I know this has been discussed before but i can't seem to find the post. I have a 96 nissan maxima and my steering feels to loose and i've already replaced lower control arms, bushing, sway bar links, sway bar bushings struts and axels but its still feels loose. Ive read somewhere here on maxima.org that someone put a 99 maxima SE rack and pinion and it feels so much better. I they really 2 different rack and pinions and does it bolt right up or are any modifications neede? Anyone that has done this swap please shine some light. thanks

 

have you checked your tierods?

 

1. the racks when purchased aftermarket are the same for all 4th gens.
2. as eFLO pointed out, check your inner and outer rie rods.

 

stock form, maximas have a very loose feel of the steering. it feels very light.

 

both inner and outter tie rods have been replaced

 

When your steering rack goes out, I would assume the steering gets much harder, not lighter or looser.

 

^man i thought it got loose over time but i could be wrong. I just was curious to see if anyone had installed a 99 se rack n pinion onto their 96 and if made a difference

 

man have i felt the same about our steerings, i did a read on it before, and got out that if we hate the steering feel, then o well, we got the wrong car, its not gonna feel like a honda steering or bmw steering. Some others have said to pinch the power steering a bit to make it stiffer, but i dunno bout any side effects with that, or even if that will improve steering reponse and accuracy as other cars have.

 

Easiest way to do it is to replace the steering wheel with a 180sx steering wheel or any smaller steering wheel. It looks similar to the 97-99 steering, better imo. Because its a smaller diameter steering wheel it feels firmer than the stock bus sized steering wheel.

 

i replaced all my bushings to energy suspension, anything i could get for the 4th gen. If you replace each part one at a time, it doesn't make a significant difference, but all together the suspension and steering play you feel is eliminated. i also replaced my steering rack with all the bushings...

 

have you had the alignment done? that usually tightens up the steering. i put a 97-99 SE rack in my 96SE and I didn't feel a big difference.

 

I just had an alignment done and it made everything with the steering much better.

 

+1 for ES bushings. LCA, swaybar/endlinks should tighten things up for cheap. A good suspension setup makes a huge difference too. On a 99 with an ES front end, I recently switched from a dropped setup to the stock setup for winter, and there is significantly more play riding the stock setup even with the bushings. Tire pressure and tire width will also affect steering responsiveness.

 

Check your steering rack bushings. Leaking power steering fluid riuned mine and caused the rack to move left to right while steering and caused major slop in the wheel.

 

It's more then just the rack that gives the 99's a tighter feel.

 

i would think that a worn steering rack would make the steering feel even more loose