Mar 15, 2025
So, last weekend, I completed a 600 mile rally across West Virginia, which included some pretty rough trail.
There was nothing insanely hard, or technical, but a few of the roads were just pot holes for 40 miles straight.
(pic is McKendree Road in the New River Gorge)
After completing the race around P20 with a time of 20:14, I noticed on my drive home that my steering wouldn't self center at all.
If you turned left & let go of the wheel, it just wanted to keep going left (or right - it does it both ways, though it feels worse to the left)
While changing my oil Monday, I inspected all the components - tie rods, ball joints, etc in the front suspension/steering.
No obvious culprit like a bent tie rod or anything.
So I scheduled an alignment.
Had that done today, & he told me it wasn't bad, I'd knocked the toe out on the right front a bit, but mostly was ok.
He suspects that the steering rack is having an issue because of the like 25 water crossings I did Saturday.
So long story short, before I spend $1000 on a new steering rack (and another 700 on the ProCal that is required to swap it), does anyone have any suggestions on how to possibly diagnose/repair whatever is happening with mine?
It's a 2022 Wildtrak, Hoss 2.0 that wasn't part of the steering rack recall before (Jan 22 build date).
My brother & I are fairly handy, though we don't have a lift (I could borrow a garage with one if needed), so if there's a way to possibly fix it without spending thousands, I'm open to it.
TIA for any advice or ideas.
There was nothing insanely hard, or technical, but a few of the roads were just pot holes for 40 miles straight.
(pic is McKendree Road in the New River Gorge)
After completing the race around P20 with a time of 20:14, I noticed on my drive home that my steering wouldn't self center at all.
If you turned left & let go of the wheel, it just wanted to keep going left (or right - it does it both ways, though it feels worse to the left)
While changing my oil Monday, I inspected all the components - tie rods, ball joints, etc in the front suspension/steering.
No obvious culprit like a bent tie rod or anything.
So I scheduled an alignment.
Had that done today, & he told me it wasn't bad, I'd knocked the toe out on the right front a bit, but mostly was ok.
He suspects that the steering rack is having an issue because of the like 25 water crossings I did Saturday.
So long story short, before I spend $1000 on a new steering rack (and another 700 on the ProCal that is required to swap it), does anyone have any suggestions on how to possibly diagnose/repair whatever is happening with mine?
It's a 2022 Wildtrak, Hoss 2.0 that wasn't part of the steering rack recall before (Jan 22 build date).
My brother & I are fairly handy, though we don't have a lift (I could borrow a garage with one if needed), so if there's a way to possibly fix it without spending thousands, I'm open to it.
TIA for any advice or ideas.
the poacher, raqball