Steering slop

[rendyx]

Some of you may have noticed my post about a red 91 I am looking at. One thing I noticed that worries me about it is some slop in the steering. What will happen is as I am driving along, the steering wheel will suddenly be able to flop about 5 degrees left or right. Otherwise, it is fine. Some have suggested tie rods or a new rack. Any other thoughts on this? Or would I be in for more than I'd like?

 

[PAracer]

From SHOtimes:

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Thanks go to Doug Lewis.

Mike Piehl wrote that his '92 SHO had about 1 1/2 inches of play in the wheel, even after replacing the tie rod ends. I think I have a solution.

In '91, the design of the steering shaft was changed from a solid shaft, to a slip type shaft. This shaft connects the steering wheel to the rack pinion. Where the shaft connects to the rack, it has a coupling with a pinch bolt. For about three years of production, this bolt wasn't being tightened enough.

If you own a '91-'93 SHO, with looseness in the wheel, this pinch bolt is probably the cause.

To fix the problem, remove the three nuts holding the lower stering boot to the firewall. Slide the boot up and out of the way. Turn the wheel so that you can get at the pinch bolt. Tighten the bolt and at the same time move the wheel back and forth. You will be able to see the coupling moving on the shaft. Tighten the 10mm bolt only till the loosness goes away. I use an impact and am very careful not to over tighten the bolt. If the bolt breaks, you're gonna be in a world of hurt. I'm not sure of the torque setting, but anything that is published is going to be wrong.

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Hope this helps!

 

[pjtoledo]

Get under the dash and inspect the slider joint that's between the dash and the floor. That wears out and can easily account for 1" of play. real easy to check, just hold the lower section and slowly turn the wheel. Easy to replace too, had to do one on my 92 a few years ago.

Perry Toledo,Ohio

 

[sdpatt]

Also check the pinch joint bolt on the steering shaft down from the slip joint. And this is not engine related.

<small>[ April 21, 2003, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>

 

[rendyx]

Sounds like it may be caused by a somewhat common quirk in the steering system. Thanks for the help guys!

Scott, sorry, just noticed I put it here! I must have been getting quite used to placing posts in this forum!