Anybody experiencing loose play in steering. Steering shaft suggestions.

[skratpiece]

If you have had play in your wheel and know what the solution is, read on. Thanks.

With 46k miles on my 04 Cobra , the steering has developed more play than desirable. When I bought the car with 8K miles it was tight as a whistle, now it's as loose as a goose. A Ford technician told me that it was supposed to have play in the wheel, which is wrong. This isn't a 77 F150, it's an SVT Cobra. There is not supposed to be play in the wheel, and there was none when I bought it. I read in a post on modularfords that the rag joint wears out on the steering shaft. Has anybody had this covered under warranty? How much for a new rag joint? It was also recommended that I buy a maximum motorsports solid steering shaft (Maximum Motorsports :: The Leader In Mustang Performance Suspension) but they cost $250. Has anyone installed an aftermarket steering shaft.

 

[1Quick4.6]

I would check the rubber bushing on the steering shaft that probably it....Just go manual steering, you'll never complain about play again.lol

 

[skratpiece]

I'm staying with power steering. Has anyone replaced this bushing? I imagine someone makes a solid rag joint bushing.

 

[LuDamiKE81]

Mine s a little loose now that you mention it.

 

[skratpiece]

So how do we fix this? Can the rag joint be replaced? What does it entail?

 

[20psirabbit]

if you still have stock rack bushings maybe they are also worn out and adding to the problem as well?

 

[skratpiece]

My rack bushings were replaced as part of the service bulletin that Ford put out. I considered that it may be the bushings, but now I am leaning towards it being the rag joint. I'll replace the rag joint if it's only $8.00 like everyone says. Hopefully it's not a pain in the bag to replace.

 

[Evan5469]

For a new rag join I'd check with Steve at Tousley Ford (vendor here if you didn't know). Also, the steering rack bushings could be replaced with solid aluminum bushings from Maximum Motorsports. A lot of guys on here run them and I haven't heard a negative thing about them and actually have a set waiting to go on.

Both of those should really help with the play you have in your steering wheel. :thumbsup:

 

[VincodeY]

im glad im not the only one with play in the wheel. I have wanted to go with the solid steering shaft aswell as I have replaced the bushings with the aluminum mm ones and it did help, but nothing to write home about. Anybody running the solid?

 

[virginiafiveo]

I replaced the bushings on the rack and changed to a solid instead of a rag joint when I went with LT's. it reacts faster on the road and no loose play.

 

[Taz]

As long as their integrity hasn't been compromised, the rag joint on the intermediate shaft and the rubber steering rack bushings only make the steering feel spongy and slow. They don't contribute to play.

If you have play - the kind in which the steering wheel feels like it's not connected to anything at all for a few degrees of rotation - then your culprit is probably the metal bushing in the firewall that the intermediate shaft passes through.

This bushing is just press-fit from the interior side and can back out. When that happens you end up with play. You might even hear a metallic clank when the steering wheel reaches each end of the dead zone when swinging the wheel back and forth.

To correct the problem, re-seat the firewall bushing with a block of wood and a hammer. You don't even need to remove the intermediate shaft to do this, as the bushing has a nice, wide flange to bang on.

This tip is based on firsthand experience, as I learned it the hard way after developing a bunch of play in my own steering system. First, I replaced the rubber rack bushings with the aluminum MM parts. No help. Then, I replaced the intermediate shaft with a Borgeson Universal shaft that completely eliminated the rag joint with a second U-joint. No help. Finally, I discovered the loose bushing and banged it back down against the floorboard. Problem solved.

That was 3 years ago.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Get the MM alumnium rack bushings. They are they best handling mod you can do to the car. The MM steering shaft also is a vast improvement in steering response, but it is a little more money. Aside from the price, there are no downsides to either of these mods. I have no regrets, and woudl do both again in a heartbeat.

Even if you did replace the rag joint, it is just going to go to crap again. I'd pull the old one out and see if you could weld metal to the stops to make the old one tighter, and lessen/eliminate the play.

 

[Juruense]

I think it is much more likely to be the rack bushings or even inner tie rods than the rag joint. Although I have heard of rag joints getting destroyed by heat from headers. Do you have headers?

