AE86 wollowy steering / front end

[Jim621]

Hi All,

I took my 86 for its first drive the other day since ive owned it, and was unimpressed with the response from the steering/front end (its unlicenced so used a temporary moving permit).

What are the first few things on the steering or suspension i should look to replace or upgrade to get the steering to be nice and sharp?

The car has Toyo proxy tyres in 195/50/15's which we pumped up to 34PSI that morning. Steering is standard non power steering, unknown condition so i assume its never been overhauled. Ball joints on the steering seem relatively new. Suspension is lowered king springs and unknown shocks (the rears are adjustable Koni's, so possibly the fronts are the same??). Bushings in the front end seem to be standard, so i assume they are originals.

What should i be changing first?

Or it could just be that my other ride is an Evo 8 so maybe my expectations are too high for a ~30 year old car


Cheers, Steve

[Frak]

First thing is to check the wheel alignment may be WAY out!

[tottacrolla]

As above and then look to replace the bushes.
If you want the steering to be quicker (but heavier) you can fit power steering knuckles.

[Jimmee1990]

I would look at all your normal service items first like rack ends, tie rod ends, ball joints and bushes and if the rack itself has any play also. If they are all reasonably new and still okay I would be looking at the alignment, because the steering in these cars is really nice and direct.

[Jim621]

Do 86's have a rubber dampener on the steering column?

[drift kid]

Noope

[tottacrolla]

The lowered suspension may have screwed the front roll centre height.
Check the angle of the lower control arm relative to the ground.

[LittleRedSpirit]

Just start with the basics.

Is your steering rack in good condition, is it greased and wearing boots that will keep the grease in and dust out?

If you disconnect the taper from the steering arm at the tie rod end, does the rack end drop down, or do they stay holding their own weight. Same with tie rod ends, if they dont just fall around to a rest position they are ok.

Can you move the lca balljoint by hand, you should just be barely able to and it should feel smooth. Has it been rgeased?

Are the lca bushes in good condition?

Are the wheel bearings tight and well lubed? Are the caster bar bushes in good nick? How about the strut tops.

If the steering feels wishy washy Id start with wheel bearings and then look at alignment, and and maybe lca balljoints. If its not the steering rack or ends itself.

They will handle pretty good with just stock stuff in good condition. No need to by a bunch of aftermarket bits until you know how the stock stuff feels and assess what you need to change for a desired outcome.

[Jim621]

Thanks for the comments all, ill work through those things one by one.

I havent had a workshop do a wheel alignment yet, but have measured from rim to rim and its within a few millimeters difference which is within the ballpark. ill get a proper wheel alignment when ive replaced all the bushes etc.

Steering rack doesnt have any play that i can feel when pushing/pulling the rack when its on the car. ball joints and tierod ends are fine and hold their own weight. Ive just replaced the rubber boots as the old ones where cracked, so next step would be to remove it and regrease it the steering. At the same time ill install some poly steering rack bushes.

LCA balljoints are fine. Unsure on the LCA bushes and castor bar bushes. these are probably originals so ill get them replaced with Poly bushes (was planning to do this at some stage anyway...). Strut tops are aftermarket and the bush is poly and looks fine.

Wheel bearings have just been inspected and regreased. - How do you set the wheel bearings preload? I did the wheel bearing nut up quite firm, spun the rotor a few times to purge some of the grease out, tightened up the nut again, and then untightened it one quarter of a turn.

One thing i havent checked is the front shocks - is there an easy way of checking these other than just sitting and bouncing the front end of the car up and down?

So i guess in summary, the two suspect items are the lower control/caster arm bushes and wheel alignment (and possibly the shocks.).

thanks, Steve.

[marvis]

Modified or power steering arms will make it feel better too.

I'd say it has average shocks too.