Rack & Pinion Preload Adjustment

[Bob D]

Rack & Pinion Gear Rack Bearing Preload Adjustment.

Noticed some vagueness and over-correction necessary in the steering. Most notably when crown in the road changes pitch from one side to the other.

Jacked it up and checked front end. Everything tight.

Rotating steering shaft back and forth, I find some play.

Service manual briefly mentions Rack & Pinion Gear Rack Bearing Preload Adjustment (off vehicle).

I've Googled this issue and can only find a couple comments of people doing this on-vehicle.

Anybody have any experience here?

Don't wanna put in new rack (just did inner tie rods a few mo.s ago).

 

[gmtech4]

So take the rack out and do it

[Bob D]

I'm surprised no one here has experienced similar.

Finally a mild day so...

Ended up cranking in on Preload Adjuster in increments until play was minimized (>1/4 turn).

Significant improvement.

Maybe this Spring, I'll unload the rack (w/o removing) and adj. per spec.s.