Hi all . I've recently had a recon steering rack put on my mk1 vrs .. I have now noticed I got a knock whilst steering left to right . I've not had the car back on Ramps yet , but is there anyway of adjusting the backlash on the steering rack ??

Regards Tony

No adjustment from an owner point of view. Did the new rack come with new steering arms or did they reuse the old ones?

It did come with arms . But I'm unsure they were new .. Can't believe the rack is faulty internally already .. That's why I replaced the last rack .. Same noise ..

So maybe not the rack?

Well after the rack was changed it was silent for a few hundred miles... Very odd . I've changed every thing under the car and it still feels vague and this bloody noise is back ;(

Droplinks or FARB would be my first look-at item.

 

J.

Drop links and roll bar bushes 4K old

Strut top bearings, console bushes, wishbone bushes, ball joints, track rod ends, anti roll bar (collars come off and knocking on the console).

I'll go with strut top bearings if its when your going lock to lock.

get a video of the noise up and see if we can help narrow it down more.

I've had it up in the air today . Both wheels off the ground .. Had a helper move the steering wheel ... And noise is definitely from the recon rack .. Top mounts are 1k old ... So I adjusted the preload on the rack and noise has gone ...

Not a particularly good recon rack then I guess. Let's hope it stays sorted.

Yes my thoughts exactly . A terrible rack ... It was a genuine vw rack too.. When you adjust the preload bolt on the rack . What is it doing inside ?? Cause I'm tempted to adjust it a tad more , but don't wanna wreck something

Regards Tony

Preload is the slack between the gears in the rack and how they mesh together, it needs setting correctly otherwise you will cause undue wear on the gears within the rack itself.

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by mannyo

I understand if it's too tight it will potentially wreck the rack . All I did was adjust it so it doesn't knock anymore .. Steering still feels very light . So I'm sure incident too tight