Heavy Steering

It seems to me that the steering in my 78SC is very heavy at low speed compared to others that I have driven. Front tires are 205-16. Any idea's would be welcome.

This may sound overly simplistic, but have you checked tire pressures? The front tires on a 911 aren't loaded much so if they are low it's hard to tell just by looking. Get out the gauge and check. Should be 29psi front and 34 rear. Always start with the basics.

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Tyson Schmidt
72 911 Cabriolet

Nicky,

It may be hard to believe, but in your part of the country, this time of the year ... it may be 'old' grease in the steering rack, as it did not have any moly or other friction-reducing additives! An identical complaint from a Turbo owner this time last year was fixed by removing the steering rack, thoroughly cleaning, then lubricating with a high-quality moly grease like Swepco 101!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Oh yeah Warren! I forgot about that phenomonon. Mine used to do that too. It would do it after long drives on the freeway in colder conditions and would go away after some city driving that involved more steeering taking place. I've since replaced the rack with a ZF rebuilt unit, so is it safe to assume they used the modern lube in it, Warren? Or will this happen again sometime down the road?

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Tyson Schmidt
72 911 Cabriolet

Ty,

I really don't know! In some ways the lubricant technology in Europe seems to be moving faster than ours, but the lubricant I found inside my ZF steering rack was just like plain wheel bearing/axle grease from the 1940's! And, my rack was manufactured well after Sears had been selling moly grease for five years or so, and I had been using it for quite a while by then.

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Could not a bad alignment cause this as well?

My .02
Nick