spode134

Since buying my 85 928s 8 mos. ago I have replaced upper and lower front suspension bushings, rack bushings, adjusted wheel bearings,and had it aligned to spec. I have also installed Bilstein/Eibachs and set the ride height to posted recommendations. Every thing has been checked to the best of my ability and I still have a persistent looseness in the front that shows up as wander over uneven surfaces, eg. frost heaves, crown in the road. Another example, I pull up to a traffic light and the steering will be pulling to one side like a dragging caliper would.
Smooth surfaces are OK but there seems to be just the smallest amount of play on center with the steering wheel
All thats left to replace by elimination is the steering rack and the ball joints.
Which one?

Darrin
85 928s 5 speed
171,000km's
No accidents/damage.

ErnestSw

Have you replaced your tires?

MikeN

Have you checked/replaced the tie rod ends??
Also what tire brand/model you running?

I have owned three 928's in the past and all of them were affected by bad pavement in some form or another. They have a very wide track that lends itself to this behavior, but other factors can make it worse.

Mark

spode -

I'm with Ernest on this. I had the same thing - it was the tires!

If you search the archives...you will find several posts on this. Some tires are more apt to do this then others. It is some scary **** when the car suddenly veers off one way or the other...especially with some big trucks beside you!!

I have had this with 2 diff tire brands/models...
The Goodyear GS-C's that came on my car - CURED with the Yoke EVS-100's on some S4 wheels.
Had it again when I bought my 992 17" wheels - P-Zero's...Again - CURED with the Yokes.

spode134

Tires on the car are Bridgestone RE730 255/40-17,225/45-17. The fronts are worn to the shoulder on the inside from alignment/worn parts since replaced. Alignment guy said wear on inside won,t give symptoms described?
It just feels to me like an old Chevy 2 i had that ended up just needing the lower control bushing replaced...kind of whips when you change lanes.
I have sunk a pile of money {most of it well spent!} into this car and I know I can get it better! On a smooth road the car is on rails but at tripple digit speeds it's a little too nervous for my liking.
Just kind of wanted some feedback from guys that have replaced the steering rack and what it did for the handling
Darrin.
85 928s
1st gen RX-7 IT class racecar
..its no Porsche but it's cheap speed.

Mark

Darrin -

Since your fronts are already "worn to the shoulder" - go ahead and replace them! (It's the fronts that cause this 'wander')
Depending on the tire you choose - I'd bet that your wander will disappear!

Russell82

For what its worth, I was astounded at what mine felt like when she was out of alignment for 50 miles or so, settling the suspension after replacing the aluminum with updated steel ball joints. Only a few degrees out, but she felt like a piece of junk, totally lacking that solid, glued to the road feel that we've all come to know and love. Half hour on the computer alignment rack, no lifting, and she's a monster again, awesome stability at all but the slowest speeds, where she's likely to follow tractor trailer ruts in the road a bit at stoplights. With all you've done, and the tire wear, might be worth double checking alignment, hope for a simple fix,
Good luck
RAS

Randy V

Like Russell, I'd also guess improper alignment due to lifting the car during sensor calibration, resulting in inner tire wear, further deteriorating the handling characteristics.

Unfortunate that this is all too common.

Erik - Denmark

Darrin,
All 928 have a tendency 'to wander' (as you call it)- I call it Bump-Steer <img border="0" alt="[icon501]" title="" src="graemlins/icon501.gif" /> - and this get worse if:
1. Not proper alignment (The car has most properly been lifted in connection with the alignment job)
2. The car is lowered - Has to be adjusted to factory specifications
3. Bad ball bearings (hard to check, for the A-arm shall be in normal position when you check)
4. The rubber bushes in the steering rack - These gets soft and result in weak steering properties (Should never have been placed there <img border="0" alt="[icon501]" title="" src="graemlins/icon501.gif" /> )
5. You said you changed A-arm bushes, tie rods etcetera, but check that all again

See also the following discussion:
<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=004310#000000" target="_blank">http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=004310#000000</a>

Good luck with your project! <img border="0" alt="[byebye]" title="" src="graemlins/wave.gif" />

tresamore

My 85 wandered terribly when I first got it. It was sitting really low in the front but it was aligned at that height by the PO. I corrected the ride height and realigned it and the wandering went away.

Richard928

Hello Darrin,

I read you are using 17" wheels, maybe Porsche Cup? These have offsets of 55mm instead of the original 65mm. This also affects the stability considerably.

Richard

Earl Gillstrom

All of the previous posts are correct. There are many things that can cause your problem. Improper
alignment causing no toe-in or toe-out that causes worn tires on the inside is a major contributer. Go to my web site and read why 928s are different and check the shop that is doing the alignment. I bet they "know how" to do it after lifting. NOT!!!
<a href="http://members.rennlist.com/captearlg" target="_blank">http://members.rennlist.com/captearlg</a>

elemental

&gt;Just kind of wanted some feedback from guys that have replaced the steering rack and what it did for the handling

I've just done this 2 months back and although I did it because there was
1) play when rocking the F wheels on a horizontal plane while jacked
2) around dead centre the steering felt 'loose' somehow
3) braking had the car wandering around, or at least, had the steering wheel moving about, but normally around this dead centre 'play'

Tie rod ends/ steering rack replacement has solved all of the above but the steering wheel still wants to wander a little when there is a big camber or a crown. Otheriwse the accuracy of the steering has of course improved and the dead ahead feel from the wheel has tightened up considerably.

DaveP UK

Has anyone replaced the plastic rack guide block which wears as described on Greg Nichols site? This can cause the steering play. See:

<a href="http://www.nichols.nu/tip050.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nichols.nu/tip050.htm</a>

I have this problem on my S4. No play in the inner/outer joints and no rack leaks. Just a tiny amount of play in the rack. Here in the UK, one of our enthusiasts got hold of a few ZF repair kits which contained the guide block. Are these readily available in the US?

Agree with the other posts that tyres and incorrect ride heights can also give these symptoms.

Dave '90 S4