how to make steering more responsive?

[kornphlake]

JCH13 beat me to it, I was going to suggest a bit of toe out on your next alignment.

 

[soccerballtux]

fluids do not compress dude. The play is just the steering ratio set by your steering rack. You might be able to find a quicker rack, but your car will feel like a go-cart. Swat at a mosquitoe and end up on the wrong side of the road :lol:

technically speaking you're right, but as the fluids age they pick up particulates from the tubing which do compress, or, in the case of the Toyotas, there is no cooler for the power steering fluid and under the extreme heat the fluid oxidizes, introducing non-compression-less byproducts. This is one of the several reasons a complete flush is factory-recommended every XXXXX miles.
This is why your brakes can still develop a spongy-ish feel to them even if you have steel braided lines. Although I might be wrong about this last bit, I would hope the braided lines wouldn't be decomposing bit by bit like the rubber ones...

 

[soccerballtux]

faster ratio rack at this point. if you have a nice set of tires and i know your suspension has been upgraded. only thing to improve response is a quicker ratio steering rack.

I see what you mean. I changed the fluids and steering is more precise and there's definitely less of a "loose" feel to it which is better, but I think 3 things need fixing,
as you say the faster rack would be a nice improvement,
also when I'm driving there's a delay between when I steer the wheel and when the wheels turn, it's like fixed lag between when you give input and when you get a response,
and finally it's like the ratio is non-linear but progressively gets steeper-- 25 degrees turn to left from the center turns the wheels, say, 5 degrees to the left, but the next 25 degrees after that turn the wheels perhaps 10 degrees. Then it's consistent-- the next 25 after that would be another 10 degrees to the wheel. This is very annoying because it takes a significant turn of the wheel to begin turning anywhere.
Actually all of this is very annoying. The rack being slow is less annoying. But the steering lag is not nice at all. Off to buy a BMW.

 

[soccerballtux]

Your quest for BMW steering may be impossible without some serious work because BMW has been known to use a variable ratio steering rack. That is to say the steering ratio changes with vehicle speed, not just the steering effort. MAGIC. I do not know if your friend's BMW has this or not, but it certainly makes steering feel telepathic.

wow that's interesting. drat

 

[Rifter]

Well you can:

Go with heim joint tie rods if possible
Go with a solid steering shaft(rag joints sucks for responsive steering)
Go with low pro tires at high pressure.
Go with a higher ratio rack or a variable ratio rack.
Toe out a few degrees
Stiffen up front spring rates.


Thats about all i can think of. Bottom line though its probably never going to be a BMW.

 

[soccerballtux]

Go with a solid steering shaft(rag joints sucks for responsive steering)

I think this would be a big improvement, is this what this guy is modding here? http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_arti...sa-part-5--de-powering-the-steering-rack.aspx
Does this mean doing this myself, or buying one? I can't find any replacements/alternatives to buy online, maybe I'm not searching right....

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I found a good book for you to buy Tux

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/091...R&tag=at055-20

 

[Howard]

I think this would be a big improvement, is this what this guy is modding here? http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_arti...sa-part-5--de-powering-the-steering-rack.aspx
Does this mean doing this myself, or buying one? I can't find any replacements/alternatives to buy online, maybe I'm not searching right....

No. If you knew how to read you'd see that he was removing the power steering from a powered rack.