Heavy Steering 260Z

[jim]

Hi guys, find my 260Z steering heavier than I thought it should be. Tyres good, pressure 34 lbs. greased front end, etc. Is this as good as it gets? Are they all a bit heavy or is there a way (short of power steering) of improving it.

Thanks, Jim.

[Pedro]

its man's stuff. just the way it is. take the air conditioner off - its 15kg over the front wheels. that helps.

[Cozza]

I have just replaced my tie rod ends and ball joints. Also regreased the bearings in the top hats.

Seems to of made a fair bit of difference.

I will have my rack rebuilt when I get round to pulling the motor out. Hope that will make it a bit better too.

 

Not sure that is your problem but just a couple ideas.

[Zedman240®]

All zeds have "Armstrong" type power steering.

[zed240au]

geez u reckon a zed is heavy it feels like power steering compared to my old rx4 Just doing a power column conversion on my old rx4 so daughter can do some cub events in it not ready to let her loose in the zed just yet

After her first motokhana in rx4 she reckoned her arms where sore for a week

 

mick

[Cozza]

That's interesting, I have Mate with a 308 in a 929 and the steering on that is much lighter than my zed.

 

[620Z]

Sorry but all Zeds have heavy steering. It's a lot to do with the angle of the column.

Get used to it or do what I did after 15 years. Put power steering on. Cost $2,500- and a shit load of time. But worth it. Transformed the car.

The conversion details are on this site somewhere. 

[d3c0y]

I don't agree  agree that zeds have heavy steering at all for a car with no power steering.

 

 

I have found a massive issue is wheel offset. A mate's 260z had 200b wheels with spacers and it was so heavy you pretty much couldn't do a u-turn in it. He bought my 14x7" jelly bean wheels which were 0 offset, took the spacers off and it was fine. That is running 215s on the front too.

 

 

Like wise with my current setup Rota RB-R 16x8 +4 with 225/50/16s. My girlfriend had no qualms about driving the car (until the L34 went in hehe) and could confidently drive it in traffic around the city.

 

 

So if you have gone over all your steering components and they are fine I would take a look at the wheels.

[Scoota G]

What size tyres are you running? I have a V8 in my 2+2 and it's light and easy to steer.

[DAZDA]

Factors that may affect how heavy the steering is in a Zed;

• Lots of Castor
  
• Scrub Radius
  
• Too much Toe-In
  
• Ball Joint condition
  
• Strut top bearing condition
  
• Tyre pressure
  
• Tyre width and profile
  
• Steering Rack condition
  
• Steering arm length (if they are shorter than OEM ones)
  

 

Could be one or a combination of a few of these.

 

A car with a steering rack and no power steering is always going to be 'relatively' heavy but it shouldn't be a struggle to drive it.

[gav240z]

Not sure why this topic was locked. Unlocking it again.

[Riceburner]

What size is your steering wheel? Oem wheels make it a little easier.