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| Excess Steering wheel travel... Do the 88 GT's have a steering rag joint? (Page 1/2) |
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phils88GT
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DEC 28, 02:01 PM
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I just replaced the balljoints, tierods, etc in the front end of my 88GT.. and had her aligned. Now, when going to the road, I have about an inch-ish of travel, both left and right before you actually start turning. As you can imagine, this makes highway driving very.....unnerving.
Could it be the rag joint? I haven't looked yet as it has been raining for the past three days here. Does the 88 even have a rag joint?
Thanks all. I do think the rack has been replaced at some point. TBH, I really would like to do a power steering swap using a Volvo front mounted electronic power steering pump some day.
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Patrick
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DEC 28, 02:55 PM
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theogre
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DEC 28, 04:30 PM
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"Do the 88 GT's have a steering rag joint?"
No.
But Steering play can be 1 or more problems besides iffy rack...
See https://web.archive.org/web...~fierocave/steer.htm------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)
The Ogre's Fiero Cave
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phils88GT
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DEC 28, 11:13 PM
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Thanks for the reply. I do remember the previous owner telling me they had recently had the column replaced.
I should also have mentioned that when steering at slower speeds, like around 20ish mph, say, turn to the left, it will continue tracking / steering in that direction even if I let go of the wheel. Is this normal behavior? I know it is non-power steering, but dang, it is very stiff!
Any advice?
Thanks
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1985 Fiero GT
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DEC 29, 09:15 AM
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fierogt28
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DEC 29, 03:11 PM
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Early 88s had the solid old style steering shaft design. Later build 88s had the rag joint design.
I don't know if this was just a 4cyl 88 thing.
Another non topic steering thing is the very early 88s had solid rack bushing and the later 88s had a plastic rack bushing.
Some have said, including myself to find an early 4cyl 88 had a plastic rack bushing and the solid steering shaft (rubber
insulation inside) I don't know if this could of been related...
So, technically this could of been a supplier issue or what the factory was given at random on the line.
It's hard to pin point the timeline of what / when 2 part designs where switched / mixed between these differences.
Hope this helps...------------------
fierogt28
88 GT, Loaded, 5-speed.
88 GT, 5-speed. Beechwood interior, All original.
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fierogt28
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DEC 29, 03:14 PM
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My all original 88GT (February build) has the rag-joint steering shaft design. ------------------
fierogt28
88 GT, Loaded, 5-speed.
88 GT, 5-speed. Beechwood interior, All original.
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hnthomps
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JAN 03, 04:27 PM
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My 88 Mera (one of six known GT based platforms) has a rag joint coupler.
Nelson
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fierogt28
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JAN 11, 09:47 PM
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As for the rag-joint difference, I had photos from years ago from a members post.
You can see clearly the 2 design differences.
 
Hope this helps...------------------
fierogt28
88 GT, Loaded, 5-speed.
88 GT, 5-speed. Beechwood interior, All original.
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phils88GT
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JAN 11, 10:01 PM
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Thank you for the pics. I haven’t had time to check her out, and when I do, the weather is crappy. Is the best way to get eyes on this to pull the tub in the front?
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