Steering Wheel Play
01-15-2013, 02:16 PM
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On The Tree
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Steering Wheel Play Whats up guys i have an 02 trans am with excessive steering wheel play. It has 90k on the clock. While driving the car in normal traffic it doesnt seem to be to responsive when i turn the wheel. Im looking to get inner and outer tie rods on rock auto they have good prices on raybestos products do any of you have bad experiences with there products? I dont no if this has anything to do with my problem either but when the car is off it has steering wheel play. It had a leak in one of the lines from the power steering reservoir. I replaced the hose and fixed the problem. Ive searched the forum and people have mentioned the rag joint from my understanding the 97 and under have that common issue but the 98-02 dont have any sort of rag joint. Ive also read people saying they actually tightened things up from the actual steering box can someone show a few pictures of what i should be looking for to tighten so i can add that to my list. After i get the tie rods on im gunna take the car also to get it balanced and aligned when i do should i ask them for specific toe or camber or anything like that?
01-17-2013, 02:11 PM
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I had excessive steering play and I replaced the outer tie-rods with some Moog tie-rods and that solved my issues. Took me about an hour in total to swap them out. Before you actually buy anything you should visually inspect your tie rods and see if they have failed. good way to determine if it's outer tie-rods is to lift the front of the car grab the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock and push and pull, if the wheel has excessive play the outer tie-rods are bad. you can also have someone else do this and see if there is alot of play on the inner tie-rods. BTW my car has 150k on the clock and it was only the outer tie-rods that were bad.
01-17-2013, 06:05 PM
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I grabbed the tire exactly at 3 and 9 and there is play and also tried 12 and 6 its not as bad as when i grab it at 3 and 9 but thank u for the reply. So you didn't need to do any other sort of adjustments as far as the steering box? Can't wait to get the part and put them on. I hope it works out as far as the ball joints these don't look like they would come out easy do u have recommendations to get them out annd back in?
01-17-2013, 10:42 PM
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No recommendations on ball joints I've heard there a bitch to take out! As far as the outer tie rod install goes it is relatively straight forward, just make sure you get an alignment afterwards as you may need it. Best bet is to search for outer tie rod in this forum as well as the general maintenance forum and that should provide a whole lot more info than I can!
