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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
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Steering rack and alignment

  • Thread starter Thread starter stevesLX
  • Start date Start date Dec 18, 2006

stevesLX

Member
Nov 12, 2006
373
0
16
cincinnati
Dec 18, 2006
#1
  • Dec 18, 2006
  • #1
O.K. gus I installed my new rack last night and before I installed it I locked the steering wheel as close to straight as possible. I pulled the new rack out of the box and I installed the the knuckel on the steering shaft of it. The inner tie rods looked to be even on both sides and when I put it in the vehicle the knuckle didn't quite line up right so I turned it about a quarter turn to line it up with the other half of my steering shaft coming out thru the firewall. When I went to put on my outer tie rods and recoont them to the wheel assemblies they weren't even close to being equal on both sides. So my wheel ended up being at 90 degrees to keep the vehicle in a straight line. Now the kicker is when I had the car aligned this morning they got my wheel straight again and got my toe in corrected but after leaving the place and trying to park the car in a parking spot I had to make to adjustments just to park. I can only turn the wheel a little over one complete turn to the left and like 2 complete turns to the right. I called Tire Discounters back and they told me thats my screw up because I didn't put the rack in right and for 70.00 an hr and about 3-4 hrs of work they will fix it but refused to tell me how to. So is there a quick fix I can do on my own or not? I have obviously never put a rack in before or I probably wouldn't be in this situation.
 

dragnazz5.0

My "0" key d0esn't w0rk, s0 I have t0 use the zer0
Nov 19, 2005
815
5
18
mooresville, nc
Dec 18, 2006
#2
  • Dec 18, 2006
  • #2
definetly shouldnt take 3-4 hours to fix. basically all you have to do is recenter the rack. just redo the steps that you did before and make sure its right. it seems like the guy who did the alignment didnt do it correctly because he would have had to turn the wheels back and forth from lock to lock to check it and he would have noticed that. and if they didnt tell you that or put it on the invoice or RO than its their problem and they have to fix it.
 

onefstsnake

New Member
Nov 25, 2005
792
1
0
Northern VA
Dec 18, 2006
#3
  • Dec 18, 2006
  • #3
it really isnt possible to put the rack in wrong...

 

dragnazz5.0

My "0" key d0esn't w0rk, s0 I have t0 use the zer0
Nov 19, 2005
815
5
18
mooresville, nc
Dec 18, 2006
#4
  • Dec 18, 2006
  • #4
yeah...if the rack was put in straight and the wheel was pretty much straight than all they had to do was a little adjustment to get the toe correct and the wheel to be straight. i could do that with a few jackstands, string and a tape measure. basically they screwed it up when they did the alignment. the guy screwed one tie rod way out and the other way in to get the wheel straight and the toe right.
 
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