manual steering rack rebuild?

[ariel_86]

My steering wheel vibrates a most speeds and it's bugging the hell out of me. The last time I changed the front tires, I shook each wheel to see if there was any play. Both sides had play, about 1-2cm, in the forward-backwards direction (place hands at 3 O'clock & 9 O'clock and shake the wheel). I thought it might be tie rods, but I replaced those with Moog parts 2 years ago. I climbed under the car and had my dad shake the wheels just like I did as I watched the tie rods & steering rack. The tie rods didn't have any play, but the steering rack was shacking the intermediate shaft where the column connects to it.

That makes me think that my steering rack needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

What are my options?

1985 Corolla GTS, factory manual rack, manual knuckles, Moog replacement (manual) inner & outer tie rods. Suspension is Tokico Blues and Tanabe GF210 lowering springs. No new bushing or sway bars or anything else up front.

[Zach90Turbo]

First off, get the car in the air and support it properly with good jack stands. With the key out of the ignition, turn the wheel until the steering column locks. As you wiggle one of your front wheels with your hands at 9 and 3 o'clock, pay close attention to what moves and what doesn't. Look to see if your brake rotor moves in relation to the caliper, as that's a sign of a wheel bearing. Wheel bearings will also have play in the 12 and 6 o'clock direction. Get under the car and remove the clamp on the inner tie rod boot, with the boot off have somebody wiggle the wheel and see if there's any play at the inner tie rod. You can do the same thing just by pinching the boot at the joint with your fingers and feeling for movement, but if you're not sure what part to grab just pull the boot back and look. I doubt your rack has sustained enough damage or wear to be that sloppy, but you'd just have to take it apart to see what kind of damage it's sustained if it turns out that your play is in the rack itself. If your rack is worn that much, you'd see your tie rods moving back and forth without moving the steering shaft. Did you replace the inner AND outer tie rods or just the outers?

[ga_goosh]

there is a tension set screw on the back side of the rack. you can tighten that to make your rack tighter or loser. check your wheel bearings for excessive play. also i would check wheel balance. another thing to check would be run out on your rotors. also check the condition of your ball joints. as mentioned above it most likely isnt your rack.

after all of these tests and you still think its your rack you can get a rack rebuild kit from rock auto.

[Deuce Cam]

It looks like the suggestions are already well covered. I'll add that you should check the u-joints for play. There's one where the intermediate shaft connects to the steering rack, and one on the inside of the car in the middle of the steering column.

[overspool]

^^ I've seen these terribly worn on FXs with a factory manual rack before. These tend to wear pretty good over 25 years.

[ariel_86]

Wheel bearings were replaced back at the beginning of November 2012. Both inner & outer tie rods were replaced when I did those ~2 years ago.

When I had the car up on stands and my dad was shaking the wheel, I looked for play, with the dust boot removed, in the inner tie rods. I did not see any movement. I can't recall of I had locked the steering column when we checked though. The vibration in the steering wheel @ speed did not change when I swapped from 185/60R14 Firestone Winterforce tires on 280ZX wheels back to my 185/60R14 Firestone Champion tires on my OEM GTS wheels. Neither set of wheels have been checked to see if they are still balanced, though.

I have not checked my ball joints yet. How do I check the run out on my rotors? How should I check the play on the u-joints? If I were to check the one in the car, like Deuce Cam suggested, would I have to take the steering column out and take it apart to see?

As for the tension set screw, how much adjustment would be "enough." I'm sure "enough" would be a bit subjective, but I'm asking would a 1/4 turn make a noticeable difference? A 1/2 turn? Do I turn it right to tighten it, left to loosen it?

Thanks for the suggestions so far. It sounds like my next day off will involve me checking things on the car. I'll report back with what I find that evening.

[Deuce Cam]

You may want to test the u joints last as they sometimes bind up and cause harder steering when going bad.

Another thing to consider is the steering rack bushings where they mount to the cradle/x member. Check if they're cracked and/or disintegrating.

Start with the simple stuff first like wheel/tire balance, etc.

[MisterJerk]

have you checked the drive shaft center support bearing? I foyu have the front suspension sorted, might be time to check out drive shaft and rear end and balance all your wheels and tires.

[allencr]

Nothing in the rack can vibrate and nothing in the suspension can vibrate whether adjusted or worn or not, it can only contribute additional vibration that's coming from a rotating part.
Wheel balance or runout from a bent hub, rim or a bad tire.

[overspool]

rode in this car the other day. Steering is tight, car drives/tracks straight, vehicle does not shake, but the steering wheel shakes violently. It's weird.

[ariel_86]

Still haven't done anything about figuring out the vibrating steering wheel. Too busy doing a fluid change & taking it to a dyno day. I think I should take care of the leaking input shaft on the transmission before I worry about the steering. I'd hate to burn up the trans.

[allencr]

Stick your head out the window to see which one is bouncing/wobbling/shaking.

[El_Burro]

Inside the rack housing around the rack itself on the right side, there is a white plastic bushing. If its worn it causes the rack to wobble inside of its housing. This feels exactly like bad tie rods when you check out the suspension. Check this. A quick fix is to use some electrical tape on the outer circumference of the bushing and jam it back in the rack housing, or you can buy a new one from toyota. I had the same issue on my MR2 rack. It ended up being this. I hope this helps

J.A