Hi All,

It's been a while since haunted the 928 forum halls.

A couple hundred miles ago, I had a wheel alignment done.

When I took my car in for alignment, I told the tech the steering felt a bit vague. Meaning i could feel the front end wandering a bit. It also tracked groves in the pavement.

When I got the car back, the tech told me there was about an inch of play in the steering rack that needed to be adjusted. Adjusted? Haven't heard of that on the 928, but you're the expert.

Not to long after the shaking started. When I let my foot off the gas, the front end would shimmy. That turned into a violent teeth loosened; especially if I applied the brakes. I parked the car until I could dig into it.

I dug into it.

I found the culprit to be the steering rack bolts on both sides. With the wheels off, when I move the rotor back and forth, the rack moves quite a bit. Yikes!

As you can see by the pictures, there is a definite gap and the belly pan has been bent. The friggin' steering rack is loose at both ends.

The shop I took it to is known for their front end knowledge and custom work. Shouldn't they have caught this?

Is there any reason to loosen the steering rack during the alignment procedure?

Another throught is that I went to slightly larger wheels and tires in the front and rear just before the alignment. I know that if there is any issue, the added stresses of going to a larger wheel size can cause problems to appear more quickly.

Cheers,
John Fagerlund
'89GT

 

Let me see, the actual bolts holding the rack were loose? Were the bushings in good shape? Damn either way, and yes, they should have noticed this.

 

Yep, the two 17mm bolts are loose at both ends as shown. The bushings may have been in good shape prior the the shaking. But, now I believe they are questionable; need replacing.

Remind me why I do my own work.

Cheers,
-j

 

I had the SAME problem. Loose bolt caused high speed shake plus I could hear a POP sound when stopping or turning from a stop. Weird the 2 were the same problem. Mine was aligned 3 times and the front tires are toast after 4k miles....my toe out was off by almost 3/8"....This IS WHY we do our own work!

 

Yes.
No.

However, toplock nuts like those that hold the rack up (and are used on the front swaybar, balljoints, etc.) are one-use. They should be replaced any time they are removed. Someone who didn't know this must have removed those nuts at some point in the past.

 

remove the belly pan and straighten it replace all 4 of the rack bushings ( to remove the rack will require that the 2 lines are removed and the 4 sealing washers replaced as well as the 5- 13mm bolts and the 4- 17mm bolts)and check the inner and outer tie rods replace the rack boots if they are torn

 

Just a question before I start pulling it appart:

Since the rest of the steering rack appears to be in good shape (no leaks or torn boots) can the bushings be repaced with the rack on the car?

Rack is off and straightened. I'll order new bushings and tear into it.

Thanks,

 

It sounds like rack bushings to me.....but its just about the same work to change the bushings as the whole rack......then you might as well change the tie rods too..... you know how it is

 

Nope, it has to come off. Some have had luck folding up the edges of the bushing with a hammer and chisel and pushing it through. I run an 1/8' drill bit through the rubber all the way around, rip out the center spacer with channellocks, then rip out the outer part of the bushing(folding it inward) with channellocks. Takes a couple minutes per bushing.

If you just separate the tie rod ends at the ball joint, you shouldn't need an alignment after doing this. Well, you wouldn't if the alignment had been done properly in the first place. BTW, the solid bushings sold by 928motorsports.com really tihten up the feel compared to rubber bushings. In your case anything would be an improvement.

 

Negative ghost rider, that pattern is full.

You do not have to take the rack off to get the bushings out.

You can use an air hammer with a chisel end and fold up two ends of the bushing, then pull it out with pliers. Insert new ones with a dead blow hammer and you are golden. You won't have to take the rack out. It's quick and easy if you have access to air tools.

 

Sean, you are referring to doing this with the rack hanging down by the tie rod ends, right? I can visualize the method you are talking about, but I wasn't assuming John had an air chisel.

Reminder to self... when asked what it takes to do a job, ask the poster for an inventory of their shop equipment.

 

Air chisel I have, huevos for rippin' into it in place I have. But, if pulling the rack isn't a big deal and will make the task easier, I'll drop it.

Is a pickle fork used for the ball separation, or a more benign tool?

I'll check out the solid bushings, may be a good addition to tighten up the front end; not that is was feeling loose before this all started.

Thanks all,

 

I replaced by bushings without removing the rack but used the manual chisel method. I also replaced with the MS solid mounts.

Glenn

 

Pickle fork is best for parts you plan to replace IMHO... they tend to tear up boots. I popped mine out using the "two hammer" method. You put one hammer behind the joint(the knuckle, the part with the hole in it) and swing another hammer at the opposite side. Pops the taper out like a watermelon seed. Just be sure to back it up with a much larger hammer than you are swinging with so you don't bend anything. This is a lot easier second time around if you put a thin film of anti-seize on the taper.

Again, replace any toplock nuts that you remove.

 

rack can stay in the car but it does need to be dropped to replace the rack bushings,
pay careful attention to the fact that the rack lock rings dont work loose when your removing the bushings if they do then you will have a leak ( the rings seal the center tube to the rack ends where the bushings are pressed in)