Did I Hurt My Steering Rack?
 

Hey, I got an actual technical question.

I have a toe tool and want to adjust my suspension. It looks like my front is way too far toed in. Probably about a half-inch. Car is darty and in full-lock turns in parking lots with good traction, the car bangs and knocks and groans and twitches. I got suspension issues that I cannot deal with right now.

Anyway, I had a hard time getting the toe rod sleeve thingie to turn. got the left side turning, then worked on the right side. Got it to turn but it sounded like a fastener that was still REALLY tight. Made noise. Eeking lurching noise. Then I noticed that the sleeve was turning the part that goes into the steering box.

Between the steering box and the adjusting sleeve thingie there is a sort of U-joint, except that the joint can only flex in one direction. It is designed to allow the tie rod to move up and down with the wheel. I had turned it approximately 90 degrees.

Oops. So, I turned it back. It made the same eeking super-tight noise.

What did I damage? What does the steering box look like on the inside? The car steers just fine.

The tie rod threads into the rack. Are you sure you didn't just over tighten it, & then back it off again?

The center of the tie rod is the adjusting sleeve. On the wheel end, the "tie rod end" screws into the sleeve, with a locking nut. The thing that screws into the inboard end of the sleeve is like a U-joint, except it only bends in one direction. Up and down, so that the wheel and tie rod can move up and down.

What happened was that the U-joint thingie, screwed into the adjusting sleeve, was frozen. When I turned the adjusting sleeve, it turned VERY HARD and it turned the U-joint thingie. So, when I noticed the problem, the U-joint thingie was ready to bend forwards and backwards because it was 90 degrees from where it should be. I forced it back, but I wonder if I damaged the steering rack.

In other words, I took the shaft that comes out of the rack, and I turned it 90 degrees. It was clearly a bad thing, I just don't know what must have happened inside the rack, and what I might have damaged.

Oh, I see your question. Maybe. It was on the passenger side, and the direction I rotated it in was counterclockwise. It did not seem to either tighten or loosen. It was VERY hard to rotate.

Jim,

I doubt that you hurt the rack with normal hand tools ... even with a bit of groaning/complaining from the tie rod! Those are fairly large threads going into the rack.

The one problem thing I see with your 'adjustment' is that the angle of the 'U-joint' with respect to the rack and steering arm on the strut is fairly critical ... and it needs to go back where it was with fair precision! To get it right you need to use the proper spanner (or pipe wrench) to loosen the lock ring, adjust the angle, then tighten the lock ring. The tie rod end should be taken loose from the strut during the adjustment and re-install.

Does the Bentley have a spec for this? How would someone with my limited skills verify the correct angle?

Jim,

Unfortunately, no, Bentley has no info on setting the eyebolt angle ...<b> you know the drill ... <i>Beyond the scope of this manual!!!</b></i>

The specified angle is 9° from horizontal, tilted upwards ... from origin behind the steering rack [driver's position] ... I'm sure a simple angle finder from Sears or Harbor-Fright would be good enough! When mashed hard against the M8 bushing in the eybolt, you would be at 9° from vertical, but the result would be the same.

<b>Sounds like a good time to update to Turbo tie rods!</b>

See if this diagram helps ...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1105575573.jpg

Turbo tie-rods are very forgiving in this regard unlike the stock u-joint style. If the U-style ever gets removed..it's almost impossible to reinstall and re-seat and get the angle right.....

Wil

Those are just threaded holes on the ends, no big deal. As already stated, it's the angle that's critical. There is actually a Porsche special jig for setting the tie rod angle. Ditto the turbo tie rod thing; you even have an excuse to treat yourself.

Jim,

Just a bit more clarification ...

It goes without saying that the attitude/angle of the floorpan should be checked, marked on a notepad for reference ... then draw a diagram indicating whether the floorpan angle should be added to or subtracted from the 9° angularity with respect to the steering rack. I prefer to use a flat section of the tunnel to check floorpan angularity ... though some say you can use the door sill.

Also, the 'U'-shaped fork end of the tie rod must be removed before the angularity of the eyebolt can be checked.

Getting the angle within +/- 2° of nominal is probably OK ... since those rubber bushings in the eyebolts are over 21 years old, now!

One final thing, Jim, the threads in the rack are 16 mm x 1.5, and the specified torque on the lock ring/nut is 70 Nm, or about 50 lb-ft.

Thanks, Warren. Sorry I missed your call.

JW also gave me some input and I could probably just check angles, make sure locking rings are set properly, etc. But I'd be polishing a turd. My tie rods are 21 years old and have travelled over 300,000 miles. Time to retire them, I think.