Heple

I live on an unadopted road that is quite bad has lots of large pot wholes etc and it requires me to drive down it very slow to avoid damaging my car and to avoid the sills hitting the ground.

Recently the steering became very unpredictable on my dads car. Under sudden acceleration or braking the car moved irratically to either the left side or the right hand side. The car is now quite dangerous to drive. We have replaced the track rod ends and both bottom ball joints on the car and re-tracked it. It still has the problem. This has led me to believe it is the steering rack at fault. ( i just put it down to being a cr4p daewoo) anyway my dads changing the car so isnt bothered about fixing it.

BUT

Recently my subaru (MY99 UK Turbo GC8) has sarted to develop what seems to be the same problem but not as bad. When the car is parked and the wheels straight they seems to be a little movement in the steering wheel (that never used to be there it used to be very tight). I have jacked the front end up and there is no movement in any of the wheels which leaves me to believe both ball joints and track rod ends are fine. But the car seems to drift abit when driving and if i let go of the steering wheel it sometimes shoots off to the right or left unpredictably (this is on the same stretch of road). its as if a wheel or both wheels arn't 100% under my control. The car also tries to steer unpredictably when braking. I have had the car re-tracked and everything lines up ok. The car isnt dangerous to drive or anything i just want to fix it before it gets like my dads (if we have the same problem)

Has anyone had this problem before?

I'm pretty sure its the steering rack but i dont wanna go and fit another if it may be something else, likewise i dont want to go down the road of replacing ball joints, track rod ends, wishbones etc to find that the problem is the steering rack.

Would be gratefull of your opinions

One more thing - Are the steering racks on all classics interchangable?

Craig

Apologes for the MASSIVE essay

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

The racks on all turbo models are certainly interchangeable, and with a bit of modification the rack from a new age car can be made to fit (the splines for the UJ that links rack to column are different).

Have you checked your suspension bushes? Or the clamps that locate the steering rack to the front subframe, it's not unknown for them to work loose...

Heple

I was thinking about checking the clamps on my way home before. Gonna check tonight when when my dad arrives with the garage door keys. Cant be arsed gettin p1ssed wet through.

Would the suspension bushes effect steering?

Cheers

Anders_WR1

iTrader: (8)

Isn't this why Powerstation invented the bumpsteer mod? I'm sure I read a post on here describing what you've detailed and the cure was the bumpsteer mod.

I would check the wear on your tyres. Is it even or bald on the insides? When my car starts tramlining, it normally means my tyres are getting fcuked.

Anders

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

Yes, as would knackered top mounts, dampers or wheel bearings, any slack in the system could cause the steering to wander

Heple

Whats the bumpsteer mod?

The tyres are new Michelin Pilots but they have not been on long...hmmm

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

The bumpsteer mod helps to elininate camber and toe changes brought about when the suspension is compressed. It basically involves carefully shimming the steering rack to ensure that there are virtually no changes in suspension geometry when the suspension is pulled down...Powerstation have a great reputation for carrying this modification out; it sounds simple, but in reality is complicated to acheive properly.

flatoutscooby

I've got this problem with my MY97. Replaced the rack and had the bump steer mod done and it's still doing it Bump steer mod helps but problem seems to be getting worse.

Luke

Heple

think mines gettin worse too !!!!!