911 2

i put in a ne power steering rack in y 965 turbo 2 all went fine but the alignment was really out so i took it down to a porsche specialist just to align the front wheels comes at half an hour later with a bill and tells me he could not do the alignment as the car is to low as a result the ball joint coming of the rack to which the steering arms fit to is probably bottoming out on itself anyway he didnt align the front wheels as he said the steering arms should be straight when the car is on the floor and due to my car being lowered the arms are at an angle therefore the power steering rack is taking the force as a result they cant adjust anything un til they have put the car higher at least 1 inch maybe back to standard ihave never heard this before any one have any opinions surley a lot of porsches are lowered are they telling me the wheels cant be aligned he wants 220pounds and still cant guarantee if all the geommetry will be correct as he may have to take it higher than an inch
can i just get the wheels aligned so at least it drives straight as prior to this i drove the car 3500 miles and there is no considerable tyre wear

Geoffrey

The 964 platform has always had issues with steering rack (tie rods) angle with the hub carrier. This was improved with the 993 hub carriers and further improved with the GT2 Evo hub carriers. At stock ride height, the rack is lower than the hub carrier attaching points for the tie rods. As you lower the chassis, this alignment becomes worse. I can't understand if he is saying that the outer tie rod end is at such an angle that it is binding. If that is the case, then the car is too low.

911addict

911 2
Who are you using for your work?
First the aircon and now this. A good specialist should be able to advise and rectify surely.

Staffan

My car is less then 3.5 inches from the ground at it's lowest point, had no problem aligning the car.

911 2

this is a reputable porsche specialist if its binding i cant hear anything i have driven the car at this ride height for 4000 miles without any problems he seems to think the knuckle joint itself is bottoming out on itself or should i say the casing he is referring to the knucle joint which comes immediately of the steering rack he says the power steering isnt light how it should be and its due to this angle as a result i t will damage the rack what i would like to know is can i just align the front wheels despite the issuse with the steering arms at an angle i will measure how low the car is off the floor but i have never had problemswith it ottoming out my front tyre just sits a fewmm into the arch they had the cart all hooked up charged for the labour so he could of at least aligned the wheels up especially after driving 40 miles to them

911 2

the distance from the floor is 5.5 inches the distance from the front arch to the rim is 75mm

911 2

hers a few pics to show how low it is

tasracer

mine is SLAMMED and alignes fine

911 2

i cant understand why he didnt do the alignment probably trying to make me pay for more so if i do a normal wheel alignment i should be fine
tasracer is your power steering very light or has a little resistance

Staffan

This is a longshot.
You wrote that you changed the steering rack.

There is a "fork" (a joint) connected to the steering rack, it has a rubber bellow around it.
You have to install it (the "fork") so that you can move it up and down and when you lock it into place it's very easy to rotate it by mistake. The theory here is that the "fork" is rotated, not letting the axle (tie rod) connected to the ball joint to flex up and down.
My guess is that this would put a lot of pressure on the steering rack...

Edit:
And it would put the steering arm at an angle I think.

Either way, something is wrong here, if they would like to rip you off they could probably find something much better to say I think.

911 2

staffan thats exactly what i was thinking today the forks were removed by the guys who did my rack it was my next question i will get underneath this week and take pics
not looking forward to getting the gaitors back on
do i need to undo the forks at the rack end if so can i undo the forks with the rack on and then retighten i presume i dont need to use any thread lock to retighten if the forks are not fitted correctly whats the likely hood i may have bent the steering arms or damaged the rack
you mentioned locking something into place what are you referring to

tasracer

pretty light... too light for me

Staffan

First thing would be to try to feel the joint through the rubber bellow to see if it is installed correctly.
Second, if you undo the tie rod, you can try to move the fork up and down (the part connected to the tie rod).
You don't need to remove the steering rack to remove the fork.
The fork is screwed into the steering rack an looked into place with a square nut. There should be a few mm between the steering rack and the square locking nut when it's installed.

Also, don't do the same mistake I did when removing the tie rod, on one side you undo the looking nut clockwise the other one anti clockwise.

911 2

when tightening the fork do i need to use thread lock or just tighten the square nut without any thread lockwill i have to take the reack rod end ie the ball joint found on the bottom part of the suspension leg or can i just loosen the nuts on the tie rods losen the squre nut adjust the fork so the steering arm is able to move up and down and then just tighten everything up again

Staffan

I didn't use any thread lock and i worked for me, don't think there was any when it was orginally installed, but I don't know what it says in the workshop manual. There is a place on the fork to hold it steady when you undo and tighten the locking square nut.

As you suggest, you should be able to just loose one of the tie rod locking nuts (the one closest to the fork) and the square lock nut for the fork and adjust the fork. That's better than what I suggested, less change of the toe.