[T3] Steering box play

Daniel Nohejl d.nohejl at gmail.com
Sat Mar 25 16:43:48 PDT 2017


Last year, with the invaluable assistance of Sean, we put a used OEM VW steering box in our car. The TRW one that had only been in there for two or three years had developed a lot of side-to-side play that we couldn’t adjust away as well as a thunking sound when we turned the steering wheel. Turned out there was a lot of play in the output shaft of that box. This used has been great for about 13k miles, but over the last few months it’s been taking a dive. Now, there’s a lot of side-to-side play (about 2.5”) and a thunking sound when the steering wheel is turned. I got under the car today and there’s loads of play in the output shaft….I could clearly see the shaft moving in and out when Jessica turned the steering wheel….it’s not a loose drop arm. For whatever reason, I pressed up on the drop arm around where the output shaft was. The thunk went away and Jessica said the steering wheel got much less sloppy. 

My understanding is that this kind of play isn’t adjustable and that something inside the box is likely to be worn out. I don’t want to go cranking down on any of the adjustments to cover over a potentially larger problem somewhere else in the box. Anyone have any experience with this issue?


Daniel


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