

yeah I have new ball joints installed with in the last year, all the bushings appear to be stock with 180,000 on them and they show alot of wear.

 

Then I suggest you replace all of the oem parts before you even think about adjusting the steering sector. If adjusted wrong, i.e., too tight, the worm and ball will wear prematurely and the sector is more expensive to replace new, than the rest of the steering components combined.

 

I am buying basically a entire new steering set up for the most part, adjusting sleeve, control arm bushing kit, new tire rods inner and outter, new tie rod bushings, and idler are bushings and getting new motor mounts for fun -is there anything important I'm missing ^here^

On a scale of difficulty/time where would putting all these new peices on fall?
Would it be better to pay a shop to do this? -I have access to a garage a helper and every tool I would need to do this but I have very little free time and if this couldn't be done in one or a maximum of two days I don't think I could do this my self.
thanks

 

Don't forget about ball joints/control arms..... At a minimum, inspect them very closely.
Scott

 

Getting the lower control arms off is the hardest, usually, because the through bolts often sieze in the sleeves. The bolts will be sacrificial in that case. The other item is ball joints, but if you have a press, no problem. Check your wheel bearings and tension rod bushings, that should complete a steering makeover.