Okay, so i've noticed that gt fieros have a different ratio steering rack than the rest.
the gt ratio feels less sensitive, and more stable at high speeds.
the coupe rack feels twitchy in town but have never been on the highway with it, would assume it would be extremely light.
does anyone else have a preference for application? I would say I'd want a coupe rack for parking lot, in town, technical driving, and a gt rack for racing, and highway cruising.
but what feels more comfortable to drive with? the coupe has the closer ratio (more turns, but easier to turn, feels more sensitive) and the GT's have the wider one (less turns, but harder to turn, feels less sensitive)
My 86 GT rack seems well matched to the car ,if the rack has the old stiff grease removed & is fresh re lubed AL87 you probably have a loose tie rod & need to replace & align with a light grease a Fiero is easy to steer,,if you over inflate the tires most women can easily drive the Fiero ,we are a spoiled people, demanding unneeded power steering, in small cars ..you can go down one tire size ,run 36 pounds in the Tires & it is as close to power steering as you can get !! You can clean the rack, then pack the rack with heavy grease & this will help you with the problem loose rack,if it is the rack the inner rods have to be tight,in good shape ,My 86 GT has different inner tie rods on each end,very strange!! but it works , I made it work..!#&@* If the old grease remains in your 20 year old Fiero,s rack,you are eventually going to have a problem
[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 01-24-2014).]
My 85 is a GT with an installed coupe rack. My front (and rear) suspension is Held (HT) with 2" lowering spindles, and running 16" rims with 225-55 skins. The coupe rack feels so much better (to me) with the setup over the GT rack. When the front was more stock, the racks (both new at the time) made no difference to me.
lol, they all all technically coupes (two-door car) but I don't know if he knew that when referring to a fiero that is a "coupe" its in reference to the 4cyl cars.
My 86 GT rack seems well matched to the car ,if the rack has the old stiff grease removed & is fresh re lubed AL87 you probably have a loose tie rod & need to replace & align with a light grease a Fiero is easy to steer,,if you over inflate the tires most women can easily drive the Fiero ,we are a spoiled people, demanding unneeded power steering, in small cars ..you can go down one tire size ,run 36 pounds in the Tires & it is as close to power steering as you can get !! You can clean the rack, then pack the rack with heavy grease & this will help you with the problem loose rack,if it is the rack the inner rods have to be tight,in good shape ,My 86 GT has different inner tie rods on each end,very strange!! but it works , I made it work..!#&@* If the old grease remains in your 20 year old Fiero,s rack,you are eventually going to have a problem
everything is alright with my car, I was seeing what the census of opinions were on preference. the feel of the coupe is lighter because the ratio is close, so you don't need as much force to turn it as the gt rack.
[This message has been edited by AL87 (edited 01-25-2014).]
everything is alright with my car, I was seeing what the census of opinions were on preference. the feel of the coupe is lighter because the ratio is close, so you don't need as much force to turn it as the gt rack.
I have read that the 'slower' ratio is 3.5 turns and the 'faster' ratio is 3.0 turns lock to lock...trying to remember where I read that....
correct. There were two ratios available, but I don't know which was standard on what model. My first 85GT had problems with the rack and a garage convinced me they weren't rebuildable because parts weren't available. This was in the mid 90's, long before the information superstore known as PFF. They installed the 3:1 ratio and the steering was a lot heavier, both at low speeds, and at road speeds.
As for fastback and notchback classifications, all my cars are listed as CP for Coupe because they're 2 passenger vehicles.
I just checked the parts book and in 84 there were two racks. One for the WS6 and one for non-WS6. 85 and 86 had the same rack available as the 84 with WS6. 86 also had a second rack available. This might have been what came out on the late year fastback. It looks like the RPO Code is P37. P37 seemed to be a mystery code during the 80's. It was present on some Monte Carlos, Firebirds, Camros and other cars, but according to other GM forums, they could never define it's meaning. As evidenced by the following list, the P series codes are all assigned to wheels, hubcaps, tires, lug nuts and wheel related items. P37 is absent.
