De-powering the steering rack, plus more to come on rebuilding wrx parts

[tgf05354]

Thanks, I sent him a PM already, but have not heard back. I just may take you up on your offer. I'm wondering if I press out the pin shown in #131 if I can take it apart and then epoxy it back together. This 06 pinion seems to be more difficult then early units. Not sure if I trust anyone local not to ruin the bearing.

[Zach34]

I would not epoxy it. There's not much for the epoxy to grab onto. Plus, if the epoxy fails and chips off, it could conceivably bind up in the spindle and freeze your steering wheel.

[mistasherm]

I can almost hear the collective "Ughs!" as I stand before this dusty carcass of a horse and give it one more kick to the gut. I read through this forum thread and my question is not more of "why depower the rack?" I can accept that it is almost necessary given the car specs but more of "How far do I have to take it?" I don't have access to machining equipment, welders, etc. I share my workspace with four kids and not tripping over a Razor scooter to tighten a bolt is a good day. SO, if I have removed the power steering lines cap the openings and loop the line on the main rack tube (as shown in the assembly manual) - am I good? It's a 2004 rack and there is still some fluid in there. I just want to make sure that this is a possible and safe option. No plans to track the car, more of a weekend driver etc. Any input is greatly appreciated- thanks.

[Hindsight]

That will work fine, but you can take it to the next level without many tools. The issue with doing it the way you stated (and via the manual), is that the seals on the rack are still in place and will create friction inside the housing. This also creates air pressures in the rack. These are equalized by looping the lines as you described, but it still creates some drag.

To take it to the next level, you just need to remove the rack from the housing and cut the seals off with a cutoff wheel (dremel or angle grinder, or even a hack saw). I have pics of it in my build thread. I think there are pics in here. It will require more disassembly and replacing the threaded end cap, but it is pretty easy. You can use epoxy to plug the holes from the metal tube. I did that with JB Weld and it works fine.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

We have about 4000 miles on ours(mostly track) with just cap and looped. I left a little fluid in it on purpose to lube the gears and bearings. I want a little bigger wheel while my son want a little quicker rack. Over all the steering is very tight and responsive.
Bob

[lance corsi]

Using the '02 wrx steering rack, I have 2.5 turns lock to lock. Sound about right?

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Using the '02 wrx steering rack, I have 2.5 turns lock to lock. Sound about right?
my 04 FXT and 06 impreza are both 3 turns lock to lock.
Bob

[RM1SepEx]

My 05 WRX rack is also 3 turns, my rack is de-powered and the seal removed. You don't need to dremel it, just remove the rubber seal. I filled the ends of the hose attachments with silicone and have about 1600 miles on mine. Steering is nice and tight. My depowering is documented at the beginning of this thread

[Kiwi Dave]

Bumping this excellent thread to get some feedback from completed builds as a lot of this was written before the practical results were known.

I think that de-powering the rack by removing the piston (or just the seal) has benefits in steering effort and feedback and it also provides an opportunity to clean the rack up while waiting for my kit. This thread is the definitive guide to doing that. Thanks to the 818 pioneers who contributed!

I am now staring at my 2007 pinion and valve assembly (the "quill") and I am wondering what to do absent access to a welder. I haven't seen definitive advice whether not fixing the two pieces together makes a difference. I suspect there is some "slop" at the steering wheel if they are not joined, but it would be good to hear if that's that case or not.

I like Nusiance's solution of inserting shims, but I think that is only doable in 02-05 quills.

The easiest for me would to take the epoxy route as pioneered by freds. Is this durable? If not, I will find someone to weld it.

Cheers

Dave

[DMC7492]

Hello everybody, I'm finally doing final assembly on the 818, Started cleaning the power steering rack and found a really bad Upper Pinion bearing. So, I am looking for a 2005 -2007 WRX or STI rack. It has the two bushings by the input shaft for mounting. Anybody have a spare rack or a pinion with a good bearing on it?