steering knock

[LthlThrt]

it seems my car is full of knocks, when i turn or go up driveways my car makes a knock kindov sound, a bit like a dislocated shoulder rolling around, could it be the steering rack?

[ch1mp]

i'd say the steering rack. it's a very common problem in vt's. i did mine about 3 years ago. it's slowly coming back again. but ye you mostly hear it when you turn the wheel. it's nothing really bad. except it can be worse in winter and possibly dangerous coz it could jam. especially if you're losing oil from it. it only costs about $450 - $500 to get a new one fitted. one way to prolong your rack is by making sure you don't leave your steering wheel turned when you park. it puts enormous amounts of pressure on the rack. and also when you are making tight turns, try not to completely lock the wheel to one side. try to have it just before. a full lock put about 2000 pounds of pressure on the rack and only wears it further.

[Tree cutter]

Check your front swaybar links. If the rubber bushes are worn you will get the knocking noise you describe. The links can also bend too. Pedders make heavy duty links and some are made with bends in them to try to stop the bushes wearing quickly.

[LthlThrt]

i'd say the steering rack. it's a very common problem in vt's. i did mine about 3 years ago. it's slowly coming back again. but ye you mostly hear it when you turn the wheel. it's nothing really bad. except it can be worse in winter and possibly dangerous coz it could jam. especially if you're losing oil from it. it only costs about $450 - $500 to get a new one fitted. one way to prolong your rack is by making sure you don't leave your steering wheel turned when you park. it puts enormous amounts of pressure on the rack. and also when you are making tight turns, try not to completely lock the wheel to one side. try to have it just before. a full lock put about 2000 pounds of pressure on the rack and only wears it further.

would it be better to get a new one from holden? thanks for the advice ill be sure to take it on board.

[LthlThrt]

Check your front swaybar links. If the rubber bushes are worn you will get the knocking noise you describe. The links can also bend too. Pedders make heavy duty links and some are made with bends in them to try to stop the bushes wearing quickly.

i replaced the bushes already, how much do the swaybar links cost? and would they come w/ bushes to suit them?

[wortus]

When you replaced the bushes how did you do it? They have to be fitted wthout any preload on them for example forcing the bar to bend and shoving them in they probably won't align properly. While different I know with a VN you have to drop the bar and fit the links to the bar and then remount it, a VT is a bit harder as the bar is ontop of the K member. Then when yu do them up you need to do it with the weight of the car on it's wheels and to the specified torque. The nolothane ones with the bent link are better they are just done up tight and the bushes are a better shape and roll better when you turn the wheel. Other than that there are kits that have a ball joint at either end but they cost more. If you can get the bar out think about converting it to VX series 2 or VY.
Nolothane kit with bent links which I bought for a VN was less than $50.00 from Repco a few years ago. I still have it new in the bag, never put it on.

[ch1mp]

holden will probably charge you an arm and a leg. just call up though and get a few quotes from a whole bunch of different places.

[LthlThrt]

When you replaced the bushes how did you do it? They have to be fitted wthout any preload on them for example forcing the bar to bend and shoving them in they probably won't align properly. While different I know with a VN you have to drop the bar and fit the links to the bar and then remount it, a VT is a bit harder as the bar is ontop of the K member. Then when yu do them up you need to do it with the weight of the car on it's wheels and to the specified torque. The nolothane ones with the bent link are better they are just done up tight and the bushes are a better shape and roll better when you turn the wheel. Other than that there are kits that have a ball joint at either end but they cost more. If you can get the bar out think about converting it to VX series 2 or VY.
Nolothane kit with bent links which I bought for a VN was less than $50.00 from Repco a few years ago. I still have it new in the bag, never put it on.

i cant remember how i did it, but when i used to take it to get repaired they would just stuff it up that bad that one time the bushes came off. so i just started doing it my self. what do you mean to the specified torque? so the vy would fit in there fine? arent the nolothane ones alot stronger as well?

[LthlThrt]

holden will probably charge you an arm and a leg. just call up though and get a few quotes from a whole bunch of different places.

ok sweet, they always charge heaps, when i was repairing my auto button they were gunna charge e around 100$ to put a 1.30$ pin in, so i did it myselfbest 1.30$ ive ever spent, anyway back on topic. do you know of any good places to get quotes from,in QLD. not sure were you are located lol. wreckers wouldnt be the best spot to get them would they?

[wortus]

i cant remember how i did it, but when i used to take it to get repaired they would just stuff it up that bad that one time the bushes came off. so i just started doing it my self. what do you mean to the specified torque? so the vy would fit in there fine? arent the nolothane ones alot stronger as well?

Using the standard Holden rubbers your meant to tighten each nut to a specified torque to avoid crushing the rubbers too much, they eventually squash up anyway and you have to keep adjusting the nuts to keep the mtight until you run out of thread then you need new ones.
Nolothane kits for the VT with the bent bar are meant to be good, the bushes are shaped and you just tighten them until they bottom on each other. I'd try the Nolothane kit and if you want better there's one kit now that instead of bushes has a ball joint at each end.
I am pretty sure the VY bar will fit and it has a ball joint at the bottom so is a bit better.

[LthlThrt]

where would i find the nolothane kits from? planning when i replace the rack i will also probably replace the bushes as well. so everything is like new, and coming up to winter rather be safe then sorry.

[ch1mp]

don't forget that if you're going to do the steering rack yourself you will absolutely have to get a wheel alignment.

[Tree cutter]

I got my Nolathane kit from Repco.