When I get above 50mph in my 82 GL wagon, the steering wheel and the whole car begin to shake. The outer tie rods appear to be in good condition, and I just replaced the ball joints on both sides. I tried a separate set of tires because I thought they might be out of balance, but no luck. With the car jacked up, I can move the tires back and forth a little, and determined it was the inner tie rods that are loose.

 

My questions are these:

 

Will replacing the inner tie rods tighten them up, or does the whole steering rack need replaced?

 

Does this look like a decent product, and is it all I need?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/80-87-88-89-Subaru-1600-1800-Brat-Inner-Tie-Rod-End-Set_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZalgoQ3dLVIQ26ituQ3dUCIQ26otnQ3d2Q26poQ3dLVIQ26psQ3d63Q26clkidQ3d7046869206510966998QQ_trksidZp5197Q2em7QQcategoryZ33593QQitemZ220481341306

 

I've also heard of a bad or stiff cv joint causing shaking problems. Is there any best way to test if this is the case? (The engine is out of the car at the moment so anything that involves driving it is not really feasible.)

 

Thanks,

 

-Nick

Edited February 13, 201115 yr by nickolai

inner tie rods rarely fail, unless the rack boots go bad, the rack bushings could be worn as well. is there play up and down ?

I don't know about up and down play, I will go take a look tomorrow. Are the bushings your talking about included with the tie rods in the link?

hi, i am pretty sure the brat inner tie rods will fit your wagon, you might check rockauto.com also for the parts, may find a better deal. the rack mount bushing(s) are not part of the inner tie rods, they are for mounting the actual steering rack assembly to the crossmember. my memory says that an 1982 has 1 end of the rack bolted directly and the other end has a bushing mount, if you are going to replace the inners you might as well do it, its real easy . if your inner tie rod boots are bad you need to replace them or you'll ruin the new ones soon. if you have a tight cv joint it could cause shake when driving, it might be hard to determine if it's tight with them installed.

So I went out and checked the inner tie rods today, and I don't know if I was on crack the last time I checked them or what, but they seem to be in great shape - no play whatsoever. The hubs were rocking a little on the spindles, but the spindles were good and tight. I guess the next step is to pull out the cvs and see if one is stiff and check the wheel bearings.

Sounds like wheel bearings.

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I have the same issue on an 88, drew the same assumptions. Let me know.

A lot of things or more likely a combination of several worn parts can cause this. A couple things that are often overlooked are blown out transmission mounts and back lash in the steering rack (which can be adjusted out). Other things include pitch-stopper issues, bad u-joints, bad CV axles, bad alignment, wheels out of balance, ball joints, wheel bearings, loose hub, etc...I know that does not help you narrow things down much, but you can easily check the integrity of your trans. mounts, pitch-stopper bushings, and the torque on the spindle nuts with the car parked.

 

Steering rack back lash can be checked somewhat qualitatively while parked. Basically your looking for a lag in steering. If you turn the steering wheel does it take a second or take an excessive rotation of the steering wheel to actually get the wheels to turn? I adjust mine maybe once every two years or more, but chances are that most '80s Subarus on the road have never had it done. Adjusting it takes that loose unresponsive feeling out of the steering.

 

With your car on jack stands, try moving or wobbling the wheels in directions they are not supposed to go, and see if you get any play back and forth. If you get some movement try to see if you can tell if it comes from the steering linkage or hub and investigate accordingly.

 

It's also probably does not cost too much to have your wheels balanced.