i've never worked on the rack before. how do i get the rod ends off the actual rack?

my rack looks like this:



i want it to look like this:



does the big silver end just unscrew from the rack?

 

I thought you have to pull the motor to get the rack removed.

 

the first pic is my car. it would be impossible to get that pic with the motor in the bay.

 

Wrench on square part of big silver blob. Other wrench on smaller square section of inner tie rod. Turn in right direction. Profit.

But before you go there. Just drain all fluid, loop the lines and enjoy. All racks that failed where racks that were opened. If you have to ask a question like the above, I do not suggest you open your rack, nor put it back together. Do you understand torque to 5Nm, 3 times then back off 25* ?

 

no i dont understand the torque sequence, why dont you explain it to me?


the instructions on flyin miata's site seem straight foreward enough. i'm confident that i can get it done right. If it were to fail however, i'll buy a new rack and replace it, consider it a lesson learned.

 

Mine hasn't failed in over 4 years. I marked my adjustments and unscrewed it as spookyfish described, however I did get an alignment a day or two after. You can also take the tie rod ends out if you have the right tool, which I did not.

Just go very slowly while cutting the seal, you don't want to mar the shaft.

 

I really don't understand all the people doing all of this extra work OR complaining about hte results they get when they loop the lines. I'm a weak *** 130LB guy at 5'9 and I just dropped the PS pump, looped the lines (without doing anything special to remove an extra fluid from the system, etc...) and NEVER thought it was hard to turn the wheel, even when pushing the car around a garage under no power at all it seemed easy to me. Maybe I just did something SUPER DUPER right?

 

x2

 

sure it would be easier to loop the lines, but i have the motor out already. if i did loop the lines and hated the way it felt i'd kick myself later.

 

1. you don't need the motor out to take off the rack, I just did mine.
2. it does make a difference to do it properly.
3. flyin miata has a step by step instructions for this online, I dont have the link but it shouldn't be hard to find. I have a fancy torque that does angle but all the torque on that thing does is take up slack in the gear set it seems so set it just tight enough to have no slack and be done. to much torque will result in excessive wear and make it hard to turn your wheel.

 

Take a punch and hammer the square tab off the ends then break loose. Do you have a 95-97 rack? If you do the shaft has to be pressed out of the case. The pinion on the 95-97 doesn't have a joint to weld either so don't bother pressing it out. Be careful pressing out the inner shaft as the valve sealing it is backed by the piece you have to cut out. So press it close then find the perfect press tool to fit the outer shaft and continue. Just did this 3 days ago.

 

^nope my car is a 93

 

This is only slightly off topic but has anyone tried this?
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I wouldn't mind turning down the assist a fair bit but still have the P/S fitted.

 

You'd need speed-sensitive power steering in the first place to adjust it.

 

Mine is a 93 as well, follow the flyin miata instruction and you will be fine. Flyin' Miata : Tech: 1.8 conversion dont get stuck on page 2 go past it and it will give you a more descriptive brake down.

 

My bad

Looks like I'll be doing the depowering...

 

how are people who have done this plugging the holes left over? I found spec miata plugs but i'm not paying $20 for 2 bolts... anyone know the sizes?

the red plugs are doing it here... i've seen it before but cant find it again

 

The easy, cheap way to do it is to cut off about 1" of the line that goes into the port, put the flare nut back over the tube, smash the end of the tube shut and weld the end closed. That's what I have seen done and did on my Locost rack. It's not like the PS lines have any real resale value.

 

What he said, two ideas/instructions are included in FM's walk-through. Can't make it simpler than that. I think I found one or two bolts at the hardware store that fit, the rest I cut all but .5" off and smashed them over with a hammer. Doesn't need to seal, just keep dust out.

 

+1 I did the same as above except I did not even bother welding the ends. Your call.