Mark 8 "wanders" while driving straight

covshark

covshark

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When the car gets up to speed the cars "wanders"(steers left and right quickly by itself) all over the road while the steering wheel stays straight. I put the car up on the jackstands and tried to move the driver side wheel back and forth and nothing moves.

Now when i put my hands at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position on the passenger wheel i can move it back and forth about a half an inch. I moved it while underneath the car and see the only thing moving is the shaft(has a bellow on one end) that goes into the rack and pinion. Strurt rod bushing look fine also.

is the rack and pinion shot or may there be another culprit?
 
I've had problems with my aftermarket wheels and wide tires wandering whenever there is even the slightest dips or ruts in the road. Just something to consider before you jump to conclusions.
 
brentalan said:
I've had problems with my aftermarket wheels and wide tires wandering whenever there is even the slightest dips or ruts in the road. Just something to consider before you jump to conclusions.
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Is there any to fix this, i also have after market rims and tires, and i live in michigan....bad roads
 
doubt wheels are the problem...the wheels have been on the car for over 50k....great advice though....

im leaning more toward the tie rod ends, they look good and feel solid but who knows..anybody else had any experience with their cars "wandering"
 
you said you checked the driver side, did you check the passenger side as well?
id say check your sway bar mounts, and all other joints while under there, grab tire top and bottom and wiggle to check ball joints, side to side for tie rod ends, also peak at your rag joint on the steering shaft

does it ever "pull" one way or another while braking or accelerating?
 
My pilot sports starting doing that after I racked up some miles on them. Thing followed the road all the time. Use to dread doing long trips on the highway, too much arm strain. New set of perelli's fixed the isssue. Goes straight and stays straight now.

Hell it use to go in any random direction also, accel, deccel, braking. Thought my rod ends were bad, they were fine. I live in michigan also, a trip down 94 felt more like a rally race with all the steering I had to do, bad thing is, its 45 miles of straight road.
 
covshark said:
When the car gets up to speed the cars "wanders"(steers left and right quickly by itself) all over the road while the steering wheel stays straight. I put the car up on the jackstands and tried to move the driver side wheel back and forth and nothing moves.

Now when i put my hands at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position on the passenger wheel i can move it back and forth about a half an inch. I moved it while underneath the car and see the only thing moving is the shaft(has a bellow on one end) that goes into the rack and pinion. Strurt rod bushing look fine also.

is the rack and pinion shot or may there be another culprit?
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Inner tie rod end... its definately not supposed to have play in it, and you answered your own question.
 
FYI - If you do replace the inner tie rods, be CERTAIN to remove the lock pins at the base where they connect to the steering rack. If you don't, you'll ruin your rack when you remove the inner rods.
 
twinbopilot said:
FYI - If you do replace the inner tie rods, be CERTAIN to remove the lock pins at the base where they connect to the steering rack. If you don't, you'll ruin your rack when you remove the inner rods.
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got any advice on what to remove the lock pins with? they seem to be a pin in the ass to get out
 
There are 2 styles of locking pins, rivet and screw, if it's a screw, use screw driver, if it's a rivet, use drill
 
Sapperfire said:
There are 2 styles of locking pins, rivet and screw, if it's a screw, use screw driver, if it's a rivet, use drill
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Pretty much that.




But I feel bad for not looking at this thread earlier. Its very highy that the tie rods are the issue but there is a slight chance it could be the rack too.

Tie rods are about $120 for a pair of good ones. I think Nolimit has a complete brand new 93 rack with inners on it for not a whole hell of allot more. The 93 rack has the quickest steering ratio out of all Marks.
 
Usually an inner tie rod end will "click" when they are bad...cut the band on the boot around the rack, watch the joint as someone else shakes the wheel left and right..use zip tie to secure boot back

amazing how many things are faster about the 93s huh Laser...
 
ok well it is definately the inner tie rod end....but the "pin" thats supposed to be there is not there, nor is the rivet. If the pin had a screwdriver pin i would have definately noticed it.

