Steering "lock" while driving..

[toddu]

A little background on the car.

I have had the entire front suspension (including steering rack) off the car before. This was to replace mono balls, ball joints, tie rods, etc. This was a year and a half ago.

Never had an issue since. Steering is a bit heavy (isn't this normal for these cars - does have 17" wheels), but always has been.

Today while making a fairly slow (2nd gear) 90 degree turn from main road to side road, the wheel became locked to the right. Sort of felt like if you've ever had a car with power steering stall in the middle of a turn.

I'm not even sure where to begin looking. Guess I'll jack her up and see if the steering seems fine with the wheels off the ground. U-joint in the smugglers box maybe?

I got it stopped (in the grass) and drove home (2 minutes) gingerly, but turned and tracked fine.

I'm afraid to drive it now. That would not have been good turning into traffic, etc.

Todd

[john walker's workshop]

the steering lock is the most likely suspect. how did you get it unlocked? a binding u-joint would just have a tight spot that could be muscled through.

[rattlsnak]

or, i have seen many steering column bearings come apart and the little ball bearings fall down into the column and lock the shaft. Has that been replaced lately, or is the steering wheel 'loose'?

[toddu]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

the steering lock is the most likely suspect. how did you get it unlocked? a binding u-joint would just have a tight spot that could be muscled through.

Ok, maybe lock was not the best term. I was able to turn it back, slight resistence at first and then all is normal.

When putting things back together, I did have trouble getting the shaft into the knuckle in the smugglers box. I wonder if it's not in far enough causing the whole thing to not be completely straight, and some bind when full lock??

[rusnak]

I was just going to say open the gas heater/ smuggler's box and check the steering joint. You probably have something catching your steering arm, like an expansion valve or some wiring wrapped around it.

[toddu]

I'm going to investigate today, but I'm suspect of the u-joints. Like I said, I had trouble getting the splined shaft into the u-joint, so perhaps it's not in there far enough causing an odd angle for the u-joint.

I found some threads that suggest loosening things a bit and driving the car around. Not sure if I should loosen the clamp on the needle bearing (just below the upper u joint) as well???? I also don't understand how "letting the car settle" will do anything. The steering rack is bolted to the crossmember, so it doesn't move as the suspension articulates. Or am I missing something? I could see rotating the steering wheel while driving may get things to line up a bit however.