stiles_s

Edit: I was blanking on the term Tie Rod when I typed the subject. What the hell is a steering arm? Anyhow...

So... I'm tracking down a "clunk" in the front end of my 997. Have owned since new.

The "clunk" or "click" happens when changing directions w/the steering wheel. Can feel it in my feet slightly.

I couldn't see/find anything loose, but something puzzled me: The tie rods have a threaded piece (male) from the steering rack going into the aluminum end pieces with the ball joints at the wheel. But, this is the first time I've seen this without a lock nut. I put a wrench on them and they don't turn freely, but...

My question is, for those of you who have messed w/Toe. Are there lock nuts on your tie rods? LMK if the question isn't clear. I have done my own alignment on previous cars and have a fair idea what I'm looking at and this is a new one.

Thanks

stiles_s

So I took a closer look and I think I just missed the locknuts. See photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NWyiUmrD9K6SFz6Q7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BUEPzXFNHA8CzdSz5

The nut was the same color as the aluminum arm, so it appeared to be one piece.

E39Nutz

No, you have the lock nut. It may look like one piece but it is not. Go look at a brand new piece and you don’t see the hex nut at the end.

MrMoose

I had something similar on my 2010 Cayman S. At least in my case it was the pinch bolt on the steering shaft, where the shaft attaches to the spline on the rack.

On the Cayman, if you remove the front left wheel you can get a straight shot to this bolt with a 13mm socket and a bunch of extensions. Loosen it slightly and then retorque to spec of 18 ft-lb (again, 987 Cayman, but I assume 997 is the same?) and see if that helps. I still had a little click at 18 so I retorqued to 20 ft-lb and it's been fine since.

If that's not it, it could be a loose rack or play in the tie rod ends.

Petza914

Check your sway bar bushings, end links, lower control arms, and the steering rack bolts (the ones that hold the rack to the chassis).

stiles_s

That is a great one to check. Thank you!

stiles_s

Thanks. I got a wrench on everything I could reach with the car on a jack yesterday. Looks like time to put it up on ramps and crawl under it. Do I need to remove panels to see the steering rack? Easy?

FWIW I don't think it's swaybar related because it happens without any dynamic "sway" on the chassis. Just sitting in the garage or driveway turning the wheel in the opposite direction of the last input.

It would really suck to have the steering column come loose from the steering box, so I'd better take a look at that clamp

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 201K miles

Clunks are very very difficult to find. Can you get it to clunk by swaying your car on a flat surface like your garage? Open the door(s), and push up and down on the roof line... best to have a second person help. If you can get it to clunk this way, then you can turn the wheel left and right, make the clunk, and with your hand on the parts, may be able to isolate the offender.

Regardless, you may want to buy a set of chassis ears... a pain to use but a really good way to isolate the offender. Read more here: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ed-advice.html

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

stiles_s

Thanks. I really think it's in the steering rack/mount somehow. I'm familiar with swaybar clunks and when they manifest. The only time I really sense this is at slow speeds / parking lot and only when turning the steering wheel back and forth. The loose steering shaft clamp really strikes me as a possibility. I just need to find the damn thing under the car

Will report back.

stiles_s

Following up on this -- ding ding -- I think we have a winner!

I think the socket/bolt is 12MM not 13 but I'm not 100% sure.

I put a wrench on it and thought I'd snug it up and it was quite easy to turn. So I snugged it up. I'm probably in the 20ft-lb range. I missed the torque spec here. Hopefully I didn't over do it but I didn't snap the bolt.

It's kind of crazy how big a difference this made, and I've been driving with it loose for years. Steering feels more direct, for sure. Whole front of the car feels more solid because of the more direct connection from steering wheel to the rack/hubs.

As MrMoose says, you can see the bolt if you jack up the driver's side and peek in where the tie-rod goes through the gap between the underbody tray and the fender well. It appears that the steering rod is clamped on some sort of orange contraption on mine. I had to turn the wheel slightly to the left to get the bolt lined up perfectly for tightening.

Thanks for the tip!

MrMoose

Glad that worked. Mine was only slightly loose, sounds like yours was pretty bad. Good thing you fixed it!

Yeah, might be a 12mm flange nut: sorry, been a while since I did it.