Steering wheel constantly shifting center?

All steering related stuff a the rack and so forth is in good shape and tight. Now at the sleeve I feel great engagement, that's not to say it may not be messed up and isn't rearing it's ugly unless driving it. The x member, which one are you referring to? The ones at the frame are solid welded and I can't think of any other place where there may be movement.

I may need you actually. I am on my wits end on possible things it may be. Everything I can think of is tight and I see no movement, mor does anyone else when steering this thing while sitting still or in the air.

 

I had an issue similar to yours. I replaced my steering rack bushings with poly bushings. Thought I tightened up the two rack bolts up enough, nope. You really have to yank on the damn wrench to get them tight. I would recommend soaking the threads in thread locker, the use get those two bolts as tight as you can possible get them. Then to be sure that they are not shifting position, make compass marks where everything mounts to the frame so if your steering wheel shifts again, you can determine if it is in fact the rack bolts not being tight enough or if there is another problem. I was in disbelief when I finally pin pointed the my tax bolts were not tight enough because I thought I tightened the shit out of them.

 

This is a great idea actually. I will check the rack bolts to make sure they are extra torqued on there. I used 1/2" impact gun to tighten the rack bolts when I did it, so it is possible that it may indeed need more torquing like you mentioned. I like the idea of marking all these bolts as well. Great pro-tip!

 

Just to update this thread I managed to recreate the off center wheel today after doing my tie rods and one final alignment. A hard jerk either left or right while stationary depending where the wheel was cocked would eventually reset me to center. The rack bolts really need to be clamped down and I know they are not. Funny, this issue started long ago AFTER I did the bushings. I will crank on them with the might of Zeus and a nice 2-3 foot 1/2 rachet or breaker tomorrow. That should rid me of all this BS.

 

May be talking out of my @ss, but this should not be needed. It sounds like if it worked it is just covering up a cat turd.

 

Wait, so what are you saying then. Lol.

The OE rack with OE bushings when I originally went to check to see if it was tight back in the day did not physically allow for any further tightening of the bolts. If I was to take a large rachet o breaker bar to the rack today and attempt to tighten on it some more I know for a fact the bolts will keep going. Since the bushings allow no give the bolts need to be as tight as possible to allow no movement in the rack as you turn. The issue gets further amplified because of the uni's and poly/ delrin bushings which requires more effort out of the steering system to move it.

I'm just thinking about a factor which I know I currently have semi pending which could be allowing some slop at random unwanted times during driving.

I'm curious to hear what you mean by ehat you were saying with the "It sounds like it is worked just covering a cats turd" part.

 

Sorry if you took what I said as derogatory.

What I mean is that you should not have to tighten the bolts with the "Might of Zeus" and a 3 - 4 foot breaker bar. If doing so clears up the issue you are having, then over tightening these bolts are covering up the real problem. ( The real problem being the cat turd )

Isn't the torque value 68 ft lbs?

 

Oh no, not at all taken in that way! I'm not sure what the torque value is on them but when you factor in stiffer bushings and overall a system with less "give" than your typical all balljoint/ rubber bushings system, I'm sure that torque value would go up wouldn't it? Just to take into account the added stiffness everything else has overall, I would think at least right?

 

No, that shouldn't have anything to do with the set torque value. The manual states 68 foot pounds as the specification for those bolts.

The maximum torque value would be determined by the bolt size and composition. Using a 3 - 4 foot extension and just going for the maximum is asking for a broken bolt or a severly weakened one that will break at the most inappropriate time.

 

Makes sense. I am just curious as to why when I went to tighten those bolts back in the day, they were definitely WAY tighter than 68 ft. lbs. Matter of fact they felt somewhere closer to 100-110 ft. lbs. Honestly I couldn't even move them and by the time came to actually remove them to take the rack off the first time, I felt like I was breaking loose lug nuts off wheels using a manual tire iron.

 

68ft#'s with a 17mm box wrench is a little more difficult than it is with a breaker bar, or even a torque wrench. I put my bolts back how they were originally.

 

Update: Rack was loose we went to manually check it with a 1/2 bar and a 17 wrench at the nut and it actually took a few turns to get those bolts nice and tight to the point where the bolt and nut wouldn't spin. I rely on impact tools too much and this shows me that I probably should double check manually before I call it good. We'll see what happens from here.

 

RESOLVED. The wheel has never been straighter nor has the truck ever tracked as straight as it does right now. After about 100 rough miles the wheel does not shift whatsoever. Thank you for all your help and suggestions guys!

 

I'm glad you located the source of your issue, but I will strongly suggest replacing both of those rack mounting bolts - they were subject to far greater sheer stress while loose and moving, and could have hairline fractures in them. Even with what a dealership will charge for the hardware, it is cheap insurance when one considers what could happen if they broke.

 

Important stuff always gets the manual torque wrench. Always.

 

Hang on. Back from the dead. The wheel is still shifting off from center sometimes. I have noticed when turning the wheel hard over one way or another I can push on the steering wheel and I can feel a thunk from the actual wheel itself. I remember long ago when the truck was new I brought it to the dealer and they replaced the SRS clockspring. Is it possible the wheel retaining bolt under the airbag is slightly loose?

Everything else has been replaced including the rack and tie rods and the intermediate shaft has been tack welded.

 

I am experiencing this same issue, I’ve been searching for days to find someone with a similar issue.
I just replaced my lowers, spindles, coilovers, cam bolts this past weekend. A few months ago I had the inners and outters replaced along with poly bushings in my steering rack.
I need to check the steering rack bolts as it seemed to help you short term.
Did you ever figure out what your problem was?

 

Yeah, one of my outer tie rod nuts loosened up after we tightened the power steering rack retention bolts with the might of God, and was allowing ever so slight slack to be shown at the steering wheel. Re-tightened that again and all was well.

Recheck the tightness on your steering rack. The poly bushings being so hard can cause the rack to shift if they are not incredibly tight, same goes for your outer tie rods, make sure they are tight and the jam nuts are not slightly loose.

 

Thanks for getting back to me, I’ll take a look this weekend and make sure everything is as tight as possible.

 

Time for a Thread Revival. 2009 Second Gen with a DB lift. I have done it all. Poly Bushings, New Rack, New Inner and Outer tie rods. I had an accident last year and had to replace practically everything on the front end. Coil overs, spindles, wheel bearings, brakes, and LCA. The only thing that has yet to be replaced are UCA which I haven't seen any issues from. They are KSB Uniball UCA in case you are curious. Previous owner put them on.

I turn hard to the right and the wheel is cocked to the right when I come to center. I turn hard to the left and the steering wheel stays cocked to the left when back to center.

I also have a whirring coming from the front as well. What is the deal and is it Possibly related? Any help would be wonderful! Thanks!