Hi
I went to big-o the other day, to see if my alignment was messing up that they performend 2 months ago because the car wonders on the road, kind of like "locking" on one side n needing to turn the wheel for it to go the other way. kind of hard to explain, but when i grabed a wheel (while the car was lifted) and pulled it left and right there was a "thud" coming from inside the rack. They checked it and said they my steering rack is going out...lil bit on the dangerious side if you ask me. I have zero leaks so maybe gears going out. IDK, never had to deal with one.

Everything besides the rack up front is new:
Ball joints, uppers and lowers
Inner and outer tie rods
shocks
sway bar bushings

I have a 95 Camaro Z28 sitting in the back yard. I have zero money. I will be taking the rack from the 95z and putting it on my 94z, for the time being until i can replace it with a brand new one. I know i will need an alignment, but i can get it close and have big-o realign for nothing.

Looking at the chiltons book, looks like a fairly strait forward job.

Now rag joints: I have looked and looked, i cant seem to find a new rag joint for my 94z... anyone know where to find one? I have maybe 4-5 degrees play in the steering wheel...maybe rag joint or maybe due to the rack? I still cant find one to replace when i put the brand new rack in there.

 

4th Gen Rag Joint Eliminator
http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/

 

I thought my rack was done, then I found others discussing the worn out rag joint as a more common problem, given the age of most of our vehicles.

Anyway, i got the rag joint eliminator kit from the above posted folks at Unbalanced Engineering and it solved the problem perfectly. Steering is now like new, maybe better.

Getting the old rag joint out is a bit of a pain (depending on how well equipped your shop is), but the procedure is on here somewhere and the new kit from Unbalanced comes with instructions.

Don't do a rack if you don't have to. Best of luck.

 

i took the rack out of my 95z. took about an hour in the dirt with limited tools. when im under my 94z how do you check the rag joint for play without taking it out?

 

I would start by removing the plastic gaurd covering the steering shaft (where it passes next to the driver's side header).

Leave the front wheels on the ground and have an assistant sit in the driver's seat and turn the wheel back and forth while you observe the rag joint for any signs of play. I don't think you need to have the engine running for this test but you will need to put the key in the "run" position to unlock the steering wheel.

When I did this it was fairly clear that the rag joint was not properly transmitting all of the steering input down to the rack.

To me, it seems that the rag joint simply degenerates over time - my car had comparatively few miles (45,000 or so) but the old rag joint was giving at least an inch of play in the steering wheel.