Hi all,

Been chasing a slight noise when turning occasionally. Tie rods (inner and outer), ball joints, bearings, strut mounts/bearing, (EDIT: steering rack mounts/bushings) and everything else I can think of is tight. Only noise now is when shaking the steering whl. back and forth. I'd like to reduce the slack a little bit...

So...I know about rack preload...well kind of, since I've never done it, but I know it can be done on some (all?) racks. Found a nice article on how to take up the slack in a rack. Is it possible to do this on our cars? Is it something I shouldn't mess with? The article does say not to tighten it too much. Here:

http://www.valvoline.com/car-care/au.../ccr20060701sr

 

Everything I've been taught about adjusting preload on rack & pinions, steering gears, etc., has always been that it's just going to wear out even faster afterwards. I don't know if it's possible on the FC, but I've never looked. If there is an adjustment, give it a shot. What's to lose, you only have 2 paths:
1- Tighten it, hope it works. If so, ok, if it wears out, replace it anyways.
2- Replace it, never know if the ol' preload trick even works.