steering issue

[A18A]

I want your opinion before i end up possibly swapping my steering rack for no reason

my car goes through a UCA every month or so. I'm not sure if the ball joints i'm using are just shitty and near the end of their life or the following

I don't know how the inside of the steering rack works whether there's something in it that stops the steering wheel from turning anymore cause you hit a 'full lock', but when turning the steering wheel both ways, the part of the knuckle where the tie-rod end goes through hits the forks, like this
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4734/2583662medium.jpg
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2328/2583663medium.jpg
I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do that. the steering wheel will turn another 20-30 or so degrees more either way before it wont turn any more. which I'm guessing is cause the knuckle & tie-rod being in-line with each other, and the steering rack can't pull it any more without putting stress on the ball joints (causing my UCA issue). the steering wheel feels like it wants to turn more, it doesn't feel like it does when you normally hit full lock.

Does that make sense?

I know the car could do with a wheel alignment, but i doubt it's so far out that i get these kind of issues

i do full lock turns quite often in my day to day driving

[Oldblueaccord]

I got to look at the UCA on my car this morning sometime Ill see what I can figure out.


What wears out on your UCA I think you mean the ball joint? If the boot rips its gone in a few months without new grease.


wp

[A18A]

oh yeah by UCA i mean the ball joints in them, my bad. they appear to be well greased upon installation though, and have that tight-ish feel you get with new ball joints

[2drSE-i]

Are you putting new ball joints in or are these scrapyard ones? Because if their off junked cars, I've identified your issue. Even "good feeling" old ball joints are 20 years old in most cases.

[Oldblueaccord]

I want your opinion before i end up possibly swapping my steering rack for no reason

my car goes through a UCA every month or so. I'm not sure if the ball joints i'm using are just shitty and near the end of their life or the following

I don't know how the inside of the steering rack works whether there's something in it that stops the steering wheel from turning anymore cause you hit a 'full lock', but when turning the steering wheel both ways, the part of the knuckle where the tie-rod end goes through hits the forks, like this
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4734/2583662medium.jpg
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2328/2583663medium.jpg
I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do that. the steering wheel will turn another 20-30 or so degrees more either way before it wont turn any more. which I'm guessing is cause the knuckle & tie-rod being in-line with each other, and the steering rack can't pull it any more without putting stress on the ball joints (causing my UCA issue). the steering wheel feels like it wants to turn more, it doesn't feel like it does when you normally hit full lock.

Does that make sense?

I know the car could do with a wheel alignment, but i doubt it's so far out that i get these kind of issues

i do full lock turns quite often in my day to day driving

Nope mines exactly the same as yours. The fork is the stop in our steering it appears.

Remember the UCA ball joint rotates as you turn. Watch the castle nut rotate as you turn lock to lock. If you have the nut down too tight it might be binding. Otherwise the UCA ball joint last a many years ungreased with a good boot on it. With a grease fitting on it it should last indefinite(forever).

The rear UCA is different I think they bind and even greased dont last more than a few years.

wp





wp

[DBMaster]

What brand of UCA's are you buying? If you buy Moog they are made by Three-Five, the OEM brand. I went through a cheap set in record time. This is one of those areas where you have to spend more money.

[A18A]

I was just using UCAs from my other accords, I don't want to buy new ones until i know for sure why they fail so regularly, when I do, I wanna get prelude ones :) I know it's possible that they fail cause they're old, but it seems odd that I've been using them for months/years on other accords without any issues (which I bet would still be fine if I left them on those cars), and as soon as I put them on this particular accord, they fail within a few weeks. Doesn't seem coincidental to me. I'm not sure how many times I've replaced them though. I can probably blame the first couple of those on rooted shocks giving me wheel hop galore, but i've since replaced those shocks and didn't think I'd be having any problems after that.

Nope mines exactly the same as yours. The fork is the stop in our steering it appears.

Remember the UCA ball joint rotates as you turn. Watch the castle nut rotate as you turn lock to lock. If you have the nut down too tight it might be binding. Otherwise the UCA ball joint last a many years ungreased with a good boot on it. With a grease fitting on it it should last indefinite(forever).

The rear UCA is different I think they bind and even greased dont last more than a few years.

wp





wp

that's interesting, i just checked my other accord now and it does the same too. I thought there would be an actual stopping point inside the steering rack itself.

I will check how tight they are with the torque wrench and compare them to the factory specs

as for the rear UCAs, I don't think I've ever had any issues with mine, or any rear suspension (excluding shock absorbers) come to think of it. knock on wood

I think I'll do a DIY wheel alignment to get things as close to factory spec as I can. I guess if there's lots of adjusting required in something, that could be my problem. i hope