Bad Blu Formula

iTrader: (3)

With my car now having 157k miles and never having had any of the ball joints or tie rods replaced, what are some solutions for reducing/eliminating the amount of steering slop that i'm currently experiencing?

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Replace rack and pinion and tie rods

kswLS1

iTrader: (1)

Report back when/if you do this. Mine is coming up and I'd like to know the report.

STANG KILLA SS 2

iTrader: (6)

yep replace your steering rack and tie rods.
i just replaced mine after 120k and its like fine german engineering now. super precise. and also tighter/more resistance feel. in a good way.

tiny inputs at center actually do something now, instead of just slop.

kswLS1

iTrader: (1)

Good to hear! I've got a little slop in the center as well. I'm throwing shocks on in a few days and might knock out tie rods as well. What parts did you go with?

Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

My steering is still tight but I was thinking of doing the bjs, bushings, tie rod ends and maybe a rebuilt rack b/c the above parts have 108k and I am a hypochondriac lol.

kswLS1

iTrader: (1)

Now think how I feel with 188k on the clock and I assume nothing has been touched (only had the car a few days).

BrittleSpeed

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to add checking your bolt where the intermediate shaft and column join. Mine was a little loose causing play and it's back to feeling solid!

Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

Holy smokes.

Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

Could you post a pic for us non tech people?

kswLS1

iTrader: (1)

Found images on google (that link to LS1tech). Ignore the arrow.

BrittleSpeed

iTrader: (1)

Carguy8888

iTrader: (1)

The non tech guy thanks you.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Yes. Order it complete with the ends from the Rack Doctor. Best value and he does them right; we used him for my wife's van. That being said, mine is still nice and tight at 144k.

Bad Blu Formula

iTrader: (3)

Do you mind sharing which steering rack you went with? I see some with 2.25 turns lock to lock and others with 3 turns. I assume the 2.25 turns is preferred for better responsiveness.

JT2000WS6

I had slop in my steering wheel and ended up tightening the last bolt before the shaft goes into the rack (I think it's a 10mm or 11mm... I forget now) and that completely took all the slack out of the steering.

I have 135k miles on the original rack but have replaced the outer tie rods and ball joints many thousands of miles ago, well before the steering slack started.

5550racing

Same here. Couldn't find any play in the tie-rod ends or anywhere else so I figured the rack had just developed a dead spot after 250k miles. Then I got the bright idea to check the steering shaft where it bolts to the rack to make sure nothing crazy was going on there. I figured the input shaft on the rack and the steering shaft were joined together with a bunch of splines and finding any noticeable play between the two would be highly unlikely. Man I was all kinds of wrong. That's where all of my steering wheel play was coming from and it didn't look safe at all. And I couldn't be happier with the feel of my steering wheel now. Feels like a totally different car.

excellegions

I would really like to try this, can you find a pic on the bolt? I'm another non tech guy , lol

excellegions

There's no aftermarket rack and pinion out there that will improve performance right? We should just go to Pepboys and pick up oem rack pinion and rods?

dailydriver

^^^I WISH that there were a quicker ratio, bolt-in rack for our cars, but no, sadly there is NOT.

I was going to contact Flaming River at one point, since they do custom, one-off fabrications for many, but I gave up on that idea, thinking do I REALLY need a $5K+ steering rack?!

BTW, Woodward, a race steering company REFUSES to do anything bolt-in for our rides.