AU s11 XR8 steering play

[12slots4ever]

My s11 AU xR8 has very light steering with about 1.5 inches loose play which isn't a problem until traffic gets tight & lanes narrower. Yesterday I drove my mates BA XR6 & clocked 320kms. I found the BA steering to be firm with no play at all and not being used to the tightness of the steering, it felt quite strange. Is my AU steering too loose or is my mates XR6 too tight?? Thanks for reading. George.

[Spurious]

With so many components between steering wheel & tyres there's bound to be a bit of play.

I'd suggest raising the car, get a mate to jiggle the steering wheel while you look underneath. Observe the rack & column link rod + uni's, tie rod ends, ball joints. Also while the car is raised check front wheel bearings for play.

[SLO247]

If theres play before the wheels turn its probably the intermediate shaft between the column and rack. They wear a lot faster on the v8 due to going through the exhaust manifold.

[Sox]

Originally Posted by SLO247

If theres play before the wheels turn its probably the intermediate shaft between the column and rack. They wear a lot faster on the v8 due to going through the exhaust manifold.

My money is on this.
The rubber lets go, leaving it moving side to side against the pin.

They're not available new any more.

They can be welded, and they become better than new, but technically it's not legal to weld any steering component...

[mcfly94]

Intermediate shaft for sure, just had to do mine in the ltd and its only 152xxxkm.

Id just go find a good second hand one for now. No reason you couldnt use an i6, shaft is just narrower in dia.

Mine was play on all pins on the uni joint.

[b2tf]

Yep that's what it will be. As a side note, if the car has had extractors fitted just make sure they put it back together the right way. Ive seen one with heaps of free play and it was because the shaft was refitted upside down

[Sox]

Originally Posted by mcfly94

Intermediate shaft for sure, just had to do mine in the ltd and its only 152xxxkm.

Id just go find a good second hand one for now. No reason you couldnt use an i6, shaft is just narrower in dia.

They're identical except for the V8 ones are wrapped in heat shield and have a bell on the end.

[mcfly94]

Originally Posted by Sox

They're identical except for the V8 ones are wrapped in heat shield and have a bell on the end.

There you go, what do you mean bell?

[Sox]

Originally Posted by b2tf

Yep that's what it will be. As a side note, if the car has had extractors fitted just make sure they put it back together the right way. Ive seen one with heaps of free play and it was because the shaft was refitted upside down

It's not possible, one end is male spline, the other is female.

[Sox]

Originally Posted by mcfly94

There you go, what do you mean bell?

It's a heat shield which looks like a bell.
I reckon it likely holds more heat in.

Edit - Like this -

[mcfly94]

ah i know what you mean, my i6 had one, but had it removed because it fouled on the comp pacies when i installed them.

[T MAN]

a long shot, but check the bolts on the intermediate shaft.. mine were not as tight as they could be and I had 1/4" play in the steering wheel until I nipped the bolts up..

[BillC]

just did mine on the xr8 and now it steers like a new car. I got a new one from ebay for about $540. genuine ford new

[Mostert]

I removed the bell separated the lower yolk from the shaft drilled the holes that located the pin to a size that would tightly locate I think it was a 5/16 bolt 3to4inch long so no tread in side cut ends of bolt off tac weld one end and refit bell works perfect no vibration through wheel as rubber still inplace

[Arch]

I know this is an old thread however someone might read it.
I dropped the cross member to replace engine mounts and when I put the little screw back in he intermediate shaft I put it in back to front.
The shaft was still held in place but it could not compress around the power steering shaft and ended up with free play.
Make sure the screw goes through the hole and meets the threaded part on the other side otherwise you will have an instant 2 or more centimetres of free play.
Hope someone can learn from my mistakes.

[AUwindsor]

Originally Posted by Arch

I know this is an old thread however someone might read it.
I dropped the cross member to replace engine mounts and when I put the little screw back in he intermediate shaft I put it in back to front.
The shaft was still held in place but it could not compress around the power steering shaft and ended up with free play.
Make sure the screw goes through the hole and meets the threaded part on the other side otherwise you will have an instant 2 or more centimetres of free play.
Hope someone can learn from my mistakes.

The bolts can only go in one way right, because one side of the joint isn't threaded! so your bolt had entered the threaded side first, yeah that'll create some excess steering movement

as for the shafts, yeah they wear on the lower joint where it's pinned on to the shaft, unless really badly worn, its not really a safety issue

there will be people now reading this thread steering clear of AU falcons all AU-BA owners, check the tightness of the bolts on the top ball joint bolts which keep them in place in the stub axle