will a worn rag joint make the car "wander"?

juiced_94gt · Jul 21, 2005

i have changed the ball joints, urethane control arm bushings, shocks and struts, bought bumpsteer kit, urethane sway bar bushings and links, urethane center bolt rack bushings, new tires, and numerous aligments (with mm camber plates) and my car has always wandered even when it was ALL stock!!! think it could be the rag joint? theres alittle play in the steering and when i drive, is that it? the wheel doesent wobble like a bus steering wheel but it has a slight play. do i need a new car? my friends 99gt runs perfect even after a 2" drop and no aligment!!!!!!!!

HISSIN50 · Jul 21, 2005

The rag joint should NOT create wandering. The rack is what aligns the two wheels together. If you had the wheels pointed straight ahead and disconnected the steering shaft at the rack, the car would (or should) drive straight ahead.

You might have an alignment issue, a bad radial, etc. Do an internet search on Trammeling and see if that sounds possible.

Good luck.

94TURBO5 O · Jul 21, 2005

If you can turn your steering wheel 2" from side to side w/o the wheels moving at all then it's prob the rag joint.
I'm not sure what you mean by wandering?

Nobody · Jul 21, 2005

What brand & size tires do you have on the front? Some tires tramline, maybe that's the culprit?

FastFord · Jul 21, 2005

94TURBO5 O said:
If you can turn your steering wheel 2" from side to side w/o the wheels moving at all then it's prob the rag joint.

Yea I had to replace mine!! Forgot how tight the steering could be!!

rio95 · Jul 21, 2005

with 9 in rims in the fron I'm guessing you have 275 tires. If so, that is the problem. 245 are WAY better, but it is just a sn95 mustang thing. Mine sucks too.

juiced_94gt · Jul 22, 2005

Nobody said:
What brand & size tires do you have on the front? Some tires tramline, maybe that's the culprit?

front tires are 245 40 18 bidgstone potenza reo40 <~~(something like that) run flats...by the way i just noticed on my last aligment my camber plates are set to all negatice CASTER...should i give it some more?

juiced_94gt · Jul 22, 2005

94TURBO5 O said:
If you can turn your steering wheel 2" from side to side w/o the wheels moving at all then it's prob the rag joint.
I'm not sure what you mean by wandering?

by wandering i mean it wants to go everywhre on the road, not straight almost seems like a bumpsteer issue but it isnt if that makes sense

maypo59 · Jul 22, 2005

could be toe.. put a straight edge outside of both tires and measure in front and behind the tire, should be just a little less in the front.(1/32) or so

94TURBO5 O · Jul 22, 2005

Does it do this wandering on certain roads or all the time on any road?

juiced_94gt · Jul 22, 2005

mostly on the highway but it also does it on the street...it doesent have to be bumpy road it just feels like it wants to go where it wants to

94TURBO5 O · Jul 22, 2005

It prob does it b/c you don't have a tight rag joint and you have to keep it turned 2" to either side to keep it positive.

HISSIN50 · Jul 22, 2005

JR, I was thinking that if the car did not wander, he it would not matter if his steering wheel was even attached. The car should track straight. His having to correct (or overcorrect perhaps) exacerbates the symptoms perhaps, but he should not need to correct in the first place.

I was still leaning toward a tire issue, trammeling, or bad caster settings.

Nobody · Jul 22, 2005

juiced_94gt said:
front tires are 245 40 18 bidgstone potenza reo40 <~~(something like that) run flats...by the way i just noticed on my last aligment my camber plates are set to all negatice CASTER...should i give it some more?

Looks like a few people have an issue with these tires tramlining.

Reviews from tirerack.com:

"...They do tend to wander on grooved, worn, or rutted pavement... " -- Review Submitted 2005-06-14 (Audi A4)

"Tramrailing was a significant problem, especially in the city where the roads are less than perfect. These tires are VERY stiff, they will transmit every bump right up to you...this is particularly a problem if you drive on beat up city roads. Cold weather makes them stiffer and almost unbearable to drive on. " -- Review Submitted 2005-04-30 (Mazda RX-8)

Methodical · Jul 27, 2005

I had similar issue with my car. My rag joint was sloppy and when I drove on rodes, especially the asphalt rodes with tire trails (ruts) on the road (probably not a good description) it would fling to either side and I had to turn the steering wheel the opposite direction of the pull. To make a long story short, I purchase a Flaming River steering shaft and no longer had the problem and the steering was 200% more responsive than the stock steering shaft. Just One Man's Opninion. Peace.

spock2001us · Aug 24, 2005

Wandering wheel

I had the same problem with a wandering steering wheel. I put a new steering rack in and the steering is now as tight as when it was new.

nmcgrawj · Aug 24, 2005

Where are u guys getting the new steering racks from? How much are you paying? How much is another rag joint? I dont know much about how the steering works so i dont even know exactly where the rag joint is actually at.

I had to take apart the steering column to install my headers and ever since the steering wheel has had the 2" play in it like mentioned above. I hate it.

HISSIN50 · Aug 24, 2005

Nate, rag joint = universal (swivel) joints on the steering shaft. You know exactly what they are now, right (I am sure you do)?

On the fox, I used a parts store reman'd rack. It was 100 bucks. I just had to be careful because there were 4 different styles/ratios of racks offered that year, and the reman'd racks dont often really differentiate those subtleties. The part-number for the fox rack was under where the steering shaft hooks into the rack. I was able to tell from that, that I had a Ford Quick ratio rack (not TRW, which was also offered). Not sure if SN's have so many variants.

Good luck.

nmcgrawj · Aug 24, 2005

Alright i gotcha. I will look into getting it fixed. Thanks man.

WhiteDevil · Aug 24, 2005

Yeah im interested in this too. My car has been similar for a while now where it wants to go all over the place on the freeway. Im like constantly correcting it. I have 17x9 in rims in the front with 255/45R17s in the front. My dads 2002 GT steers so smooth and never wanders or pulls like mine does. I mean his 02 only has 10k miles on it and im nearing 130k so maybe thats why, but if you get a fix make a post about it, cause i want to know.

will a worn rag joint make the car "wander"?

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