924Board.org

[Judge]

Hello

My car failed inspection because the front end was bad. Basically if you went next to the hood and wiggle the car, the wheels looked like their were about to fall off.

I replaced:
- discs, pads, and brake lines.
- control arm bushings (Powerflex now)
- shock absorber (the previous one had blown inside the housing, the car was running on the springs only)
- bearings
- tie rods
- ball joints

now I have a very precise and responsive steering, except it's random because the play I have in my front wheels seem to actually come from my steering rack.

Any ideas if I missed something? apparently there's a question about preload in the steering? I removed the inner tie road on the driver side of the car (LHD), and it didn't look too bad, very minimal play, I don't think that's what's causing so much play in my wheels.
Symptoms is the car going left and right while driving straight, huge deadzone in the steering wheel, and you can shake the wheels badly left/right when they're lifted.

I'm not super tempted about buying an second-hand 45yo steering rack if I can rebuild mine

[924RACR]

Have you looked at the universal joints on the steering shaft itself? They can die... have seen mention there's a common replacement part size from a Mercedes application that can be used...
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[Raize]

Are the bolts holding the steering rack to the car tight? I had them loosen off once due to paint shrinkage and the whole rack was moving from side to side which felt very unsettling.