[DMCForum] Steering rack adventures

[Andrew <aos+yahoo@xxxxxxxx>]

Okay, I replaced the steering rack today, but things didn't go quite as 
smoothly as I'd planned, so hopefully I can get a litte input from some 
who have been there...

1) It seems to be impossible to get my steering wheel to line up in its 
default position.  If I line the steering wheel up, the wheels are off by 
enough that one of the two tie rod ends has to be run waaaaaay out, and 
the other one cannot go far enough in to correct the error on that side.  
Spinning the wheel 360 degrees generates the same problem in the opposite 
direction.

Because of the flat sections on the splines in the universal joint, there
is only one way (per 360 degree revolution) that the joint can be
assembled.  Once assembled in any of the possible ways, however, the
adjustment necessary to generate some semblance of alignment is beyond the
range of the adjustable parts.

Am I missing something basic here?  Or is this rebuilt rack manufactured 
differently enough from the old one that the wheel needs to be pulled and 
reinstalled?  I don't particularly mind if that's what I have to do, as 
I'd really like to get it recovered anyway.

2) Hopefully I've just done a poor job of eyeballing the alignment, but 
when I try to drive down the street (having reconnected everything nicely 
with the steering while simply turned about 120 degrees wrong), the car 
has a very strong desire to steer extremely quickly toward the nearest 
curb.  Is this just the result of too much toe out?

3) I seem to have big camber problems.  This isn't really related to the
steering rack install, but now is when I noticed it.  When I pulled off
the wheels, I saw that my tires are worn very unevenly, almost entirely on
the inside, and once I buttoned everything back up and looked, it looks
like my camber is about two degrees negative, which is way more than what
it should be (manual says 0.5).  The worrying part of this, however, is
that camber is not adjustable on this car.  Anyone know what's wrong here?

Thanks.

-andrew
 #4115

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