calisons

iTrader: (1)

hello

i just recently picked up an sc300 and i seem to have an odd problem. when you drive the car, youre able to turn the wheel to the left 1 3/4, and to the right 1 1/4. i thought to myself, great its just tie rods being off centered. a few days later my battle version inner/outer rods come in. put the car on stands, and the tie rods are practically maxed out! i take them off to find out the factory and battleversion rods are exactly the same length, so even with aftermarket tie rods I have the same issue.

my friend suggested the rack itself might be off centered from the steering column, which would make a bit of sense, but i would think the column would not matter as it would keep spinning disconnected, and it is the rack itself that stops the turn. if i even "centered" the steering column, i would think i wont have enough adjustment anyways..

the car is on tein coilovers, is anybody else having this sort of problem? thanks in advance!

Dx3

iTrader: (13)

It sounds like when the rack was installed, they didn't make sure there were equal gaps on your tie rods. I went through this when I was installing a new rack, and thankfully noticed before I put it back in. Do you know if the rack has ever been replaced?

calisons

iTrader: (1)

I don't.

So it does matter how the column is lined up to the rack? I would think its just the steering wheel that would be off.

calisons

iTrader: (1)

so i put the car back on stands and took a closer look, disconnected the steering column to make sure that was not the culprit, and as i assumed.. it had the same travel.

now what i noticed is the tie rod, the bulky part that has the slot for a crescent wrench is the one actually hitting the rack and pinion, so its actually acting like a bump stop.. so im assuming all sc300 have better turning radius to the left? odd.

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

what your saying doesnt make much sense to me....are you saying both tie rods where maxed out meaning they were both screwed all the way till there was no thread left?? if so are they maxed out on both sides?



You cant disconnect the steering column to find out if the travel is the same.what you need to do is hook your column back up to the rack and position the wheel(from inside the car) so that the travel is the same on both side...keep in mind your centered postion on the steering wheel will not be straight (meaning your steering wheels centered position may be when the steering wheel is upside down) once you get the travel even now you remove the column and turn your steering wheel straight like your doing a alignment and reconnect the column and get and alighnment.

calisons

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the reply

im not too worried on the steering wheel's alignment.

when i say "practically" maxed out, the driver side is screwed in all the way (shortest length possible) and the passenger side probably has half an inch of adjustment..

so with that being said, im not able to even the turning radius via tie rods, since the tie rods are meant to be the bump stop, im assuming this is the way it was built? im starting to think i have a different model rack on the car..

i hope that makes more sense.

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

no it makes more sense now.....and thats why your steering wheel turns on way 1 1/4 one way and 1 3/4 the other ..if it was 1 1/2 one way and one and 1/2 the other the tie erods would be threaded about the same length but the car has been alighned with the column misaligned on the rack so it seems like fine the steering wheel was probably in the 2 or 3 oclock position before it was aligned

calisons

iTrader: (1)

with the driver side tie rod maxed out, that actually makes the turning radius biased to the passenger side, but it still gets more angle turning to left (towards driver.)

if i lengthen the driver side tie rod, it will have longer travel turning to the left.. and furthermore increasing its turning angle

anyone else?

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

you must not understand me at all bro its understandable its not easy to imagine ... .forget the tie rods for now...your steering rack being hooked up to the column wrong is why you have more angle one way. the illusion is from the wheels being aligned while the steering wheel is off centered with the rack ...the rack was turned to the right pushing the passenger rod out and the driver rod in then hooked to a straight steering wheel column. then the front wheels aligned so in actuality your wheel "should" be pointing out on the pass. side and the driverside pointing in.but your wheels were aligned so they are straight so when you turn left the driver wheel turns out way more cause it has more travel....instead of moving from pointing in to pointing out (lets say 12 inches)which is two turns of the steering wheel it is moving from straight to out but has the full 12 inches of travel but the rim is straight instead of pointing in which is why it turns more to the driverside.

you need to to center(not straighten) the steering wheel so there is the same distance lock to lock left and right once you center it unhook the column and "straighten" you steerign wheel and hook it back up...your wheels/rims will not be straight at all at this point most likely they will be pointing to the right

calisons

iTrader: (1)

Ok, let's say you even the distance that the rack travels. Hook up the column and then adjust the tie rods accordingly. With even travel, the driver side wheel will toe out and the adjustment is maxed..

So let me be more specific, to center the rack travel, you turn the wheel to the left (driver side.) so now the wheels are both point to the left.. You adjust the passenger side toe out (lengthen the rod,) and And now you try to adjust the driver tie rod accordingly.. But the driver side it maxed already, remember?

It does not matter how the car was aligned with the rack off center because the adjustment for the driver side to toe in is maxed.

OG Dada

iTrader: (10)

That'll fix the distance issues of your outer tie rod to the inner. Then bring your car to a reputable alignment shop in your area and get an alignment. If there's still a problem your alignment guy should be able to tell you what it is. And learn from my mistakes, makeshift thread and lasers in somebody else's parents' garage doesn't work as a proper alignment, go to a real alignment shop.

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

thanks for the pic....if you shift the racks rods to the left with the rods even the wheels will be pointing to the left now if your rack is pointing that way and your column if hooked up to the rack straight your steering wheel will be straight and the wheels pointing to the left ...if the car is aligned like this in order to bring the wheel in it will have to be maxed out which what it sounds like your saying maybe you should provide pics brother instead of having people imagine

Dx3

iTrader: (13)

Nailed it.