CatmanFS

I recently took off the steering rack, at the bolt that connects the middle link to the arm that comes off the box, and I'm not sure exactly how tight that bolt is supposed to be. Before it had the rubber grease sleeve, but it was rotted and is now gone, so I can't tell how far into the arm that connecting bolt should be. Also, since that bolt that comes out of the center link is sitting in a ball joint, I can't really tighten it down very much. I tried lightly tapping it in place from the bottom, but that didn't do much. The rust mixed with slight de-threading doesn't help either. Any suggestions?

plum92_camaro

My first suggestion is replace all the steering linkage with moog parts. Its all 23 years old now. A-arm bushings and ball joints may not be a bad idea either while you in there. Replace it all and you can forget about it for another 10-20 years. Buy from either rock auto, jegs, or summit. You'll save about $100 by not going to a parts store. Inner and outer tie rods, tie rod adjuster sleeves (i got some HD ones from QA1), idler arm, and center link. Pitman arm is a non-wear item and shouldn't need replaced. Steering linkage is a fairly simple DIY project, tricky part is setting the idler arm to level the steering linkage. Get an alignment immediately after. Here are some alignment specs.


IIRC the castle nuts on the steering linkage should be 35 ft/lbs. Moog will say in the instructions. If the hole for the cotter pin doesn't line up, tighten until it does. The taper of the metal with set the depth. A chiltons manual will have the torque specs.

CatmanFS

Ah, thank you, especially for the alignment specs. Any suggestions for a DIY alignment? I know it's probably next to impossible without the right lift, but I still like to play around. My Bonneville is close but not perfect. Seems like a lot of trial and error, adjust then readjust but any tips would be nice.