82-T/A

Hey guys,

I'm really moving along now and the car is all back together. The interior is finished. The motor runs smooth, I can get in the car, turn the key, it'll start on the first try, and I can go for a drive without having to do anything abnormal.

On my first few shake-down runs, I've noticed that the steering is shot. When I go above 40 miles an hour, the steering wheel tends to shake about 1-2 inches back and forth. Not side to side of course, but 1-2 inches in rotation. Anyway, it'll do thos back and forth rather violently. The car still stays rather true to the road, but does seem to shake a little bit.

I had these same symptoms with my 1973 Volkswagen Bus, and I solved the problem by replacing the inner and outter tie rod ends as well as the steering dampner.

I noticed on my 84 Porsche 944 NA, that there is no steering damper, or... it's missing and someone took it off. The tie rods look nasty, but they don't necessarily appear to be bad. Did the 944 originally come with a steering dampner? (I'd imagine it would).

If I was to replace these tie rods, do I need to spend a lot of money or are they all of rather decent quality. To be completely honest, I won't be putting this car on a track, I'll just be driving it around from time to time. Not that I want something that's crap, but I would rather buy a Federal Mogul than an OEM Porsche if you know what I mean.


Thanks!!!

Airflite40

I don't even know what a steering dampner is, so I don't think a 944 has one.

And tie rod ends are tie rod ends, so just get OEM ones or these should be better than what you got on there...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-P...spagenameZWD1V

I would get an alignment probably as well or one of you wheels could be severly out of balance

Yabo

no steering damper on a sports car, thats more on SUV's that have larger wheels and you want to not feel vibrations/pulls from the surface you are on.

lvkid76

It is probably just a tire going bad. Depending on how long it sat for. if the tires have flat spots in them. you wont be able to tell by looking at it. But my guess its a tire failing. just replace my 2 front tires and fixed mine. Common in cars that sit without moving for awhile. On my 68 camaro that sits in the garage or my drag car we put them on jackstands so the tires dont sit with all the weight on them. TYP practice...

82-T/A

Thanks guys, the tires are pretty new, so I don't think it's that. They have 90% of their tread left and show no signs of cracking anywhere or rot. I'm just guessing that my steering rack is pretty much just shot.

Most car models usually have a steering damper. All it is is a small shock absorber that helps to soften the shock of hitting potholes and other road imperfections so it doesn't transmit those vibrations back to the steering wheel. My Pontiac Fiero has one, as does my Solstice, and I know Corvettes come with them, as do most foreign sports cars. I'm rather surprised that the 944 doesn't have one. It's not something that detracts from making the driver one with the road, but more of a safety and stability thing.

In any case though, thanks for the link! I had no idea it shared parts with the Rabbit! This is pretty cheap. But it also means I should be able to buy them off Rock Auto for half that.

I'll buy Febi, but I've never been a big fan of Mayle.


Thanks!

Spidey944

+1 on the tires. Depending on how long it sat, the tires may just be flat-spotted. Sometimes it will work itself out ofter some miles get put on them, other times it's always there. My car did this when i first bought it because it sat for nearly 2 years not running. If the shaking is VERY violent, I'd say you have a busted belt in a tire.

If you can get on your back and grab the tie rods and give them a good violent shake back and forth/up and down. Check for movement!!

88BlueTSiQuest

If you are absolutely sure the tires are good. Pay attention to the rims themselves when on the balance machine.

What wheels do you have on this car?

The quickest, easiest tire check, is to jack up the front of the car, and give a wheel a good fast spin. Watch for a low spot in the tire, or even a 'wobble' in the rim. My '83 has sat so long the tires are flat spotted, and can be easily spotted when spinning the wheel on the car.

Spidey944

Not to hijack, but does keeping 40psi in the tires REALY help keep them from flatspotting?? I move my car at least once every week or too when not being driven, and have always been curious if this is just an urban legend or fact.....

Randy V

You should get the wheels balanced first before doing anything else to see if that fixes the problems.

AKCJ

I've had to fight the steering wheel shake on this car and others.
- wheel balance
- wheel bent
- bad tire
- alignment
- rod ends or links
- ball joints

After awhile it's sometimes best to take it to a pro who has the experience to spot the problem. It may be cheaper to pay someone to fix it than to wear out the front end.

Post whatever you figure out.

88BlueTSiQuest

I'd bet it's an urban legend. It's possible that over inflating the tires would just make the flat spotting become more of a cup though.

From what I've read it has something to do with the nylon taking on the new shape of the tire as it sits in place.

Lesson learned.... Put the car on jackstands when stored for prolong periods of time. Besides, it'll be easier on the suspension and bearings if the weight is removed.

JimBob951

My 951 is doing this very badly, though somewhat intermittent. Starts at about 30, seems worse around bends, sometimes it goes away. Seems to get better above 60. Swapped wheels and tires from my 928 still there. I did try to rock the wheel back and forth holding it at 6 and 12 o'clock positions, and there does seem to be some play. Tightened the wheel bearings, but hasn't helped. Tie rods? When I rocked the wheel back and forth, the whole assembly moved, including the tie rod back to the rack. Any ideas?

JimBob

Spidey944

Sounds like tie rods in your case JimBob, either that or VERY bad lower ball joints.

AR10

Steering wheel shake is almost always caused by wheel/tire balance problems.

JimBob951

Yeah, that was the first thing I checked by swapping another set of wheels tires from my other car.. Same thing, no change.

JimBob