[DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises

clay willmott claywillmott at hotmail.com
Tue Jun 14 14:42:02 EDT 2011



Wheel bearings are tight, just checked them.  They are the new kit from Quella and I drilled spindles and locked when i did it.Pads are new and brakes re built and all are tight and brakes work well.
Rotors are turned and tight.The sway bar bushings look dry and old but doubt they could make that much noise? the brackets are not cracked anywhere.the A Arms bushing I did not replace, they were zerked and I grease them every now and then.
The zerks on the lower a arms though wont accept grease so maybe the fittings are clogged.Can the bushings make that much noise?
as for rack it turns freely while jacked up with no noise or clunks.It does feel a little like a ratchet or mild cogwheeling if that thats a decent description.  Is that normal while car is up in the air?
Cars feels tight and drive well under a load this is much more noticeable when driving slow of in parking lot or neighborhood.
I checked all attachments A arms, brakes, shocks (new coil overs) and other than the bushings looking a little old on bottom a arms and front sway its all good.Other than maybe taking the spindle locks off and re-torqe in inch pounds (anyone remember specs so bearings dont overheat) and maybe replacing bushings on a arms im not so sure its the rack now?? the steering column spindles are all tight and proper. sitting in car with it jacked up the steering feels very nice from the wheel.If it doesnt clunk at all is there any reason to pull it? also if I dont remove the new ball joints can the a arms bushings be replaced without re alignment?which bushings are good performance without excessive noise?
thanksClay
> From: wkooiman at earthlink.net
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2011 23:27:04 -0500
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises
> 
> Rattles, creaks, and groans?
> 
> What about the wheel bearings?
> 
> What about the rotors and pads?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
> Behalf Of Julian Kift
> Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2011 4:58 PM
> To: doug351c at gmail.com; claywillmott at hotmail.com; De Tomaso List
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises
> 
> 
> Personally I would suspect a suspension problem. Mechanical feeling can
> easily be transmitted back through the tie rods, rack and be felt through
> the steering wheel. Did your suspension rebuild change anything geometry
> wise, is something binding when the suspension is unloaded now the rack is
> lower? Did you check the sway bar mounts during the rebuild process they are
> known to crack in two allowing the sway bar to move. As Doug says trying
> moving it all around, maybe also try that in different unload positions i.e.
> wheels free from the ground, on ground suspension partially unloaded to see
> if you can detect/reproduce the problem.
>  
> Good luck,
> Julian
>  
> > From: doug351c at gmail.com
> > To: claywillmott at hotmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> > Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2011 11:09:30 -0700
> > Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises
> > 
> > Jack up one front corner at a time, grasp the tire at 3 and 9 o'clock, and
> > rock the tire back and forth vigorously by hand. Hopefully you'll
> hear/feel
> > a clunk. If so, have someone else look for the source of the clunk while
> > you rock the tire/wheel. Do this check on both sides.
> > 
> > Doug Braun
> > blue 73L #5505
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
> > [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of clay willmott
> > Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2011 6:31 AM
> > To: Pantera Forum
> > Subject: [DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > I rebuilt the entire front suspension and then had the expert in
> Cincinnati
> > align and double check everything and 4 corner weight balance etc. he does
> > the other panteras and is a suspension guy mainly and does some of the
> > Lemans teams and said everything looked great.WHile doing this I used all
> > the best parts and the car appears structurally sound at a arm sites of
> > attachment.
> > I had the rack out of the car and its an early 71 pushbutton car.I had the
> > suspension guy inspect the rack, it had a bronze bushing and the set screw
> > is intact. I told him rebuild he said didnt need it and he took it apart
> (i
> > think).I also purchased the bump steer kit from a Poca member and mounted
> > all that before final alignment.
> > The car while driving 5 mph on even a decent road has a lot of noise such
> as
> > rattles creaks and groans coming from the rack and I can feel it
> transmitted
> > to hands from steering wheel. Its even more noisy with any small bumps
> into
> > driveway or just the tiny bumps in road of neighborhood while driving very
> > slow and not turning the wheel. These are seams in the road and cannot be
> > felt or heard in any normal car fyi. Sounds like something is loose or
> > wants to fall apart. When turning wheel right to left its also noisy but
> > even before the guy "re built or inspected the rack", whatever he did to
> it,
> > it never had the big single clunk everyone talks about.
> > Is the rack bad? I was told it wasnt bad when i had it out?also, I did
> find
> > it difficult to mount the bump steer kit but the bolts are tight. Nothing
> > appears loose. However it seems the tie rods are angled a bit due to the
> > bump steer kit?
> > I guess my three questions are:
> > 1. Is the Bump steer kit making matters worse?2. Is the rack bad?3. If I
> > remove the bump steer and remount old way I doubt that would fix problem
> but
> > would alignment change? Hoping to fix all this without big money alignment
> > again.
> > thankswanna get this fixed, again!
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > 
> > Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> > 
> > Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
> > 
> > DeTomaso mailing list
> > DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
> > http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
>  		 	   		  
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> 
> Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
> 
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> 
> Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
> 
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
 		 	   		  


More information about the DeTomaso mailing list