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  #1  
Old 02-15-2008, 08:59 AM
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GreenMarine GreenMarine is offline
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How do you know when your Steering Rack is going??

Just wondering... What signs should I look for?? Anything like this?

- Random pulling to one side
- Rattly noise from one of the front sides
- very loose and "disconnected" feel in the steering...

Anything I should look for, please let me know... Thanks

~ Chris
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  #2  
Old 02-15-2008, 09:21 AM
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nextse7en nextse7en is offline
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I think you are on the right track, the wandering feeling in the steering is a dead ringer.

THe rattling loose sound going over bumps is likely the eyelet at the end of your sway bar enlarging, you'll need to weld some washers to it.

The random pulling to one side could be the brakes sticking.

Lift up the front of the car, move each wheel back and forth with your hands, if you get low resistance play in the wheel before you feel it bagin to track with the steering system, thats a tie rod.


-Patrick
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  #3  
Old 02-15-2008, 09:42 AM
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Hocrest Hocrest is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenMarineSVX View Post
Just wondering... What signs should I look for?? Anything like this?

- Random pulling to one side
- Rattly noise from one of the front sides
- very loose and "disconnected" feel in the steering...

Anything I should look for, please let me know... Thanks

~ Chris
I'd look at tie rods ends and steering rack bushings before the rack itself.
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Last edited by Hocrest; 02-15-2008 at 09:50 AM.
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  #4  
Old 02-15-2008, 10:25 AM
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TomsSVX TomsSVX is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hocrest View Post
I'd look at tie rods ends and steering rack bushings before the rack itself.
Uncle Ben is right on the money here. Check the parts associated with the rack first (IE the cheaper and easier parts)

Tom
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  #5  
Old 02-15-2008, 10:38 AM
dcarrb dcarrb is offline
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Mine drove fine but had blown boots and leaked.

dcb
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  #6  
Old 02-15-2008, 11:15 AM
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svx_commuter svx_commuter is offline
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I had all those front end problems at one time AND now I got some new ones!

Play in the steerig wheel is checked with the engine off, all wheels on the ground. Key in so the wheel turns from left to right. The top the wheel should not move more than 5/8" AND from my experience when everything is really good and tight it will be closer to 3/8" Just move the wheel left and then right and watch the tires. If the tires move you went to far. Measure the movemnet with a SCALE at the top of the wheel. This is in the FSM.

The inner tire rods had lots of play when I got the SVX. So I did those first. That is actual when I started to work on the SVX. I took it to the dealer and asked him to replace the front tie rods, the inner rods. Heck I could pull and push on the tire and feel and see the movement in the rack. This works best when someone holds the steering wheel against the lock so you don't feel the steerwheel banging against the lock.

Well I get the car back from the dealer with new ps hose and still had the play. I guess the tech was too busythat day! so..... I did the change myself Man that was a long time ago. Oh yeah the SVX ran great for many miles after that. I took apart the tie rods. I love to take worn parts apart to see what happened inside. There is white plastic part sort of a washer in there behind the ball and it was indented and worn rough. Looked like cavatation to me!

I have had that wandering problem too. This has always been alignment on my SVX. Well up until this past year. That's when the front right wheel bearing went bad and had lots of play. No more noise in that bad bearing than the regular bad tire noise . So front loose going bad bearings with 250,000+ miles could be a problem.

Then there was the rack itself that was just binding up. I would turn a corner and the steering wheel would stick in the turned position!!!! I had to push it back to straight. It was bad and not really safe. It was real jerky turning a corner. Lucas ps addative fixed that for a few years and 60k miles. It took a few days for the Lucas to work in to work it's way in. That Lucas ps additive is amazing!!!

Then there was the steeeering coupling, connects the steerwheel to the rack. That ended up with too much play, so it got replaced around 300k or so. Very little play in this coupling results in much steering play.

I have also replaced the rack at about 260k miles. It was starting to bind up again and I figure it was going to go, boots and internal wear and all.

I just can't say enough about keeping the wheels balanced and the vibration low on the SVX. I just really helps everything last so much longer in the front end steering parts.

Take care of the SVX

John
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  #7  
Old 02-15-2008, 11:26 AM
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GreenMarine GreenMarine is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nextse7en View Post
I think you are on the right track, the wandering feeling in the steering is a dead ringer.

THe rattling loose sound going over bumps is likely the eyelet at the end of your sway bar enlarging, you'll need to weld some washers to it.

The random pulling to one side could be the brakes sticking.

Lift up the front of the car, move each wheel back and forth with your hands, if you get low resistance play in the wheel before you feel it bagin to track with the steering system, thats a tie rod.


-Patrick
NICE!! Thanks much... I was wondering about the steering... And the swaybar endlinks seem to be a great prognosis!! I'll definitely be checking them out ASAP... Now as far as steering solutions, if infact my steering rack is going out, are there any sure fire ways of toughening it up?... By that I mean I HATE how vauge and loose the steering in the SVX feels... It seriously makes Autocrossing the car unplesant. Now the feel of the STi steering is EXACTLY what I want... Has anyone had the time to look at the differences in the two steering systems? Does anyone thing it might be possible to do a steering swap?? I'll be speaking with my mechanic the next time we have it up on the lift. He is a Subaru freak and actually works for Southern States Subaru in Raleigh, so I trust him for everything Impreza / WRX related.

More info on the rattling would definitely be AWESOME!!! As it has been driving me crazy for over a year now!... Last summer I replaced about $2000 worth of parts (tierod ends, CV boots, wheel bearings, etc) in the front end in an effort to find the noise, but no luck... I almost want something to break just so I'll know exactly what it is!! But judging by the discription, and when I sat and thought about it, I figured it MUST be swaybar related (SINCE THAT IS THE ONLY THING I HAVEN'T TOUCHED YET!!!)... Options on FSB solutions (reasonable prices) are definitley welcome too!!

Thanks again guys for the suggestions and info!!

~ Chris
__________________
2020 Subaru Outback Touring - Wife's first Subaru
2005 Volvo V70R - 5-cylinder love! :Heart:

** SOLD **1998 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT Wagon - MOST RELIABLE car I've ever owned
** SOLD **2006Subaru WRXSTi (Former "Boxer4Racing.com / Continential Tire" STi) - Built EJ22t block / EJ207 JDM STi "big port heads" - 9,000rpm MONEY PIT!!!
** SOLD ** 1995 "Tree-Hugger Green" SVX L AWD(5 MT) --- "Gumby" 130K miles #399 in MY95, my original love...
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