Steering free play

[Donkychobo]

Working through the list of jobs on the 88 944 my lad has bought.

Next it steering, there is more free play than I had on the two I previously owned.

We will get it up on ramps and check.

Shaft joints
Rack mount bushes
Rod ends

If we are aiming for very direct steering what are the best mods?

Polly bushes on the rack?
Are there better rod ends than OEM?

Its a power steering car with 64k miles so hopefully the rack itself is fine.

There is about an inch of movement to the wheel before the car really changes direction.

Thanks Rob

[Fejjj951]

The U joints on the intermediate steering shaft get worn/loose over time.

[Tom]

I was pleasantly surprised how much steering slop disappeared when I installed the KW coil-overs in lieu of the warn out factory shocks. The steering knuckle and things you list are the more traditional things to check, but the KW's really helped in my case. If there is excessive slop, you can get under the car (safely) and have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth while you watch to see the turn make its way to the wheels. You can often isolate the slop by looking at each link in the chain and seeing it happen.... If something turns 5 degrees before the thing it's connected to starts turning, for example, then you found a source of slop....

[Donkychobo]

Thank you for the replies and pointers.

Hope to get chance to inspect for slack sometime this week.

On the to do list are replacement shocks, ARB bushes and inspection of others.

It may turn out to be a combination of items but hoping to spot main offenders and order parts as required.

Need to decide on what shocks to go with but that is another subject I'll post.

Thanks Rob

[stitch2k1]

Go with poly rack bushings, you won't notice a single bit of NVH from it. But rubber doesn't really move at all anyway so it's kinda useless.