403portside

Hi everyone,

My ‘87 Carrera Coupe with 73K is in amazing condition but based on its records, has never had any of the suspension components changed. It drives great overall, except that the steering wheel’s ‘resting’ position is about 5 degrees to the right of center. The car also tends to pull slightly to the right if I don’t correct it. It’s relatively stable at highway speeds but seems like it could be tighter w/r/t steering input. No up and down movement of the steering column, though.

Based on these symptoms, do you think it’s caused by worn tie rods? If so, I definitely plan to get turbo tie rods as a replacement. Also, I live in a downtown SF high rise so can’t put the car up on the rack to wiggle stuff I will take the car to my mechanic soon but was just curious to get everyone’s thoughts before I do.

thanks!

wildcat077

First thing to do is to get the car aligned ... if ther'es any issue with the steering components the technician will see it immediately !

stlrj

Alignment for sure. Asked my mechanic about going to turbo tie rods. His answer, don't waste your money.

Cheers,
Joe
87 Carrera

dr914

grab the wheel and move it ever so slightly and see if there is play. If so, follow the play down, and see if it is first the steering shaft universal at the firewall. The nut loosens causing play in the steering wheel, THEN you can look at the tie rods, inner and outer while an assistant just slightly moves the steering wheel within the play range (do not have to have it on the lift to see this) Finally if the steering wheel is slightly off and the car pulls to one side, you may have hit something knocking the toe adjustment off. We have installed many turbo tie rod kits for owners who want more precise steering, but for the driver, you may not like them as they make the steering more sensitive by losing the squish factor, which most drivers are more comfortable with having.

oldskewel

Turbo tie rods are the only thing on my '85 that are not stock. I put them on when the originals wore out. Many people like the improvement, so I'd definitely recommend the upgrade if replacement is needed anyway. At least.

Offset steering wheel and pull to one side definitely indicate a need for alignment. But there's a good chance you'll also find a suspension issue needing to be fixed, which will need another alignment when done. So maybe try to plan on that.

One other thought about things that go wrong, maybe even on your low mileage car, is that there is a plastic sleeve / bushing thing up near the steering wheel nut (the big nut that actually holds the steering wheel onto the steering column - visible if pulling off the horn pad. That plastic bushing commonly deteriorates over time, crumbles away, and allows some wobbly motion of the steering wheel. Note this has nothing to do with actual steering, just that the wheel moves as if the shaft is rattling around inside a hole vs. mounted on a bearing. Feels that way because that's how it is. Easy fixes can be found on this site. In case your mechanic re-centers the steering wheel as part of the alignment fix, this would be a good time to fix that problem too - probably by putting a new shim sleeve thing in.