Parson

Hey guys. Hope everyone is doing well. I have a 98 ES300 that just got a front end overhaul. By overhaul, I mean that I replaced absolutely everything on the front end--struts, hub knuckles, bearings, ball joints, sway bar links, sway bar bushings, control arms, brake calipers, pads, rotors, steering rack, power steering pump, power steering lines, etc. Anyhow, everything went smoothly with the job until I took it to get aligned. When they first put it on the alignment machine (or whatever they do with it) the car was obviously way out of alignment--no surprises here, that is expected after doing so much front end work. Here are the original numbers they got before aligning the car:



Then they aligned the car and got these numbers:



At this point they took the car for a test drive to make sure that the job was complete. This is where things got weird. They told me that anytime they would take a left or right turn, once the car had completed the turn, the steering wheel would no longer be aligned. This would happen multiple times throughout the test drive. After every turn they made, the steering wheel return to a different location. Very odd, So they assumed that they had messed something up and put it back on the machine to realign it. When they put it back on the alignment machine after the first test drive, they got these numbers (you can see how bad it got and clearly something is off):



And then they aligned it again and got these numbers:



Then they took it for a test drive again and the same thing happened. This happened three or four times they said before they gave up. Anyhow, I am thinking that there is some sort of issue within the steering rack itself. The rack is not new but it is a newly remanufactured AC Delco rack so I am hesitant to diagnose it as faulty so quickly. Has anyone had any issues like this? I have a fairly good understanding of how these parts all work together and my gut is telling me something is slipping in the steering rack but I would like to get input from the experts here at the Club. Thanks in advance, everyone!!!

LeX2K

I don't ever recall seeing that happen unless the front suspension was totally bagged. Maybe the rack is not bolted in properly and moving around? Seems like it would not be hard to find out what's up by turning the steering wheel with the car off and watch/feel for improper movement.

Oh on the AC Delco brand rack I don't have any experience using their parts.