Play in the steering

Hey there guys,

 

I've noticed since I bought my Legacy a few months back that there is a bit of play in the steering wheel. It's more noticible at speed (80km/h+). It's not too bad, but it is cetainly noticeable. Is this normal among Legacys? I'd like to get this fixed as it is a little annoying but I have no idea where to begin. Any advise would be much appreciated!

I'd start with checking your tire pressure.

Then making sure your wheels/tires are properly balanced.

After that, jack up each corner and check each wheel for lateral play to determine if you have bad bearings.

If all of these seem fine, take your car in for an alignment job.

Play in the steering isn't normal.

Thankfully, my brother works for a tyre company and I've managed to get an alignment and balance done just recently in hope that it would fix the issue. Sadly though, it hasn't. I suppose I'll be checking the bearings tonight. I've just gone and bought some new rotors and pads for the front wheels as the right front rotor was warped and causing the wheel to shake when breaking, could this be the reason for the play in the wheel?

Tie rods?

Probably could be the tie rods, if they aren't threaded evenly on L and R, I believe one wheel could have more camber than the other.

I believe on the DIY guide for doing the steering rack there is a guide for properly setting the tie rods to the same spec. I would hope it didn't need to come down to that though.

Check the power steering resevoir. I don't know how being low on fluid would cause play, but mayhaps it is overfilled?

I'm going with a tie rod. Just had to replace one myself, actually. Jack up the front end, lock the steering wheel, and see if either wheel has play in it. If you have a bad tie rod, it will be pretty loose and you'll hear a knocking sound.

 

If that's not it, it could be something loose in the linkage to the steering wheel. Or possibly a bad rack, but I think that would be much more evident.

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If that's not it, it could be something loose in the linkage to the steering wheel. Or possibly a bad rack, but I think that would be much more evident.

Very common amongst our 2nd Gens. Check the coupler located just under the master cylinder.

these racks do not fail often. there are not a lot of post about rack repair or replace. and when they do it is usually in the form of a leaking seal.

 

but tie rods do wear out. so i would look there. i have not done an inner tie rod but i here it is not too hard. easier if the rack is not in the car, as with most things. but i have pulled several and replaced one rack.

 

so check the tie rods, inner and outer, and replace them or buy a used rack for 65$ and replace the whole thing.

 

http://www.car-part.com

these racks do not fail often. there are not a lot of post about rack repair or replace. and when they do it is usually in the form of a leaking seal.

 

but tie rods do wear out. so i would look there. i have not done an inner tie rod but i here it is not too hard. easier if the rack is not in the car, as with most things. but i have pulled several and replaced one rack.

 

so check the tie rods, inner and outer, and replace them or buy a used rack for 65$ and replace the whole thing.

 

http://www.car-part.com

 

I just did my first inner tie rod a couple of weeks ago. Very easy job with the Harbor Freight tie rod tool and an impact gun. Took all of an hour start to finish.

steering rack bushings too. i need to get mine replaced.

any one know what size from white line i need to buy? 25 or 30?

anyone?

I got 30 for my Reman rack.