Thanks!
That's what I was imagining was happening in there.

 

Harry, this was one of the things I didn't follow up on well in my discussion.

By placing the washers, you keep the torsion bar from moving at all, which is why they take out "slop". There isn't even a small amount of movement in the steering wheel that isn't transferred to the pinion. There should be a direct transfer of torque though the locked spools via the rollpins in the torsion bar.

The rollpins are probably the weak link near as I can tell. So you have to ask how they compare with the shear strength of a weld? I don't know.

 

Just came across this thread in my search of what to do about my leaking p/s rack.

This mod looks excellent.

Has anyone done it on a RHD rack? The input shaft is different and I can't find any pictures that show whether it has the same two spots as the LHD rack to place the washer shims.

 

I did this to mine last year. Can others tell me is there supposed to be a 1/2" or so lightness to steering when stopped?

What I mean by this is say I'm parked. I can move the SW back and forth without resistance but if I look at the wheels I can see that they are moving with the steering wheel. This is completely unnoticeable when moving. It's always been like this and I thought maybe the half shaft was worn but I wouldn't think the wheels would move at all if that was the case.

 

Unless you place the washers under the T bar on the rack to lock the spools, there will be play in the rack.

 

I did put the washers in so it's not that. I'll be working on it soon to really investigate.

 

Any results to report? I'm about to install mine so anything you've discovered would be useful.

 

I'm just now getting ready to install this mod and I wanted to make a note here. My experience has been that "silky smooth" depends on how much torque is put on the three bolts at the top of the pinion housing. The WSM calls for 7 ft. lbs. but if you torque it that far on mine, it drags and you can't use just two fingers to turn it.

I backed off the bolts until I could get a smooth turn with two fingers and it seems like about 5 ft. lbs. I put blue thread locker on the bolts and torqued them to that point, no further.

I don't know if this is what Porsche intended, but it seems to work? Could well be my torque wrench is out of calibration.

 

Turns out my torque wrench was in fact out of calibration. The correct setting is 7 ft. lbs. and you can verify that as suggested; you should be able to turn the spline shaft with two fingers when those bolts are correctly torqued.

CORRECTION: The torque wrench was fine, the setting is 7 n/m not 7 ft/lbs. It felt like 5 ft/lbs was right because it is right (smacks forehead with palm).

 

I de powered my rack in my old Miata, but welded that valve up instead of washers, has any one done this with the 944 rack? I like the idea of a weld vs washers.

 

Yes, there's a guy in Colorado, I think he calls himself "The Machine Shop", who makes this modification using a weld instead of washers. My understanding is he welds the roll pins to the pinion shaft and removes the spools completely, but I've never seen one of the racks in person.

See: http://mwthemachineshop.com/944-power-rack

 

Resurrecting an old thread here I know. I am depowering my rack, and got all the plugs from belmetric. They had everything I needed.

I was hoping I could get some dimensions on the spacers that XSChop put in the place of the spool valve springs. Some detailed/close up pictures would great too. I'll try to get some pictures up here with my rack shortly since all the photobucket images are broken.

 

I'm not sure I understand the reference to the spacers XSChop used on the spool valve springs? The milled brass spacers used seem to replace the banjo style hydraulic lines, allowing re-use of the original bolts instead of using Zerk syle fitings to plug the holes.

The spools are locked by placing stacked washers under the "T-bar" that covers the spools as I recall. I just bought an assortment of thin stainless washers and stacked them until they were very slightly proud of the hole the T-bar covers, locking the spools in place an preventing play in the torsion rod that drives the pinion gear.

The alternative to this approach is to have the part welded in some fashion that apparently does the same thing mechanically, that's the method used by "The Machine Shop" mentioned above I believe. I don't have the details for it.

 

I suppose I should update this thread with my experience now I've had this mod installed awhile.

Of course, the steering is heavy once the rack is de-powered, but it's only noticeable when the car is stopped or moving only a few mph. Once the car is rolling at a walking pace or faster, the steering is very manageable.

It feels noticeably better to me than the power steering I'm used to in my 928, which is a real compliment since I'm very happy with the steering in the 928. I can feel every bump, patch and divot. I can feel changes in road texture from smooth to grooved, aggregate tarmac to concrete. I have to say it's a great improvement in my opinion and it doesn't leak.

Since installing this mod, I was able to source a used factory manual rack for the car but I haven't installed it since its a low priority right now. When I do I'll post my opinions on the difference between the two solutions.