Pinning input shaft for steering depower
 

Took a shaft over to John at Hytech last week for the usual stitch weld. He had not done one for us in many years. He suggested pinning it instead. Better not to weld if you can avoid it.
Welding can distort the shaft so it doesn't spin freely once installed. Took a special carbide bit to cut a clean hole for the 5/32" pin.

For those of you that don't understand what this is about, part of a proper depower, besides removing the piston on the rack itself, is coupling the two halves of the input shaft. In the photo you can see the upper shaft going inside the hollow lower shaft.
There is a flat spring inside there that allows the inner and outer to move independently a few degrees. That's how power steering works. It's a stiff spring so you might not realize they move unless you clamp one end in a vise and twist the other with pliers.

Edit: One of our pinned racks broke its pin. So we stopped using this method and have gone back to welding. Welding is a proven solution but requires an expert welder.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...35f608982c.jpg

sweet.

just one pin does it? or do they do two?

Cool, 1 year too late. And cheaper than welding. :(

If I ever do it again... thanks!

I'm going to have to get in on this!

Do it Bryan, you won't regret it.

The more I research it, the more I like the idea. Already snagged one of the unicorn PS delete pulleys so I can keep AC (HUGELY regretted having it pulled when I had my last Miata professionally depowered).

Doing homework on this, I'm amazed at the difference in steering racks between model years. Shouldn't be shocked, but there they are.

Please do share. Within NA chassis or are you comparing NA vs NB vs etc.?

I've had a 97 and a 2002, and I was amazed at the little differences (positions of hard lines, arrangement of internal seals, etc) despite the rack retaining its same basic geometry, size, and location. Heck, even the NB1 and NB2 subframes are different, as I found.

Any ideas what could cause this play? This pinion was originally purchased pinned.

Pin broke. We switched back to welding after one of our pins broke. Back to square one.

Just saw the edit on your first post! So, I hope my video will help other people know about the issue.

Thread is closed. Check the edit for info from Emilio on why this is a bad idea.