I had a remanufactured unit installed after the original started leaking about 3 weeks ago, since then brought the car back 3 different times for an alignment because the steering doesn't feel right. I have the full Ford racing suspension in the car and handled extremely well before and steering was tight, now it feels like the car wanders on the road and the steering doesn't feel as tight as it was..they tell me at the dealer the car feels perfect to them but to me something's off since the I had the rack replaced. Could I have gotten a bad unit and should I have them replace it? Before I would hit bumps and the steering wheel would stay straight now it moves around and goes with the road imperfections..anyone else experience this?

Thanks!

 

What is included in the full suspension? Is it lowered? Did you get ball joints or a bump steer kit? What size tires are you running? Did you do tie rod ends when you replaced the rack? What are your current alignment specs?

 

It has the 1" drop Ford racing springs, struts, shocks, front and rear sway bars, GT500 lower control arms, no bump steer kit (dealer said didn't need one with only a 1 inch drop), tires are 255/45/ZR18's, tie rods were replaced not long ago, the alignment specs I don't have on me but can post them later.

 

Well if something is loose up there you should be able to find it by jacking up the front and seeing which way the wheel has play. But that seems like kinda of a reach seeing that your steering wheel is moving. If you had bad tie rods for instance you would have play in the wheel but it wouldn't make the steering wheel move. I'm guessing that your geometry somehow is screwed up. Control arms and tie rods should be at the same angle. This is the only thing that I can figure with the symptoms you gave. As the suspension articulates, it turns the wheel in and out and that is what you are feeling. That pretty much describes bump steer.

 

Thanks, I'm calling the dealer tomorrow to see if I can bring it in on Saturday.. They're using a new alignment machine and thinking either they don't know how to use it or maybe it's messed up because they car felt perfect before all this happened. This would be the forth time going in for this...

 

Here's an update on the car, brought it back to the dealer and had the rack replaced and new tires put on (Michelin Pirelli p-zero Nero 235-50-18's). Felt a little better but still wanders and feels sloppy at high speeds..had adjustable camber and caster plates installed and having a bump steer kit put on today (both Maximum Motorsports) plus an adjustable pan hard rod put on (Ford Racing) and going to see how it is. If this doesn't correct the problems I'm going back to a stock suspension..!

 

After reading over your posts, I honestly can't figure out as to what else could be causing your steering issues.. Seems to me this would be more of an alignment issue after you went ahead and upgraded to caster camber plates, adjustable panhard rod along with front and rear sway bars, GT500 lower control arms and new rack and pinion unit ..

Being as your car is only lowered by one inch, you do not need a bumpsteer kit as just a one inch drop is not going to throw off the geometry of your front toe settings..

In fact, I have the Eibach pro kit springs with a 1.3 inch drop (front) and 1.5 inch drop (rear) and my steering/alignment is tight and spot on..

My only other suspension mods at this point are: Koni adjustable struts, Eibach camber bolts and GT500 strut mounts.. Other than that, I'm still running the stock suspension..

I would therefore recommend taking your car to another dealership or shop and have your car re-aligned.. As this seems to be the only issue that makes sense IMHO

 

Well I had the bump steer kit installed and does feel better but am probably going to try another place if the problem persists..

 

Did the same dealership install your bumpsteer kit and did they recommend it ? Have you also noticed if it fixed your steering issues that you were having ?

 

Yes it was the same dealership and they mentioned it could help tighten the front end so I bought it and has them install it. They also told me the ratio in the rack could be different than the original one so that might be what I feel..

 

So in other words, they don't know for sure if the ratio is different than your original which also doesn't make any logical sense.. As you would think the ratio's would be all the same for all 2005-10 models..

At any rate, you would also think the dealership would had ordered the right rack and pinion replacement for your specific model to begin with

As I mentioned in my previous post, I would recommend taking your car to another dealership who knows what in the heck they're doing and has the technical knowledge to back it up..

 

I'm taking it to another dealer and see what they say, don't think the one I'm taking it to know what they're doing..

 

After reading all your thread posts ! It definitely seems to me the dealership you've been talking your car to doesn't know what in the heck their doing..

First they claim that you don't need a bumpsteer kit being as your car is only lowered by just one inch and then they flip flop around by telling you that a bumpsteer kit may help tighten things That in my opinion says in itself they don't know squat when it comes to working on performance cars..

If I were in your place, I would recommend telling these so called technicians to stick with strictly working on stock/OEM vehicles and that your taking your car to another dealership or speed shop that has enough technical background and expertise to properly work on performance cars, as your just continuing to waste both your time and money IMHO

 

I took it down to an STS tire shop by me and they checked the alignment specs for me, I attached the printout. Would these numbers be correct for my setup? If not, can someone let me know what they all should be set at..thanks!!