That little screw & nut combo on top of most steering gear boxes . . .

If there is no discernable play, don't mess with it. If you overtighten a steering box adjustment, you will get a steering wheel that is marginally harder to turn, but you will get no additional steering feel (in fact, you will get less, as you are introducing friction into the mechanism) and you will experience increased steering gear wear, and also the self-centering of the steering will be reduced (again, due to increased friction.)

Additionally, if you *do* feel play, still be careful. Most boxes are set up to have a "high spot" on center where you make your adjustment; a little play off center is perfectly normal. Unfortunately the high spot is also where the gear sits while driving perfectly straight down the road. So if you have an ultra-high-mileage car with a little perceptible play on center, it's possible that you still may not be able to adjust out all the play because the high spot may have worn so much that it is now looser than the gears are in the off-center position. (not applicable to your situation)

nate

Be sure the ball joints and tie rods are in good condition.They can get sloppy. cuhulin

Recirculating ball systems disappeared with the advent of McP strut suspension about 30 years ago. Few rack and pinions are adjustable. Mostly they are on high performance or luxury cars. Looking at kiatechinfo, I don't see any adjustments or discussion about adjusting. I looked at my 06 Spectra and don't see any adjustment.

#1b. Caution: Some of those lock nuts are L-hand thread.

Not IMO. Of course the way people beat the shit out of their cars these days...

- gpsman

As others have suggested, and I echo, it is a lot better to leave that alone. If you HAVE to muck with it, do it in slow steps and check to see if you have accomplished anything.

You will, I think, NEVER get the response out of a recirculating ball system that you get out of a rack and pinion. You just cant make a filet mignon out of a hot dog.

Best regards

You're under the impression that rack and pinion is superior to recirculating ball and nut? Except for racing applications, I far prefer the longer-lasting, rugged former to the much more fragile former.

Oops, should have read: "I far prefer the longer-lasting, rugged latter to the much more fragile former".

Yes, recirculating ball is a robust system.

It is a station wagon system, an old man's system, however.

IMO, if you want response, rack and pinion is the way to go.

Oh I don't know about that, the blown 155+ mph Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 used it, not exactly either of the above in my humble estimation.

If you're participating in a competitve racing event, sure, otherwise R&P was incorporated as a cost and weight savings measure that all the deluded Walter Mitty boy-racers surely think is the cat's pajamas.

I dunno, my old BMW had pretty delicious steering feel...

nate

When running straight (mostly straight) down the road, my old clunkers have some free play.I don't worry about it though. cuhulin

Too new. If the gearbox is starting to get sloppy this early, it may need replacing. Bad bearings on either end of the worm gear can also cause slop in the steering. You might be able to crank some of the slop out, but the increased load on the (already disintegrating) bearings will cause their destruction to accelerate. At the end of life, they'll go so fast that you might lose steering in the middle of the freeway.

Been there, done that. Fortunately, mine failed about two blocks from home. Its exciting trying to steer a truck with about half a turn of free play.

Well if you can find a recirculating ball type gearbox on a 2008 that has rack and pinion you ain't looking under the hood!

Exactly!

That's because the E28 was probably the best model BMW ever made, and you were a fool for selling it. It's a recirculating ball mechanism, but with very tight tolerances.

That said, because of that precision design, when the worm gear in those becomes unevenly worn, you can get an awful lot of play in the steering. And when you try to replace the steering box, you find the mount is cracked.

--scott

So the claim has now morphed in the direction that the RB&N design is actually LESS rugged and MORE prone to failure? I've replaced FAR greater numbers of R&P units (including just about every GM power rack in the '80s) than RB&N gearboxes, which (when rarely necessary) got by with a simple rebuild and were both more easily accessed and executed.

No, the claim is that recirculating ball systems are difficult to make with enough precision to get very low steering play. And that BMW drivers are less willing to put up with excessive play than Cadillac drivers are.

The fact that BMW under-engineered the mounting is a different issue.

Sure, but the GM recirculating ball systems had outrageous amounts of play in them. But then, come to think of it, so did the GM rack and pinion systems in the eighties too.

In the case of the BMW, people get upset when they get to around 250,000 miles and the recirculating ball box can no longer be adjusted properly and needs replacement. In the case of the GM from the same era, people are amazed when they get to half that and still run....

--scott

eh, if you say so... the thing had 200K+ miles on it, I'd managed to spin a bearing, and both the suspension and driveshaft were slap wore out. I did have the engine replaced w/ a junkyard one, but it had some weird electrical fault afterwards where it would just die when it was hot, and the shop that had done the engine replacement couldn't find it. And it still had the original TRX wheels.

Emotionally, if I could have afforded to keep it I certainly would have - I'm sure the fault could have been fixed, but the investment required to get it to pass a safety inspection was more than the car was worth, and I wasn't particularly affluent back then. I'm not particularly affluent *now* but I was really feeling it back then. Only reason I bought it was because I suspected that my old, beat up GTI was going to need replacement soon, but I ended up keeping that car for another few years of daily use until I sold it and bought a cheap Scirocco that I also used for years and years... now THAT was the car I shouldn't have sold, even if the Bimmer was nicer looking.

The sad thing is that the 535i while purchased in Ohio, had a damn near pristine body and interior. Gunmetal grey with red leather. If it'd been a 3.0 or 6er I probably would have just parked it at my dad's place with instructions never to sell it, and I'd have come back to it when I had more funds available.

nate

Chrysler, already notorious for poor R&P designs (see below), didn't seem to have a precision issue with the RB&N system on the Crossfire in pleasing these reviewers: "The Crossfire's quick and precise steering requires only 3.1 turns to travel from lock-to-lock. It is power assisted, but only to the point of enabling parking chores to be undertaken without the need to thrust a dose of muscle generating spinach down one's throat. The steering assist allows plenty of road- feel to seep into the hands of a driver - further enhancing the Crossfire's ability to please when the road less traveled is chosen".

Check out the aforementioned R&P unit commonly used on Chyrsler LH models below for another horrible, and more recent, example.

By which time they likely would have been on at least their second, well worn and backlash laden, R&P already.

... albeit unable to either comfortably or safely steer.

Q.E.D. ;)