My 98 GT has some major play in the steering when sitting or rolling and at all speeds. i put in a new (used-on a budget)rack about 8 months ago old one was leaking and with old rack and with new rack there was no play until about 2weeks ago but it is pretty bad. can turn from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock and still go straight. please help its my daily commuter and very scary to drive at freeway speeds

 

I actually just dealt with an issue like this. Wasn't near as drastic, but something you may want to look into that resolved my issue: the bushings. Rack and pinion bushings were bad on my car, tightened the bolts down and it resolved it. Does it make a clack noise when it finally starts turning?

(btw, for whatever reason this really helped my transmission, too)

 

Your toe may also be out if the bushings are good. did you get a alignment after u put in the rack? Or did you hit any curbs lately or someone else drive your car recently and might of hit a curb and not tell you?

 

nope no curbs
yes i got the alignment after the install. i checked the bolts on the joints and they are both tight cuz i resently put full length headers on so i double checked that when steering problem started.
no noise in steering at all feels perfect just alot of slop!!!
help it is reallt bad!!!

 

Either the used rack went bad or your toe alignment is out I believe. Only other thing I can think of is maybe the tie rods werent locked down after the tech did the alignment and it loosened up. It is possible the guy that did your alignment didnt tighten the nuts that lock the tie rods on the tie rod bar, causeing it to unscrew and makin the steering wheel slopy. To me it sounds like a toe out issue.

 

i checked the tie rods and had one replaced already cuz it was bad. you recommend any good priced racks?

 

i am still dealing with this problem someone told me that it was the shaft between the firewall and the rack. is that more likely to be the problem??

 

It can be a possibility. Check the bolts from the shaft to the rack they may have come loose. in the area where you replaced it.