So I have a 95 Legacy Brighton Wagon and a 96 Legacy GT Wagon, and I've noticed that the GT's steering is quite a bit heavier than the Brighton's. My fiancé is the one who normally drives the GT, and she hates how heavy the steering is. If I could make the GT's steering as light as the brighton's she would be happy. The question is what is making that difference? Is it the pump or the rack?

 

Keith

Probably the rack, but its cheaper to swap pumps first to see if its the pump. It can also be the ries that make the GT heavier, especially if it has larger and fatter tires.

 

nipper

Another easy/quick thing you could try is a little Auto-RX in the steering fluid. If you're not an additive person maybe you don't want to try it. I put an ounce in my '96 and it must have freed something up because ever since the steering has been much easier to turn than it used to be.

Probably the rack, but its cheaper to swap pumps first to see if its the pump. It can also be the ries that make the GT heavier, especially if it has larger and fatter tires.

 

nipper

 

Defenitely not the tires. The GT runs 195/60R15 stock size tires, and the Brighton is running 205/70R15s from an outback. I think I'll just try swapping the pumps between the two cars first.

Defenitely not the tires. The GT runs 195/60R15 stock size tires, and the Brighton is running 205/70R15s from an outback. I think I'll just try swapping the pumps between the two cars first.

How about lower balljoints? I have had them freeze enough to make steering many times heavier, though not on a Subie.

 

WIth wheels in the air it may be easier to tell, but then the balljoints are at a different angle and unweighted.

How about lower balljoints? I have had them freeze enough to make steering many times heavier, though not on a Subie.

 

WIth wheels in the air it may be easier to tell, but then the balljoints are at a different angle and unweighted.

 

Just a hunch here, but I suspect that the GT's steering is _supposed _to be heavier... i.e. it has more "sporty" suspension tuning and people who like that generally prefer less steering boost.

Rather than physically swapping rack & pump, why not do some part number research first? If both cars use the same p/n pump, then you know the difference has to be the rack.

 

Good luck!

Nathan

The steering coupler, which is the 2 u-joints that connect the steering rack and the steering column can start to seize. In my mothers 98 outback, it made the steering stiffer than normal and the biggest symptom was that the car would stay steered in a circle if you made slow circles in a flat parking lot. If you put the steering at full lock, you could idle the car in a circle without touching the wheel.

 

The coupler is around a hundered bucks. I tried finding one in a junkyard, but it was seized too.

 

It's fairly easy to take off, 2 10mm bolts, then you spread the clamps a bit and slide it up the column and off the rack splines, then down off the column splines. You can't really tell it's seized till you take it off.