 

[image]

Im having the same problem brother!

http://www.modularfords.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126042

Post:
I've noticed lately that my steering wheel has a lot of play in it. For example, when driving the steering wheel feels lose in which i can move can turn it to the left and right quite a bit without the car actually turning in the direction i am coaxing it towards. Im really hoping to make it "tighter" like.. Is there a way to do this?

PS I have a UPR K member, with coil overs in the front if that helps... ????

My car only has 19K miles on it and It has play.. Wierd

 

[sweet88gt]

As long as their integrity hasn't been compromised, the rag joint on the intermediate shaft and the rubber steering rack bushings only make the steering feel spongy and slow. They don't contribute to play.

If you have play - the kind in which the steering wheel feels like it's not connected to anything at all for a few degrees of rotation - then your culprit is probably the metal bushing in the firewall that the intermediate shaft passes through.

This bushing is just press-fit from the interior side and can back out. When that happens you end up with play. You might even hear a metallic clank when the steering wheel reaches each end of the dead zone when swinging the wheel back and forth.

To correct the problem, re-seat the firewall bushing with a block of wood and a hammer. You don't even need to remove the intermediate shaft to do this, as the bushing has a nice, wide flange to bang on.

This tip is based on firsthand experience, as I learned it the hard way after developing a bunch of play in my own steering system. First, I replaced the rubber rack bushings with the aluminum MM parts. No help. Then, I replaced the intermediate shaft with a Borgeson Universal shaft that completely eliminated the rag joint with a second U-joint. No help. Finally, I discovered the loose bushing and banged it back down against the floorboard. Problem solved.

That was 3 years ago.

Do you happen to have a picture of the part you re-seated?? I think this may be something I want to look at for my sloppy steering. Seems to have a "dead zone" that nothing really happens and when I go past said "zone" it reacts quickly and makes lane changes sudden and unpredictable.

 

[Taz]

Do you happen to have a picture of the part you re-seated?? I think this may be something I want to look at for my sloppy steering. Seems to have a "dead zone" that nothing really happens and when I go past said "zone" it reacts quickly and makes lane changes sudden and unpredictable.

I presume you have already checked the rag joint on your intermediate shaft, and it's still fine?

It certainly sounds like you've got the same symptoms I had. Downright scary, isn't it? Sorry, I never took a photo of the bushing, but you can't miss it. It's the metal collar that the steering shaft passes through when exiting the passenger compartment through the firewall.

Slide under the dash (inside the car) and run your hand down along along the intermediate steering shaft until you reach the firewall. At the firewall, you'll feel the bushing's flange, which forms a collar around the bushing.

It may feel like it's seated, but probably isn't. Just put a small 2'x4" wood block against the flange and, working the block around the flange bang the collar down into the firewall with a hammer. See if that doesn't clear up your problem.

 

[sweet88gt]

I did a search awhile back and did look at the steering shaft but didnt think much of it as it looked ok. I will look into it tommorrow.

 

[Taz]

I found a cartoon of the collar I'm talking about on my service disc. Hope this helps ...

Again, this is as viewed from the interior of the car.

You'd think from looking at it that the collar is being held down by the plate that it's centered in. Mine sure wasn't.

 

[skratpiece]

Good advise about the Intermediate Shaft Collar. I'll bang it back into place once I get my car back. If that doesn't work, I'm going to replace the Rag Joint with a cheap rubber replacement. If that doesn't work, I'm going to replace it with a Borgeson Needle Bearing U Joint kit. If that doesn't work, I will replace the Steering Rack Bushings with the Aluminum Maximum Motorsports kit. It sounds like "Throwing Parts" at the problem, but it's actually the smartest way to do it. All of the parts above are reasonably inexpensive. I think that the solution probably is the Intermediate Collar. I'll report back in a couple days. By the way, where can I find the best price on the Borgeson Kit? I found this Borgeson 014949 - Borgeson Steering U-Joints - JEGS Anyone have directions on installing a new rag joint?

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Why waste all that time, money and effort? either buy the needle bearing u joint for the stock shaft (which should work fine), or the MM solid shaft which has welded U joints.