Anyone centered their steering rack before?

[fastsvo]

Hey guys,

I recently changed a bunch of items on my FOX, like struts, CC plates, steering rack bushings and while I was at it, an MM solid steering shaft.

Now, I have gone through the rack centering process a couple of times, but I think it's still not right. At first, the steering wheel, when pointed straight, would pull the car towards the right. Then I was advised to count the number of thread on each tie rod and get them even. I did that and it didn't really help. At this point I had the car steering a tad more when fully locked to the right (and rubbing), and about what looked normal when turning left (no rubbing).

Then I started screwing with the toe settings.

Pass side = + toe in
Driver side = + toe out

Things started to improve. At this point the car almost drives straight down the road (the wheel is slightly pointed towards counter clockwise) and I don't hear any more rubbing when locked to the right (and it seems the amount of turns lock to lock is about even). Can this be right?

I have decided I should save this grief for the alignment tech, but should I expect them to be willing to center my rack and steering wheel when proceeding with the vehicle's total alignment job?

As an observation (I know everything is off now) my steering wheel still jitters or shakes slightly when driving down the road. Bad rack (the inner tie rod is suspect here)? Ball joints (the wear indicators look good - sticking out and not flush)?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.

-Eric

[USMC302]

Center it as close as possible and then get the professional alignment with the machines. It's worth the money.