But when u look up into where the pin should be all I see is a bowl shape about a 1/4 inch deep with nothing to grip on to. It could be possible that the tie rod has been replaced once before i owned the car and they never replaced the pin. I'll take a picture later to make certain it's not there before i go about the removal process.
 
covshark said:
ok well it is definately the inner tie rod end....but the "pin" thats supposed to be there is not there, nor is the rivet. If the pin had a screwdriver pin i would have definately noticed it.

But when u look up into where the pin should be all I see is a bowl shape about a 1/4 inch deep with nothing to grip on to. It could be possible that the tie rod has been replaced once before i owned the car and they never replaced the pin. I'll take a picture later to make certain it's not there before i go about the removal process.
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The pin is prolly on the opposite side from the dimple.

Some dont have it too. Sappers did and my 97 did but we didnt see any on Marks 98. Just assumed they were the cheap vatozone ones but who knows. Also they do wear out so for all you know the car is already on its third set. Hard to know for sure.
 
Sapperfire said:
Usually an inner tie rod end will "click" when they are bad...cut the band on the boot around the rack, watch the joint as someone else shakes the wheel left and right..use zip tie to secure boot back

amazing how many things are faster about the 93s huh Laser...
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Yeah, amazing. Youre car is better then mine. Want to trade?
 
Sorry Covshark for hijacking your thread, my 98 has been having some problems I haven't had time to tackle yet. While I am going slowly, I can turn the wheel to the left and right, and can her the steering squeaking. Also, when driving down the highway, and I hit the brake, the wheel turns to the right. If I'm sitting in traffic and without my hand on the wheel, when I press the brake the wheel turns to the right, and when I take my foot off the brake, the wheels goes back to the left. I know I need to replace the whole front end. It needs it. What is this a sign of?
 
GMAN said:
Sorry Covshark for hijacking your thread, my 98 has been having some problems I haven't had time to tackle yet. While I am going slowly, I can turn the wheel to the left and right, and can her the steering squeaking. Also, when driving down the highway, and I hit the brake, the wheel turns to the right. If I'm sitting in traffic and without my hand on the wheel, when I press the brake the wheel turns to the right, and when I take my foot off the brake, the wheels goes back to the left. I know I need to replace the whole front end. It needs it. What is this a sign of?
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Brakes, SRB, ball joints, tie rods.... you name it. They all cause the issues you state. Thats why when I bought my 98 I just said fugg it and overhauled the front end instead of piecing it like I did on the 97.
I dont notice it since I drive the car all the time but when another Mark driver is in it they comment on how tight and wuiet the car is.
 
LaserSVT said:
Pretty much that.




But I feel bad for not looking at this thread earlier. Its very highy that the tie rods are the issue but there is a slight chance it could be the rack too.

Tie rods are about $120 for a pair of good ones. I think Nolimit has a complete brand new 93 rack with inners on it for not a whole hell of allot more. The 93 rack has the quickest steering ratio out of all Marks.
Click to expand...

Yes, I still have that rack in the box. It hasn't even been taken out since I bought it.
 
LaserSVT said:
Brakes, SRB, ball joints, tie rods.... you name it. They all cause the issues you state. Thats why when I bought my 98 I just said fugg it and overhauled the front end instead of piecing it like I did on the 97.
I dont notice it since I drive the car all the time but when another Mark driver is in it they comment on how tight and wuiet the car is.
Click to expand...

First look at your links and joints, then unbolt the bottom bolts on the caliper and flip it up, remove the pads, hold the friction surfaces together and take a picture ( please note "left set" "right set" in the pics, the pads are designed to wear evenly across the vehicle...

Here are a couple more "could be's" , calipers binding on the square cut seal ( rebuild or replace if required, hoses internally split ( either side can effect the other side, replace in PAIRS) master cylinder internal bypass, replace master cylinder...do these things in this order
 
With pics of the pads held together I can tell you alot better what's going on, and check and make sure that the caliper hardware guide pins are well lubed with a non-petrolium based lubricant
 
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