6G Celicas Forums

Brigette doesn't look too happy

This post has been edited by Zake: Sep 1, 2013 - 7:58 PM

Post of the year! They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She looks pretty scorned in that picture so I figured maybe it would be quicker than a four banger.

I tried it with a hamster wheel once, didn't really do much. Hopefully it works out better for you.

Wait so that mean the celica is powered by vegi oil now!?!

And you thought you couldn't get her to do it....

You're welcome, BTW.... She learned how to clean engine bays by starting with mine

She put way more work into yours! Ours is still a little greasy. Good enough for DD status though.

Finally finished. It's a mostly pictureless update since I was in a hurry to get everything finished. Yanked the old front sway bar bushings out. They weren't doing much anyway. Replaced them with Energy Suspension bushings, 20 mm, 9.5124G. New tie rod ends on the new (used) steering rack. Poly rear motor mount inserted. Anyway, enough chitchat. Picture time.

New vs. old steering rack.


I don't always do all the work on the car. Sometimes I let the girls chip in.


Old and destroyed sway bar bushings. Check out the one in the back more than the one on the front.


Bolted back in.


Finished, started up, and ready to drive.


Now, for those who missed it, I pulled my motor and replaced my steering rack to fix a weird "torque steer" issue I've been having. So the big question here is if all this work over two weekends, many dollars spent, more sweat than I care to remember, countless small cuts, and being permanently covered in grease was worth it? No. Still have the weird issue except now it's more aggressive. It used to sort of "roll" into the torque steer. Now it snaps into it. I don't regret swapping to a newer, younger steering rack. My steering has less play and now feels sharper, but it did not solve any issues.

I spent the last two weekends paranoid about making the car undriveable due to terrible alignment. In the end, I only caused two minor issues. For starters, my steering wheel is still centered, but is now upside down. I've checked 28,907 times and it is definitely centered. The wheels turn the same distance both ways, I have no idea how this happened as I was very careful to make sure I had both the steering wheel and the rack centered before putting them together, but it happened anyway. I'll be getting an alignment tomorrow then popping the wheel off and putting it back on right side up. The second small issue I have is that now my turn signal won't automatically shut off after I turn. I assume it's related to the steering wheel being upside down. No idea how to go about fixing that yet.

Anyway, back to business. My weird steering issue popped up last summer when I did a LOT of things to the suspension all at the same time- replaced my stock 15" rims with Dustin's ADR Visions, replaced my lower control arm bushings with poly bushings, new front and rear sway bar end links, MOOG ball joints, etc. Shortly after, I started having issues. I initially blamed a failing OEM LSD, and still think it's playing a role. However, with the replacement of the steering back this weekend and the fact that I still have this issue, that tells me that my ball joints are the last potentially faulty part. I'll be replacing those with OEM ball joints. I considered the poly bushings as a potential issue but let's just say I know that they aren't part of the problem at all. Trial and error still going on. Probably done for now, until after the CSP meet.

That sucks terribly. I hate when you fix something, only for it not to do anything or just make matters worse. I would've set it on fire by now, so good on you for not being me.

I think if you unhook the linkage that connects the steering wheel to the rack an have some one hole the steering wheel right side up till fix your turn signal problem
If your wheel is upside then everything connected to it is upside down too so whatever would normally tell the turn signal to shut off is now in the wrong place

Worn ball joints will do exactly what you describe. Spend the $40 and be done.

If you had more time to stay in RI I would dig into your car and make it right.
Something is going on and I've been racking my brain to figure it out.

It wasn't completely useless. My old steering rack did have a little bit of play in it, and now I've narrowed down on the list of possible parts. By that I mean I'm now almost positive it's the ball joints.



It would still hit it at some point in turning the wheel, and it doesn't. Besides, both the wheel and the rack are centered up. I have no idea how it happened. The wheel was right side up, the rack was centered, got the car started and turned the wheel and boom. Problem. And I am not pulling that motor out and doing all of this again!



I wish I had been able to to figure that out sooner. I replaced them last summer with brand new MOOG's so I've been hoping they are still good, but it looks like I'll be staying away from MOOG from now on. Good to know, since the new outer tie rods are MOOG too.


I wish I had more time as well. I hate to stop in, say hi, and take off again. No reason to tear into the car, but just for the sake of visiting friends and meeting new people. I'm ordering new OEM ball joints tonight or tomorrow, hope to get them installed next weekend. The crappy part is that I just dropped the car off at Toyota Service for a four wheel alignment. Whoops.

MOOG used to be good, though I'm not sure about them anymore. Try Mevotech or Raybestos this time around.

Going all OEM. That stuff lasts forever.

That works too.

In my experience, they're still best. Their metals, rubber and the grease they use just seems to last longest. My links are also twice if not 3x as thick as OEM. However, they're not cheap.

Having ball joints blow out in a year with a minimal amount of driving is unacceptable though.

This. It's not a year; more like under 2 months of installation is when I started noticing problems. Not to mention, I paid over $60 for the pair from Advance. Could've got them cheaper from Rock Auto but I had to have them ASAP and didn't have time to wait for shipping. At an average of 30,000 miles in a year, it certainly wasn't "minimal" driving but none of it was rough driving. I don't baby the car but I don't drive it like it was meant to be driven either. Until I replace them, I don't have substantial proof that the ball joints are the cause of my issues, but if replacing them with OEM ball joints fixes my issues then I will be staying far away from MOOG products. My passenger side ball joint has a ripped boot for sure. Driver side still looks good.

dude why didnt you repain the bay white! black is so boring! you can take that motor out and put it back in in a matter of a few hours.

ha see you went with original engine color again