Sloppy steering

[zmarrott]

I picked up a 2001 legacy gt limited recently, and of all the little issues it has my steering is the most annoying and worrying. At speed on the freeway theres about a 5-10° deadzone in the steering which makes for a slightly sketchy drive at 90. Also while going over any not smooth surface (cattleguard, dirt road, speedbump etc.) I can hear something shaking in the front end. I jacked it up and did a look and it appears that all my bushings are good. Nothing looked very worn nor could i shake any components with the exception of the tie rods. Could just tie rod ends cause such an issue? Or might it be in the rack itself. I also checked the steering joint under the brake booster and it appears solid enough. I manually tried twisting the shaft in the engine bay while leaning on the wheel and it seemed to act exactly like the steering wheel itself; worryingly large dead zone. Any history of the steering racks having a lot of slop in them? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated

[1 Lucky Texan]

how many miles on the car? usage history?; highway, offroad or surface streets?

 

seems like inner tie rods

 

worth checking all other part, including the rear bushings for the lower control arms.

Edited January 30, 2017 by 1 Lucky Texan

[zmarrott]

168k miles. As for use history of car, no idea. Ive had the car for 2 weeks. Bought it from a girl whos selling point was that its a reliable car which to me means she neglected maintenance thinking it didnt need to be done. Though it is a very clean specimen for 16 years old so im assuming mostly city and higheay use. How hard is inner tie rods? Ive done outer on a few vehicles but never inner

[1 Lucky Texan]

never did 'em - may need to on our 03 obw soon.

 

there's a special tubular wrench gadget you can 'borrow' from Advance or AZ or w'ever parts store with interchangeable inserts to remove, install them. Probably a good idea to put new boots on too.

 

maybe search for  DIY walk-thru and videos at youtube?

[Fairtax4me]

Good chance that's just worn tie rod ends and those should be obviously loose if they're worn enough to exhibit play.

 

Possible it's inside the rack, but before swapping that make sure the clamp bolt on the u-joint isn't loose where it clamps to the input shaft on the rack or on the steering column shaft at the firewall.

 

Also check the bushings that mount the rack into the crossmember. They get soaked with oil and fall apart and the rack can move around a bit inside the mounts.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Fairtax4me