Replacing steering rack - what is this?

[Redsquall]

OK, I think I found out what I was doing wrong. I understood rotating tirades opposite from each other as rotating the driver side clockwise when you're looking at the inside of the wheel in the passenger side clockwise when you're looking at the inside of the wheel – what I was doing was screwing them both in tighter and exaggerating the tow. So I took the passenger side and rotate it did it twice as many times in the other direction which truly evened it out and adjusted the steering wheel position.

I'm going to put it down and drive around the block and see how it feels before I reposition the steering wheel. But check out the pictures below. This is how many threads I have visible on each side – I just want to make sure that looks normal because there are a lot of thread showing on the passenger side I want to make sure there's enough threads actually going into the tie rod end to hold it solid
thanks very much!

[David T]

From your posts it is clear you don't know what you are doing. Get the car to an alignment shop. Even if you get it to go straight and the wheel is pointing straight ahead and you have equal turns left and right, you lost the proper toe adjustment and that is important for tire wear and drive ability.

[DMC5180]

From your posts it is clear you don't know what you are doing. Get the car to an alignment shop. Even if you get it to go straight and the wheel is pointing straight ahead and you have equal turns left and right, you lost the proper toe adjustment and that is important for tire wear and drive ability.

+1

Take it to a shop, it's the only way you will know the Alignment is correct. Explain to the Service Tech that you want the rack centered (equal threads exposed on the inner tie-rods). once that is done, you can do one of Two things. Pull the lower U-joint off the Rack and re-install with the wheel straight or Pull Steering Wheel and reposition it. You are dealing with Splines on either end so it won't likely be perfect. If want perfection, you will need to likely have the do a final alignment adjustment with the Wheel held perfectly Centered. Go for drive and hopefully it yields the result you desire.

Off center steering wheels when driving straight is one of biggest pet peeves.

[David T]

An alignment shop with one of the newer laser-guided and automated databases have it down to a science. Once everything is centered and adjusted they can remove the steering wheel if necessary and center that. If it is still off they will recenter the rack and/or adjust the tie rod ends. Before going to the shop you should remove the trailing arm shields, take out all of the extra "junk" that adds weight, and have 1/2 tank of fuel. You should also have some extra shims for the TAB's. Check the tires and if they look bad or are over 7 years old they should be replaced. Make sure they all have the correct pressure as per the label on the back of the glove box door. Bring the specs too just in case. If their machine doesn't have the specs they can add them to the database manually. Do a visual to make sure nothing is bent, missing, broken or worn. They can't do a proper alignment if the suspension and steering is not in good shape. A Delorean, in good shape and all lined up, should drive very responsively, no looseness, play, or vibration. It should track straight ahead on a smooth road with no crown. You will probably age out of your tires before you wear them out. If your car was lowered there are additional things that should be done.

[Redsquall]

An alignment shop with one of the newer laser-guided and automated databases have it down to a science. Once everything is centered and adjusted they can remove the steering wheel if necessary and center that. If it is still off they will recenter the rack and/or adjust the tie rod ends. Before going to the shop you should remove the trailing arm shields, take out all of the extra "junk" that adds weight, and have 1/2 tank of fuel. You should also have some extra shims for the TAB's. Check the tires and if they look bad or are over 7 years old they should be replaced. Make sure they all have the correct pressure as per the label on the back of the glove box door. Bring the specs too just in case. If their machine doesn't have the specs they can add them to the database manually. Do a visual to make sure nothing is bent, missing, broken or worn. They can't do a proper alignment if the suspension and steering is not in good shape. A Delorean, in good shape and all lined up, should drive very responsively, no looseness, play, or vibration. It should track straight ahead on a smooth road with no crown. You will probably age out of your tires before you wear them out. If your car was lowered there are additional things that should be done.

David, Yes, the car has been eibach'd. What additional things are you referring too?
Thanks

[David T]

David, Yes, the car has been eibach'd. What additional things are you referring too?
Thanks

If the car has been lowered you must reset the front Toe and you must get the lower adjustable links for the rear suspension so you can adjust Camber on the rear wheels. You should also check Camber on the front but that is not easily adjustable. Lowering the car reduces the suspension travel. If you hit any bumps hard you will bend and break suspension parts. You also risk getting caught on anything in the road like a raised manhole. if you have ground effects you can rip them off very easily, even just getting onto and off of a lift. Make sure all of the bump stops are there and in good condition.

[Redsquall]

DMC midwest did the whole Eibach setup and aligned it. I replaced steering rack. Midwest said at that point only needed front toe in between 0 and 0.25. Had place align it. But rack wasn't totally centered so I rotated the tie rods. Now turning wheel from center is even both directions. Steering wheel was then removed and recentered. Toe in is now 0.25. Drives straight. New aluminum control arms. All seems good. Tires new. Only thing I wonder about is one tie rod is showing about 10 threads beyond the tighten nut and the other side is about 6. Is there enough threads threaded in to the tie rod end if 10 show after the nut? Thanks guys

[DMC5180]

Yes, Inner Tie-rods typically have about 2" of threads. you're Good.

[David T]

The short answer is yes BUT. We are assuming both tie rod ends are the same length. Not necessarily true if one or both were replaced. It is also a sign that the steering rack may not be centered. Make sure you have the same number of turns on the steering wheel from the center to the left and the right. If DMC MidWest did the work, chances are everything is fine. Pay attention to how the car tracks and how the tires wear.

[dn010]

It is also a sign that the steering rack may not be centered. Make sure you have the same number of turns on the steering wheel from the center to the left and the right.

???

This is what he has been working on for the past few months at least, read back to the June posts...