Hey all... I'm starting to have a bit of a wandering problem with my '89 IROC. I was able to get underneath it yesterday, and it seems as if there's a little bit of play in the gear box itself. Idler arm, center link, and tie rods all seem to be tight. Chilton's shows how to do it with the gear out of the vehicle... Is there an easier way to do it? Thank ahead of time. - John '89 L98

 

I have some instructions with pictures on my site. Be aware you CAN jack up your steering box if you get this too tight.

Steve

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Steve's Trans Am Temple

 

Steve, I may be overlooking it, but I didn't quite see where the instructions were on your site. Wanna guide me in the right direction? Thanks. - John

 

Sorry brother, I redid my directory and forgot to put it back in there. Check under Miscellaneous... Under number 3 I say to go for a short test drive - you can also try it with the front end up on jackstands so that the tires are free to move, if you notice binding when you turn the wheel lock to lock, back it off a bit.

Steve

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Steve's Trans Am Temple

 

Cool... Seems to be the same as my old Caprice. Looking in the manual, it seemed a bit more complicated. Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes. BTW - That's a nice ride you have there. Looks like you put quite a bit of work into it. Good job. - John '89 L98

 

Once I break the bolt loose which way do I turn the hex nut?...is it righty tighty lefty loosey?.....I only have about 2 or 3 inches of play so how much should I tighten the hex nut?

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wishmister@yahoo.com

1987 White IROC-Z
305 TPI LB9 273 Rear Gear
700-R4 auto tranny
97,000 miles
KYB's
Performance Resource Chip
Flowmaster Muffler
Ported/Polished Plenum by "Daniel Burk"
Holley AFPR
Throttle Body Coolant bypass
TPIS air Foil
TPIS MAT Relocation Kit
K&N's
Gutted air box
Accel 8.0 plug wires
Moroso Super Coil
Blue Streak Cap and Rotor
Boush Patinum +4's
Mobil 1 15/50 Synthetic motor oil
Mobil 1 synthetic Trans fluid.

 

Wish,

All the fasteners are standard, rhight-hand threaded. Loosen the locking nut, hold the nut with a wrench, and slightly tighten the set screw, then lock the nut while holding the set screw in place.

Almost all recirculating ball worm/sector steering boxes are the same, and all you are doing with the adjustment is reducing the clearance for the recirculating *****. As Scauffel warned, overtightening the adjustment can result in too little clearance and trashed worm/sector gears. Once the adjustment screw is free to turn easily, you really only want to finger-tight the adjustment to remove any play. The complete procedure for preloading the box requires removing the steering box from the car to measure steering input shaft torque load (in oz/inches torque), and is a rather involved process. Most service wear can be eliminated by the above method without damaging the steering gearbox.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

 

My brother told me an old mechanics trick, once you tighten the steering box, the wheels should still come back to center if you let go of the wheel after a turn. If they don't the steering box is too tight.

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Rob P
89RSconvtZZ4TPI
92Z28convt5spd
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