My 86 951 gets a nasty steering wheel oscillation, at speed. I recently had the car 4-wheel aligned, a new pair of turbo tie rods- and the steering still sux! I can turn the wheel lock-to-lock either way, and the steering wheel is 30 degrees off-center, gradually straightening out after a few feet. I suspect the rack is shot- yet there are no leaks. i know the car is ageing- but I cannot afford suspension parts right now. Anyone have this experience?

Zach

 

The rack should not get loose no matter what. Its a direct gear drive with power assist.

Your problem could be the steering rod that has the two U joints on it. Its what connects the rack to the steering wheel. The U joints are a known problem as the cars age. When they get loose you will see some noticeable slop in the steering wheel. You should be able to reach down and twist the rod by hand to see if there is any play in them.

The next thing to check would be your upper strut mounts. If they are worn out you could possibly see some oscillation at speed. Grab ahold of the strut/spring assembly and see if it has play at its connection to the upper fender.

After that look to the wheel bearings. Jack the car up so a front wheel is off the ground. Grab the tire and see if there is any play left to right when you wiggle it. If there is, take the wheel off and do the same to the rotor. See if it is moving free of the spindle behind it or if the whole spindle is moving with it. If it is indeed moving free of the spindle then you need to replace or tighten your wheel bearings.

If the spindle is moving with it and you have already replaced the tie rods then look to the ball joints. Remove the pinch bolt that holds the ball joint to the spindle and pry the pinch a little with a flat screw driver. The ball joint pin should slide out of the spindle downwards. Feel the ball joint with your hand and see if it feels loose or has noticeable slop in it. If it does then its time for a rebuild.

That should about cover the steps to find the loose suspension/steering component.

 

Travis,

You make the troubleshooting of the suspension seem simple. Thanx for the great advice!


Zach

 

My 951 has a similar problem, shimmys sometimes, bumps make it worst. Doesn't do it all the time, may be temperature related. My right strut leaks oil and it is my first suspect.

 

The balljoint replacement isn't very hard either now that bushing kits are available, so don't go right out and purchase an entire A-Arm/Balljoint...if you call around you may find already rebuilt A-Arms (with the bushing kits installed) if you do not want to replace the bushings yourself...it isn't very hard though.

 

Be weary of "rebuilt" arms on the market. Most of them have had the ball joint pocket machined out to fit an aftermarket ball joint assembly. When rebuilders do this they make the arms non-rebuildable from that point on.
Go with a kit and do it to OEM spec or else inquire with the rebuilders as to which method they use before choosing which direction to take.

 

Hey travis how goes it! I was trying to remember rennbay.com in my post, but as it has been a long time since I was last active on the list (or had a P-Car it seems) I've since forgotten most of who I knew on here. The kits Travis offers are great, and yes I forgot to mention...beware of some remanufactured control arms as they do use a different method with a different size of ball pin. They insert a sleeve into the control arm and it makes it pretty much impossible to rebuild them on your own afterwards with Travis' bushings!