Slop in the steering
 

I just picked up my 1997 TA and while driving there is about 1-1.5" of play in the steering before the wheels respond. Only while driving though. In park, it is fine, no clunks or slop there.

I'm guessing my rack and pinion is out?

check the rag joint. you'll have to disconnect the steering shaft from the rack. there's a few fixes to cure...the eliminator which will stiffen the steering so much that it may break if you hit a large pothole or curb (but it's the best for performance), and the stock replacement is always an option, or there's the poly option which is a little of both.

it's not difficult, just time consuming. also a good time to grease the shaft...that's a problem for a "popping steering wheel" issue.

Where would I get the poly version?

The rag joint is inside of the plastic cover on the steering shaft correct?

yes. not sure where to find it...it was a post by someone on the thread. dont even know if it exists. i'm sure if you go to a performance shop they'll be able to look into a poly magazine.

I have the ragjoint eliminator kit from unbalanced engineering. It reduced steering wheel play down to next to nothing(on a car with 180k miles), and despite what people say(who generally dont own the kit) I noticed no noticeable increase in road vibration/harshness in the steering. Great kit and definitely gets my recommendation. Dont waste your time replacing it with the factory peice.

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

Its only $36. Its easy to install, just make sure you have a good drill/set of drill bits(Cobalt preferred) before you start.

meangreen, what do we need to drill? I'm getting ready to order the kit and I was wondering exactly how good of a drill set I need. My drill is almost shot and I've been putting off getting a new one for some time now.

You'll need to drill out the rivets that hold the coupler together on the ragjoint(Make sure your drilling only through the Rivets, not into the coupler).You replace them with bolts/locknuts. The kit comes with instructions, not that its too hard to figure out.

I would suggest getting a good set of bits and a drill simply because otherwise it may take a while to drill them out. I made the mistake of forgetting my Makita drill at work and had to use a black and decker that couldnt even hold the bits. It took forever, but I got it done.

+1 on the unbalanced engineering kit. Good quality, removed all the slop in my 130k car.

No issues with potholes?

I drive in the pothole capitol of the US (Chicago) Some highways and RR crossings really bite the suspension.

I don't have any issues, and I have 18's, they don't soak up as much as the regular 16's or even the 17's. We have plenty of potholes here lol. Just remember to put some blue locktight on the bolts when you put it in, it really doesn't take too long at all. Do it when the car is cold otherwise you'll probably burn yourself on the exhaust. If you're too worried, you could just get another stock piece.

I also have the UnBalanced Engineering Rag Joint Eliminator. Works great. Also, I didn't notice any increase in steering vibration.

Not horribly worried, just don't want to crack something like a steering part when I hit a pothole and lose control.


I'll place the order this afternoon..... now I have something to play with this weekend. Will be nice to be able to slam the breaks and not have it pull to one side or the next depending on which way the road is slanted :)

Sandman, just to clarify, is the Ragjoint the source of your steering wheel slop? My cars slack appears to be in the the steering rack...

I removed the plastic cover and you can see the rivits are tight, but the rubber "puck" is just loose in there when you shake the wheel side to side. There is about 1/8th in of play before the rubber catches at the joint, which translates to about 1/4 on my steering wheel.

For 30 bucks I might as well go with the best and see how it acts. If it ends on being something else I'd be suprised.

If you have headers, the heat from the headers tends to damage the rubber puck causing the steering to feel sloppy.