Q: Steering rack and pinion play
Hi, I wanted to see if I could get some input on my steering rack play. I had a really bad pull in the steering at 50+ mph where the wheels would pull left or right really fast but the steering wheel would not move. I thought it was a bad steering rack so I replaced it with a manufactured one. It did not fix the issue. I replaces some other things including the UCAs, LCA bushings, Suspension, upper and lower ball joints. I had an alignment done and it doesn't pull like it used to but now it wonders at the same speed with out the steering wheel moving. I was doing some work where both TREs were removed from the ball joint. I pulled the boot back from the steering rack and looked at the play in it. It twists and twists a lot. I just want to see if this in normal for a steering rack. Here is the video link https://youtu.be/RB1NFOnkaY4
My car has 177000 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.
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The movement in the rack shaft is normal as far as I have seen in the video. With everything hooked up, use jack stands on both sides of the car to and support it below the lower control arms. Once that’s done, see if both front wheels spin easily with no brake or bearing bind. Turn each wheel by hand and look for loose movement in the inner or outer tie rods. Then turn the wheel left and right to see if the rack is binding.
If you need some assistance or would like a second opinion about this, consider YourMechanic, as a certified technician can diagnose your steering issue and help you fix it accordingly.
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