Heavy steering

[Rod F]

Hey all,

 

The steering on my Z is bloody heavy. At parking speeds I need both hands on the wheel. Driving is better (as expected) but I still need both hands when going around corners. Is this normal for a Z :?:

 

My tyres are 205 R15's, which I wouldn't have thought as being excessively wide. And although the tread is low, it's still present. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks,

 

Rod F

[lambs]

The steering on my Z is bloody heavy. At parking speeds I need both hands on the wheel. Driving is better (as expected) but I still need both hands when going around corners. Is this normal for a Z :?:

 

My tyres are 205 R15's' date=' which I wouldn't have thought as being excessively wide. And although the tread is low, it's still present. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[/quote']

 

Fairly normal Rod....like all true sports cars

 

Unfortunately the wider you go with tyres, generally the worse it gets. Steering racks in 2+2's have a slightly 'quicker' ratio, so putting a 2+2 rack in a coupe helps a little (edit: assuming you have coupe, of course).

[gav240z]

I found that replacing my tie rods and ball joints helped alot. If these are stiff it won't help your steering much, however the Z does tend to be a heavy car to steer, oh and the worst is after being at the gym :cry: .

 

I also have the standard steering wheel for a 240z which probably helps.

[C.A.R.]

Checked your caster, Rod? (pun )

[Rod F]

I know I had one ball joint replaced 6 months ago, might check the other one. Will also check the tie rod ends and yes, the alignment.

 

gav240z: I know what you mean with the gym! :cry:

 

Thanks for your help

[Toecutter]

Might sound a little silly but just wanted to mention the obvious, you might need a liitle more air in your front tyres! Amazing the difference it makes if they are a little bit deflated!?

I went from 205 to 215 to 225 tyres at the front and surprisingly the front steering has'nt changed that much even with a small sports steering wheel.

[Zeddophile]

Tyre pressures is a good idea to check - I used to run about 28-30 psi in the fronts of the Alfa, went to 32psi one day and never went back... That 2 psi made a huge difference.

[gav240z]

I went to an advanced driving course I think it was the John Bowe school anyway they recommend 40psi - 45psi. The only difference will be a harder ride.

[Zeddophile]

45 Psi will tend to make the centres of your tyre wear, and you'll chew through tyres faster, because the tyre balloons, and only the centre contacts the road. You may find more understeer and a bit more wheelspin also (especially in the wet). I really wouldn't go over 35 for a street car. (of course, pressures too low tends to wear the outers of the tyre more, due to the way the tyre sits, and also the 'rolling' action of the tyre under cornering)

 

For a reference point, my 34inch offroad tyres for the rangie give the max load rating (1120kg) at a pressure of 210 kpa - which is 30 PSI. These tyres are 6 ply jobs with very thick sidewalls (and tread area), which are designed to be run at very low pressures (ie 10psi) offroad for maximum traction, which also means they should be able to withstand high pressures no worries. The Yokohamas fitted to my Zed stock rims have "44Psi Max Pressure" written on them.

 

There should be recommended tyre pressures on the tyre placard in your glovebox - in my zed, its 28psi for speeds under 110mph, 32 for speeds over. To me, that would also suggest that staying in the range of 34-36psi to be a pretty good figure.

[djc2004]

going back to Sulio's comment about tyre pressures, I ran my totally stock 260 coupe's tyres at around 40psi with some benefit but the biggest revelation was fitting new tyres - it made a huge difference to the steering effort. the comment about tread depth you made Rod, makes me think that the biggest change you could make is to increase the pressures in some new tyres....

 

David

[Rod F]

After rebuilding the motor a few weeks ago I had a look at the steering rack and loosened the pre-load on it, which has made a noticeable difference. Loosening it all the way lets the steering wheel jump around on un-even surfaces.

Ball joints are fine, and an alignment will be done with new tyres in the next few weeks which should also help a lot.

Thanks for your help guys.

[PZG302]

I went to an advanced driving course I think it was the John Bowe school anyway they recommend 40psi - 45psi. The only difference will be a harder ride.

 

And a lot of tyre wear. Those pressures would only be for the track and then very dependant on the tyre. I would recommend those pressures only for a road tyre. Using Toyo Proxes on my race 240 I only inflate to around 26 PSI and the 18 inch slicks are set to 22-23PSI.

 

For a road car I wouldn't recommend going over about 36PSI, especially for a light car like a Z.

 

Castor will also have a bearing on steering weight, I run a fair bit of castor and my 240 is an absolute pig to try to steer at low speed, though the locked diff doesn't help on tight radius turns either :lol:

[tattoo_ink]

hello zeople ! just after some advise ? ive only driven this car about a 100ks before it went in the shed for resto and i noticed that the steering was rather heavy and was wondering if there was any power steering racks that fit the 260z+2 any ideas ? sorry if theres a previous posts on this - i couldnt see for looking :lol: !

[oldmates260z]

Allzparts in Sydney do a conversion kit (http://www.allzparts.com.au/) which I am looking into at the moment. Looks like you may have to modify the cross member which I am not too keen on. Uses a Subaru steering box and 280zx pump etc.

I am going to post a question to see if anyone else has fitted one.

[tattoo_ink]

ive seen someones signature on this website thats states the mods on their car, and it says theve got a suby rack ! but ive been looking for them and i cant find it now . im up for modifiing the x member though ! let us know if you find out anything ? cheers old mate - chris.

[thehelix112]

I just wanted to echo PZG302's comments about tyre-dependent pressure specs. What pressures work best will vary between tyres, so just have a play around.

 

Also please clarify if you are talking hot or cold pressures?

 

Dave

[oldmates260z]

Oops, added to wrong forum item

 

Sorry about that!

[oldmates260z]

Chris

 

Please look at info under this forum, 260Z Power Steer

 

Cheers

 

Old Mate, Tim

[tattoo_ink]

thanks tim, that looks pretty easy, justseems like itd weaken the x member a fair bit, im not up for that ! i wanna build a "go kart" so i dont wana loose any strength there ! ok you got me on a mission now, if i find anythin where you dont have to do the axed x member thing ill let you know ! ta heaps - chris.