Steering effort, FmDepower vs Line loop
 

Pulled my ps pump, got as much fluid out of the rack as possible. I feel that effort is higher on my car than what most describe.

How much of a difference in effort does removing the seals the FM way make over just line looping.

My caster is at 4.3 would bumping it down to 3.4 - 3.5 make a good difference? I also think maybe the rack preload may need adjustment

Pull the piston in the rack and weld the in shaft. Much better. Done almost all ways. Pull piston/FM depower. Not as hard as though. Would prefer the welded in shaft. Have one of each and the welded one is way better.

Did you drive on a line looped depower before doing the fm depower?

If people say the fm depower and droping the caster to 3.5 doesnt help with effort much i might consider just leaving my rack alone and putting the PS back in :/

Yes, I did line loop and then drank a Can-O-Man and depowered the rack FM style. It's better. My daily is FM depower, - piston, and fine. Bit of slop due to not welded awesome sause, but the '99 I have is and noticeably better.

I dd a line looped 2001 with 4.5ish caster and it's fine for me...and I'm hardly a big guy.

I daily drove on rs3s for half a year which was noticeably harder at low speeds than the street tires I'm on now but neither was very hard. If you don't like it now, you never will. Either lift some weights or go back

My wife drives my NA that's depowered and doesn't complain. Although she handles my monstrous* manhood, so maybe that helps.





*less than impressive

Im thinking ill go back to PS, super pissed at myself for cutting the hardlines now, someone pm me if you have ps rack hardlines for a 95 you would sale

I'm with spitefulcheerio, if you don't like it now I don't think you're going to like it. I went from a line looped car to a manual rack car and I was surprised how little difference there was between the two.

Having to use 2 hands to turn the wheel when making a turn through an insection at 20mph seems excessive to me. Is this really how tough its supppsed to be or do i need to bump my caster down to 3 (currently its 4.3) and adjust the rack preload

Having to use 2 hands at 20mph does seam way excessive. I know with my FM depowered when going less then 5mph I sometimes need 2 hands, otherwise all it takes is a little effort with one. Saying that I have no clue what my caster is currently at.

Sounds like you done fucked something up, or you're a 70lb waifu in a cute little skirt.

I can one hand intersections in my improperly-depowered daily driver. 2600lb FWD nose heavy monster with 245 width 180tw tires. I didn't gut the rack, just removed the pump and cut some lines. I'm fighting all the seals, whatever dirt and crap is still in there, and a LOT more weight than you are.

Not a problem.

Oh, and i'm a small dude.

make sure you looped the right lines. I looped the wrong lines the first time and ended up with a very spongy feel and a lot more effort.

No one likes to admit that mistake, but I find that a few people have done that.

With that said, its the two lines on the rack itself, not on the pinion. (and not one on the rack and one on the pinion either)

I have ran with looped lines and the cut seals. There was a slight difference, but not significant. Welding the rack is also suggested, I have a very slight slop when stopped. Not noticeable at speed though.

Lines are looped correctly. Used FMs diagram when I looped them.

Its not a strength issue here im 6ft 260lbs and its not all fat lol

Are you running a 120mm steering wheel or something? (Not a typo)

330mm wheel

Would dropping caster 1deg from 4.3 to 3.3 make much of a difference in effort?

Sounds like you need a luxury car to me.

You should be able to go to a 245 or even 275 tire with 4-5 degrees caster with a depowered (and gutted) rack. The only real effort should be at parking lot speeds. If you are looking to whip into a parking place with two fingers while holding your non fat vanilla latte with your other hand, then I hold to my initial statement.

To be fair, the 275 hoosiers take about half the effort at parking lot speeds compared to the 225 street tires. ;)

Would dropping caster 1deg from 4.3 to 3.3 make much of a difference in effort?

I had adjusted rack pinion preload at one point a year ago. I dont remember it feeling like I added a bunch of resistance. Perhaps I overdid it and now that there is no PS anymore Im feeling it