cali4sun

Is it necessary to do an alignment after the steering rack is replaced with a rebuilt???

Thanks,

'89 S4 GP White/Black
'76 912E Silver/Black sunroof

Ducman82

nope. if you use the same rod ends you should be good

cali4sun

Great, thanks!!

'89 S4 GP White/Black
'76 912E Silver/Black

Bill51sdr

I disagree. No two mechanical parts are EXACTLY the same or have the same tolerances. Do your piece-of-mind (and your front tires) a favor and have the alignment checked afterward.

cali4sun

Piece of mind is always good plus in a effort to save the new tires on the car I'll have it checked afterward.

'89 S4 GP White/Black
'76 912E Silver/Black

dr bob

The pieces you removed and replaced or bought new are the pieces that are adjusted when setting toe on the car.
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I dropped the rack to put in Roger's Delrin rack bushings. The existing bushings were like new, so I just bolted the rack right back where it had been with the same bolts and nuts. No tie rods or ends or and ajustments, just drop it, looked, put it back. The rack made it back --almost-- right where it had been. The steering wheel is slightly off, telling me that the rack is ever so slightly o the left of where it had been. So it gets an alignment.

Bill Ball

The only parameter affected by the rack is toe. In Dr. Bob's case, just toe center. A minor tweak of the tie rods in equal but opposite directions could take car of Dr. Bob's steering wheel.

When I replace a rack and/or tie rods, I do it on a 4-post lift with the wheels remaining fixed on the platform. I adjust the tie rods so the ball joint ends slip back into the steering knuckle exactly as they came out. No change in toe or toe center. You could do the same thing on ramps.