DMCH Steering Rack Adjustment

[Chris4099]

After about 25k miles, my DMCH steering rack seems to have some play in it now. I can move the steering wheel about an inch back and forth before there is any movement in the rack. I can confirm this play is indeed in the rack and not in the mounts or steering column u-joints. Does anybody know if there's any rack/pinion adjustment to resolve this? Or am I stuck having to buy a new rack?

[dn010]

Did you check the tie rod ends?

[Chris4099]

Yes, both inner and outer tie rods appear to be good. When looking down at the rack from above, I can move the steering wheel and see no movement coming out of the rack.

[David T]

If the play (looseness) is indeed the rack itself, there are things you can do to eliminate the play. There are articles and posts on how to disassemble, clean, lubricate, and adjust the rack. This is a critical part in the steering so if you are not comfortable rebuilding the rack, vendors offer rebuilt ones. Double check again it is not anything external to the rack like the rubber mounts, tie rod ends, U joints, loose hardware, etc. Not all of the vendors rebuild the racks and not all of the vendors sell parts to do it.

[dn010]

I find it easier to troubleshoot from below, hold the lower steering u-joint with one hand and try moving a tire with the other to see what is loose, or rotate the lower u-joint while holding the tire. If it came from DMCH I'd suggest contacting them to see what your options are.

[Chris4099]

Well, I'm an idiot. Turns out there was no play in the rack after all. I could have sworn the pinion was moving when turning the wheel, but that wasn't the case. I've always had play and assumed it was the u-joints. So I swapped them out and the play remained, so I assumed it was the rack all along while not paying close enough attention to the u-joint connections. It turns out the u-joint was on the wrong spline so the lock screw didn't press level against the flat area of the rack pinion. This allowed a lot of movement as the DMCH rack splines aren't a tight fit against the Borgeson u-joint. I moved the u-joint and tightened down the lock screw hard. No more play now!

If the play (looseness) is indeed the rack itself, there are things you can do to eliminate the play. There are articles and posts on how to disassemble, clean, lubricate, and adjust the rack. This is a critical part in the steering so if you are not comfortable rebuilding the rack, vendors offer rebuilt ones. Double check again it is not anything external to the rack like the rubber mounts, tie rod ends, U joints, loose hardware, etc. Not all of the vendors rebuild the racks and not all of the vendors sell parts to do it.

Unfortunately the DMCH rack is very different then the factory rack. There's no access plate to remove (just some large bolt head) nor can you easily remove the pinion. So the directions you find online won't work which is why I was hoping to get some feedback here. Thankfully it ended up not being needed.

[dn010]

A cheap fix. Congratulations!

[DMCMW Dave]

Those aftermarket stainless columns (Borgeson etc.) can be tricky to get tight. Not unusual.