[Shotimes] Loose Steering Rack
Rich Bruso
shoguy_89@cox.net
Fri, 27 May 2005 11:55:18 -0400
> Since I bought my 92 MTX back in December, I've been annoyed by a large amount of play in the steering wheel which makes it hard to track straight on the highway and exacerbates torque steer around town.
It also could be the way the steering wheel is attached to the column. My black 89 is okay, but the old titanium had a ton of slop up there. I think the second gen setup is similar. Basically, the top of the shaft is a tapered hexagon with a threaded tip. The steering wheel slides onto the hex until it is snug, then you tighten the nut. Unfortunately, the hex on the shaft of the silver showed quite a bit of wear, almost as if the previous owner had the wheel off at one time (they did, it was about 120 degrees off when I got it) and never tightened the nut properly.
Of course, with anything but an '89 you have to deal with airbags to check this, but it's another non-rack possibility.
As for racks, the normal rack works perfectly fine, except it doesn't have the limiting shims at the end of the rack. These supposedly were there to keep the larger tires from rubbing when at full lock.
-Rich Bruso
89 Black (Lola)
89 Silver (parts)
Sierra Vista, AZ