I agree with Theo, I do know that if you bolt the rack onto the crossmember
while
the front of the car is off the ground, you will have rack binding when its
back on
the road.. ask me how I know! At least it was years ago when I was a stupid
kid.
As far as the bumping when you cycle the rack off the car, that is NOT good..
it
should be smooth as a steel rod slippin through oil.
Also, I do know that one rack rebuilder on this list does build them extra
tight,
mine is finally loosening up but its been years..
Gary
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Smit, Theo" <Theo.Smit@dynastream.com>
> The rack is subject to load due to crossmember distortion - does the
> steering effort change if you put the car on the ground (or at least,
> with the suspension loaded) and then loosen and retighten the rack
> mounting bolts? Are the steering arms reversed or mounted inside out
> somehow? If the Ackerman was really messed up (I mean REALLY badly, not
> just what the designers did) then it could cause a lack of
> self-centering.
>
> It is also necessary to have the U-joints in phase, i.e. the flanges on
> each end of the middle link have to be aligned. I don't think that
> having this wrong would cause as severe an effect as you're describing
> though.
>
> Are you using reasonably close to stock wheels and tires? Again, I don't
> think that this is something that can cause the behaviour you're
> describing unless you go way outside the normal envelope. I've only ever
> encountered a lack of self-centering on my race Corolla when I was using
> 1 1/4" wheel spacers, lower-offset-than-stock (and 3 inches wider)
> wheels, race slicks, shortened steering arms, and THEN tossed the car
> sideways through a corner. And yes, with 9" slicks and 2 turns lock to
> lock on the steering, the steering effort was brutal. I ended up having
> to go to a larger diameter steering wheel and spacing it towards me to
> prevent forearm cramps.
>
> Theo
> _______________________________________________
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