Just finished bump steer mod... BUT....
 

now my steering wheel is ever so slightly canted 'counter-clockwise'. My mechanic said a slight tie-rod adjustment is in order. Took it on a test drive with some hard breaking and did not notice any 'pull'.

FWIW - the biggest PITA was getting the steering rack holes lined up right after washer insertion so that the bolts would start to thread right. Whole thing took about 2.5 hours due to my amateur P-car fix-it ranking.

Any comments?

Can't you just adjust your steering wheel to 'center' it by taking it off and turning it slightly to match? Probably too simple of an answer but this would take only 10 mins.

Be certain of the alignment before you move the steering wheel. You don't want to compensate for misalignment by moving the wheel.

I had a 4 wheel alignment about 4 months ago from my mechanic so the 911 tracked like it was on rails since then. I was thinking there was some minor adjustment in the steering column (like where Waynes book says to loosen the nut for the bump steer mod or ??).

If the alignment is good, then you can quickly move the steering wheel a few notches to straighten it up, like JonT says.

Depends on how much misalignment you have. Moving the wheel one spline over actually amounts to a pretty fair change. If the misalignment is small, it's probably going to put you over the other way. Did you do the turbo tie rods as the same time?

ianc

Usually you don't want to move the steering wheel (unless it was put on wrong). You want to make the tie rods about equal in length, this should center the wheel.

Compensating for improperly set tire rods at the steering wheel leaves the steering rack non-centered when going straight. Left and right lock then have different turn radius' (radia?).

radii. ;)

Right you are Chuck, but that is usually getting into alignment territory, and for joe average (like me) it's usually easier to just move the wheel. Trouble is that, like I said, 1 spline on the wheel is a pretty big diff... I'm off by less than a spline after switching to the 3 spoke in my Carrera, but just living with it until I do the turbo tie rods and have an alignment...

ianc

Realigning is a simple matter of turning the tie rod couplers and counting. Look at the threads to make sure you turn the correct way right from the start, and test drive to confirm. It might take a couple tries, but there should be no reason to visit the alignment shop if the alignment is good going in.

trust chuck have the rack centered, if you dont know how than take it in, this setting is pretty critical on how the car responds, if the rack is not centered than your bump cant be right going straight, by the way did you usa a bump steer guage? if not your just guessing that it is right, Kevin

Re: Just finished bump steer mod... BUT....
 

Yeah, if for any reason you need to mess with the bolts/spacers, only remove one bolt at a time and just loosen the other. This will retain proper alignment of the rack. When initially installing the new bolts, same thing, only remove one old one and loosen the other original bolt just enough to get the spacer in with the first new bolt. We should put this in a tech article cuz it comes up a lot and people literally spend hours trying to get the new bolts aligned and in properly :)

when he changed the bump he definately changed the toe, it should be set also, Kevin

I'm kind of suprised at the number of folks who seem to be afraid of having thier car aligned.It's not major surgury, it's a good thing. I have been a wrench for about 20 years and have seen it from all kinds of car owners. Most shops will make exceptions for people with special cars. They (most) will allow you to be with the car while it is being aligned to observe and learn. Most shops concider us P-car owners to be a squirely bunch anyway so they understand our problem with letting the cars and keys out of our sight.
Nick just find a shop you feel comfortable with, make an apointment have your car ailgned and be thier while the work is being done. Your car will thank you. JMO

It's not fear, it's $$$$. ;)

ianc

Thanks for all the great comments! The idea of changing the bolts and adding the washers one side at a time (with the other side loosened up) is a great idea. My wheel is barely off center so I am thinking the tie rods need a slight tweaking as my P-car mechanic suggested rather than moving the wheel. I will ask him to check the toe setting as well.

I did not see any mention of a 'bump steer gauge' in the Pelican 101 project book so I just slapped those washers in and bolted it back up.

The good news is that the slight amount of 'bump steer' I had is gone.

Re: Re: Just finished bump steer mod... BUT....
 

Yup...took me 1.5 hours just to get the rack aligned again and the bolts in AFTER getting the washers in. Not fun laying on my back with a car inches above my nose. Time for a scissor lift !

did you loosen the steering shaft U joint? You need to do this when you raise the rack to let it get comfortable with the new position. It will also make it a lot easier to get those bolts started, since it won't be fighting you.

Am I the only one thinking that the instructions for the bump steer kit have you loosen the clamp on steering column u-joint in the smugglers box. Then you mess around prying up the rack, inserting the spacers, getting the bolts back in. Seems like the most likely source of steering wheel that is not level when going straight afterwards is just that the u-joint wasn't in exactly the same orientation when it was tightened back down. Loosen the u-joint, get the wheel back the way it was. Probably all there is to it.

j

I believe the u joint is splined on his year car couldnt have moved, Kevin

Did all the above including loosening the nut on the steering column clamp (it was not removed). The u-joint was positioned the same after as it was before. See Kevin's remark regarding the splines. The retaining nut was only loosened - it would take a lot more to get the sleeve to move even one spline width.