Steering play...

I tried to search but couldn't find what I was looking for...

Going down the road, my car has 2-3" of play back and forth in the steering wheel before it will actually move the car...it drives me insane. Any ideas on what exactly is worn out that I need to replace?

Sorry, I have the same problem. Help us out please,

ZMAN

seems like your Rack And Pinion has worn out. How many miles are on your 2000 Camaro? i can see the rack going out on the 95 Z28 because its gonna have alot more miles, but your 2000 seems too new for it to go out, but its possible. i have alot of steering slop in my car aswell, and i need a new Rack and Pinion

but first, check to see if your outer tie rod ends are worn out
If you do buy a new Rack and Pinion, make sure it comes with inner tie rods.

Somehow I doubt it's the rack and pinion. I say this because my bf's formula had a good amount of play...he replaced the rack and it's still there.

I have 80k miles. It's strange...I never really noticed it until I took out part of the steering shaft (to get the master cylinder out)...but somehow I doubt that just taking out two bolts/putting them back on can cause that, I guess I just never paid attention to it before.

Have you checked the outer tie rods for wear?

the "Rag Joint" aswell i heard bad ones can cause play in the steering and its located on the steering shaft.. search for "Rag joint Eliminator" its like 35$ and i heard it fixed alot of peoples problems for the most part, but check those outer tie rod ends

the "Rag Joint" aswell i heard bad ones can cause play in the steering and its located on the steering shaft.. search for "Rag joint Eliminator" its like 35$ and i heard it fixed alot of peoples problems for the most part, but check those outer tie rod ends


The tie rod ends are fine.

This rag joint you speak of...is that the tiny u-joint on the shaft? Or something else?

98+ V8 cars don't have the "rag" joint, they just have like a u-joint from what I understand, so he wouldn't need the eliminator.

tie rods and the rack itself would be the only things I could think of being the problem.

A friend of mine posed an interesting solution that involves this same problem. He has a '95 TA LT1 that has alot of steering slop from the rag joint going bad. He suggested taking the whole shaft out and replacing it with one from an LS1 car. Does anyone know if that is possible? The linkages on both ends look the same, but we are not sure about the overall length differences (if any). The reason he was wanting to know is, he can get a used LS1 steering shaft for about $20. Didn't mean to butt in on this thread but, it might be a cheap solution. :D

I don't think the steering shafts will interchange. There's something about the angles being wrong or something I think.

A friend did a V6 to LS1 swap in his car. When he went to mount it all up, the headers hit his steering shaft. He has the Y87 package on his Camaro which came with an LT1 steering rack. He had to change to a LS1 rack and might have had to use a different shaft too in the end.

Thanks guys, I will relay the info.

For a rag joint eliminator:

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/

Jack up the car, crawl under and look at the steering sytem while a friend moves the steering wheel back and forth. When I did this I found that the pinion gear on my rack and pinion would move up and down about a 1/4"; replaced the rack and problem was solved.