Steering Rack Tension Nut

[theroundcow]

Hey Everybody,

After replacing damn near everything underneath my car, i am at the conclusion that my refurbed steering rack must have come with its tension nut over torqued. That, or when doing the minor hardline bend required to retrofit the z3 rack into an e30, i altered the flow rates of power steering fluid and its causing weird issues even though the pump isn't whining (this seems unlikely to me). I have offset powerflex LCAB, new control arms, new shocks, ground control camber plates, Z3 rack + garagistic swap kit, power flex rear subframe bushings, powerflex, rtab bushings, powerflex diff bushing....the sway bars and bushings are the only things that have not been replaced. they dont look great but i dont think they are influencing this situation.

has anyone played with this adjustment nut?

[theroundcow]

bump

[jeffnhiscars]

I had a conversation with Rich Swenson aka rackdoctor about the adjusting nut although it was for an e36 rack. He told me that he never discusses "how to" due to the number of racks that people had him warrantee out because they over tightened it.

[theroundcow]

hey thanks for your response jeff! i think i might have read that thread, i had even thought about giving him a call myself. i think typically people are trying to tighten a loose dying rack, while mine seems over tightened and i purchased new/refurbed from a reputable bmw shop very recently. that being said, i did originally replace the power steering pump with a used one, im hoping a new pump might help it return to center? it feels kind of heavy and restrictive as it is, but i am definitely being assisted. the z3 rack is hard to turn when the car is off.

[theroundcow]

bumping myself here ; i bought an amazon power steering pump (i know, i know) and im going to swap it in. my theory is that i have a weak pump that doesnt leak, so the steering is heavy and and consequently doesnt fully return to center at slower speeds. 70+ on the highway it seems to return much better. i also have a front left clunk that occurs under sudden turns and/or compressions in the left front suspension, going to replace inner/outer tie rod assembly with new ones i have here. and then hopefully, dear lord, the car will finally drive better.

[theroundcow]

still havnt touched preload piston nut. no longer think its the pump, i may need to grind the upper u joint more (or just get the vorshlag shaft). the outer tie rod boots were torn, im going to replace those and get another alignment. this has been exhausting no doubt.

[jeffnhiscars]

The shoulders on the u joints can absolutely cause binding. It doesn't take much but has to be in just the right places to insure everything clears.

as for tie rods be careful not to let any tightening transit in to the rack as it is not designed for axial,loads. This is why rackdr includes inners with his racks....so he doesn't have to warranty THOSE too after people don't do it correctly