Loose Feel Steering

[joh21m]

Hi All,

I recently broke a tie rod by hitting a gutter (i know i know), after i replaced the tie rod and got wheel alignment my steering doesnt have that nice tight feel. Its all loose and has little feedback...

Can anyone tell me how to fix this or is it something i have to put up with???

Thanks,

Joh

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

take it back to whoever did the tie rod & wheel alignment

[joh21m]

i changed the tie rod myself, found out the wheel has been bent back a little (something about caster). goin to get that sorted and hopefully it will come good...

[joh21m]

oh another thing, wat aspects of driving does the caster of the wheel effect???

[predator]

turning..

check your caster rods to see if they are damaged also.. they are different to your tie rods

[joh21m]

i see, so the loose steering must be because of the caster the bent wheel is creating...

are they hard to change yourself (castor rod), cant be too much harder then the tie rod...

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

in my experience. Running more castor gives steering a much more direct feel and a lot less vauge than stock, so maybe the castor rod has been bent slightly reducing the amount of castor.

Post the wheel alignment results

castor rods are heaps easier than tie rods

1 bolt goes through eye of the castor rod, and 2 nuts under the control arm, that's all. 17mm from memory on a 32

If you're replacing them, may as well get aftermarket adjustable pillowball castor rods. +9 degrees of castor feel sooo much better than stock.

[Sydneykid]

If you're replacing them, may as well get aftermarket adjustable pillowball castor rods.  +9 degrees of castor feel sooo much better than stock.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't recommend using spherical bearings on a road car. Far too much NVH transmitted and they wear out real fast and then knock even more. The Jap tie rod manufactures tend to use unique spherical bearings, so you can't just pop into your local CBC Bearing shop and buy replacements. Even when you can, they cost more than the tie rod did in the first place.

If you want/need more caster then adjustable bushes are a much better solution for a road car.

cheers

[Bl4cK32]

How much caster does the Whiteline KCA331 kit add to an r32 SK?

Ive got one here ready to go on, and was wondering what the factory setting is, and what it is after adding the kit.

[Stu125]

The offset bushes allow for about .75deg castor change

[joh21m]

thanks for the reply guys, will check it out 2morrow.

anyone else know y the wheel would sit further back, other then castor rod? By further back i mean towards the rear of the car...

hope its just the castor rod and not the chassis bent...

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

bent control arm?

does the car drive straight?

[joh21m]

no it doesnt drive straight, goes towards the left...

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

post the results of the wheel algnment, they should give you a sheet which shoes how much camber/toe/castor you're running

[Busky2k]

So whats the best way of gettin good amount of additional castor? Obviously bushes at 0.75 deg look pretty lame. I've heard of people redrilling the stock rods so they can be 'pushed' back further. How's that sound?

[Duncan]

What is the standard non adjustable castor? I have seen 5o with the adjustable bushes

[joh21m]

Ok heres the results of the alignment, if u need more info just tell me.

Camber: -0deg05' (L), -1deg30' ®

Toe: +0,4mm (L), +0,3mm ®

Castor: +3deg36' (L), +5deg52' ®

[joh21m]

haha ® = right, must me an auto format thing.

for the castor setting that was the 'before' alignment setting, 'after' setting its 0?

[joh21m]

hey merlin any input on the wheel alignment settings???

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

did you hit the front passenger side wheel?

0 degrees camber on left side is probably your culprit it means something is bent

Edited September 28, 2005 by MerlinTheHapyPig