Major steering issues!

[matt gineo]

I just got my 76 911 back from the shop after having the front end lowered and the steering is a mess! I had the front end lowered approx. 1 inch to 25 3/4". Before I brought it in to be lowered the steering, handling etc. were perfect. After getting it back from the shop yesterday I'm having the following problems with the steering.
1. it's much harder to turn the wheel.
2. Lot's of play in the wheel.
3. The steering wheel does not come back to center after making a turn.

Any ideas as to what may have happened?
Thanks
Matt

[tobluforu]

Did they just lower it and not align it?

[matt gineo]

It was not aligned, but the issues I'm having seem way more of a problem than an alignment problem?

[bgyglfr]

Lowering it will cause the front wheels to lean in significantly. I would think that lowering it a whole inch could very well cause those problems if it wasn't aligned. Even aligned the steering might be more jumpy if that makes any sense. Did you have a bump steer kit installed? It would help and you should do it before the alignment. Even the cheap ones help some.
Kirk

[matt gineo]

I thought you only had to install a bump steer kit if you went under the standard european ride height and I'm not having any issues with the steering when I go over a bump.

[ClickClickBoom]

Read:
Corner balance!
Lowering the front end without a corner balance will give you the same result as I got from my PO's son's shadetree mechanic experiment.
These cars are simple, but with the gamut of adjustment possibilities, lots of wrong, is just a wrench turn away.
I have gained a lot of respect for the good Dr.Porsche.
Good luck
Eric

[cnielsen]

Check the steering rack. Almost sounds like the retaining clip on the end if the rack snapped loose and the shaft now has all kinds of play on the one side.

Otherwise...proceed with a proper alignment.

[Driven97]

To troubleshoot, you can turn the front height adjusters up two full turns each, and test drive. If the problem goes away, it's an alignment issue. If it doesn't, something else has gone wrong. The reason I say two full turns is that it will be easy / quick to put back exactly how it was - just note the way the wrench handle faces.

[porsche930dude]

if your tie rods arnt close to level you should have a bump steer kit.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by matt gineo

.
1. it's much harder to turn the wheel.
2. Lot's of play in the wheel.
3. The steering wheel does not come back to center after making a turn.

Any ideas as to what may have happened?
Thanks
Matt

When you lowered the front the toe changed (hence the steeing not coming back to center and loose feeling), the caster changed (hence the hard steering and not coming back to center) and the camber changed (play in the wheel).

Makes sense to me. I'll bet one side had to be lowered more than the other to make it even ride heright.

Get it properly aligned and you will be fine.

I'd recommend you take it to another shop because the yahoos who just lowered it and nothing else obviously have not a clue as to what they're doing. A monkey with a 10mm can lower it with the turn of one adjustmet bolt on each side. In about 2 minutes. Without a lift or flashlight. Hope you didn't pay a lot to this shop for this "service."

Of course I could be wrong and your flux capacitor reservoir could have sprung a leak.

[wildcat077]

What Dueller says ...
By lowering the car almost one inch they added quite a bit of toe out to your front end which will make the car very squirrelly and want to change lanes on it's own ...

Go to a real aligment shop that knows Porsches and get it set up properly !

Cheers !
Phil

[pete3799]

I beg to differ......the monkey would need an 11mm wrench

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by pete3799

I beg to differ......the monkey would need an 11mm wrench

I stand corrected. LOL

My monkey was pulling the valve covers today.

911's....when in doubt its usually an 11 or 13mm!