[DMCForum] Re: Steering rack adventures

[tmpintnl@xxxxxxxxx]

Andrew - As far as the steering rack installation goes, are you sure 
that you got the new rack correctly nestled down into the rubber 
clamp blocks so that it is correctly positioned laterally?  I did a 
rack change on a friends car last year, and it was a bit of a 
challenge to get the rack properly situated in those rubber blocks.  
If the rack was shifted one direction or the other, the symptoms 
would be as you describe.

In terms of the "camber" issue, I would remove the rubber donut 
bushings from the sway bar to lower control arm connections on both 
sides.  I think that you will find that the rear-most bushings are 
shot.  The rubber tears away from the steel sleeve, and this allows 
the lower control arm to drift back, creating the illusion of toe-
out.  Your caster will be off as well.  It's not really a caster 
problem.  I replaced my bushings (which were as I described above) 
with custom polyurethane bushings.  It made all the difference.

Toby Peterson  VIN 2248 (Winged1)
Delorean Parts Northwest, LLC
www.delorean-parts.com


--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Andrew <aos+yahoo@xxxx> wrote:
> 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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