pyroman
Member
I've been trying to track down the source of slop in the steering wheel and can't seem to get to the bottom of it.
So here's the backstory of what all I have done to the car (relative to steering) since purchasing it last October with ~115K miles:
1) Replaced drivers' side outer CV boot due to recent tear.
2) Replaced L/R tie rod assemblies.
3) Replaced 15" steelies with 17" Porto's
Between repair #1 and #2, I ran into a curb in the parking lot at work, slow speed about 5-10 MPH. Steering wheel was still straight but I did bend the passenger steel wheel.
After the curbing, I noticed some slop in the on-center position of steering wheel and it got progressively worse. There was about 5 degrees of play in either direction. On a few occasions, I heard a clunking noise while backing out of the driveway.
After replacing the TRA's the slop was reduced to about 2-3 degrees in either direction and the clunking seems to have gone away. So I've checked for any other damaged/worn suspension/steering components and can't see anything apparent and no movement of parts.
The steering rack bolts are tight. I inspected the steering column u-joint and where it connects to the steering rack - nothing obvious. I can move the steering wheel back and forth (within the slop "window") and can see the equivalent rotation in the column and at the rack, but no movement of the wheels until the slop is taken up.
What gives, did I damage the rack internally somehow? Is there an adjustment for rack tension?
BTW, the rack was dry, as in no leaks and the inner tie rods looked decent with some minor rusting, but that's all. The outers were shot.
So here's the backstory of what all I have done to the car (relative to steering) since purchasing it last October with ~115K miles:
1) Replaced drivers' side outer CV boot due to recent tear.
2) Replaced L/R tie rod assemblies.
3) Replaced 15" steelies with 17" Porto's
Between repair #1 and #2, I ran into a curb in the parking lot at work, slow speed about 5-10 MPH. Steering wheel was still straight but I did bend the passenger steel wheel.
After the curbing, I noticed some slop in the on-center position of steering wheel and it got progressively worse. There was about 5 degrees of play in either direction. On a few occasions, I heard a clunking noise while backing out of the driveway.
After replacing the TRA's the slop was reduced to about 2-3 degrees in either direction and the clunking seems to have gone away. So I've checked for any other damaged/worn suspension/steering components and can't see anything apparent and no movement of parts.
The steering rack bolts are tight. I inspected the steering column u-joint and where it connects to the steering rack - nothing obvious. I can move the steering wheel back and forth (within the slop "window") and can see the equivalent rotation in the column and at the rack, but no movement of the wheels until the slop is taken up.
What gives, did I damage the rack internally somehow? Is there an adjustment for rack tension?
BTW, the rack was dry, as in no leaks and the inner tie rods looked decent with some minor rusting, but that's all. The outers were shot.