Front suspension and steering, how do you know you need to rebuild the steering? Options

[DRPHIL914]

I am wondering this as I have been driving my car this week with the great weather and fall temps here in SC, and I have noticed something that just doesn't feel right, and I am not sure I can put my finger on it, or even describe what I am feeling but I feel like my steering should be super tight, since a few years ago we did all the bushings bearings turbo tie rods ball joints brakes etc etc, everything but the steering rack itself and I didn't replace the front strut inserts because the feel fine.
wheels are 16'x6" 205/55 Potenza AE11's. 4 years old about 5,000 miles of use, lots of good rubber on there yet, but regardless will have to replace in another year just due to age of the rubber...

so with that, here is what I think it feels like, kind of like it wants to jump around or shift off track. no vibration , no rattle , and I can grab the tire/wheel with car parked and try to move it back and forth and don't feel any play like if you had a loose or work tie rod or ball joint etc.,

what I guess I am wondering is if it is time to pull the steering rack and replace it with a rebuilt one from 914rubber. if that hockey puck thing is getting old and worn, what would that feel like or how would that present itself? And can I remove it by just disconnecting the inner tie rod ends and not have to mess with my alignment? ive not done a steering rack on a 914 before..

as always , advice from those that have done this is appreciated.

Phil

[Superhawk996]

@DRPHIL914

Rhodyguy is asking about the steering tie rods to the knuckle. You would like to see them close to parallel to the A-arm that you're showing. From what I can see of the tie rod in the background things look plausible.

I'll just tell you from experience that while a visual inspection isn't a bad thing . . . this will take some trial and error effort part changes. You're probably fighting a couple of differnt contributing factors here including those meaty, performance oriented tires. Wide tires with big solid block tread patterns without many sipes are only going to add to the tendency to "hunt" and/or follow road contours without steering input on your part.

Are you driving on a lot of rain grooved concrete highways by chance? Is that part of where your directional stability concerns are coming in at highway speeds?

[DRPHIL914]

@DRPHIL914

Rhodyguy is asking about the steering tie rods to the knuckle. You would like to see them close to parallel to the A-arm that you're showing. From what I can see of the tie rod in the background things look plausible.

I'll just tell you from experience that while a visual inspection isn't a bad thing . . . this will take some trial and error effort part changes. You're probably fighting a couple of differnt contributing factors here including those meaty, performance oriented tires. Wide tires with big solid block tread patterns without many sipes are only going to add to the tendency to "hunt" and/or follow road contours without steering input on your part.

Are you driving on a lot of rain grooved concrete highways by chance? Is that part of where your directional stability concerns are coming in at highway speeds?

thanks for explanations. the roads are not really grooved like you say but my main commute road was resurfaced a few years ago and is getting some shallow holes from that thin layer getting broken up so like here at there are a lot of those small holes or spots., speed limit is 60 but traveling with traffic tis more like 65-70.
I thought about the tires and treads and since I need to change had thought about a less pure performance tire and more of a compromise of performance/all season and even going to a 195/60 rather than a 205/55. more of a standard tread, slightly higher side wall, might feel better, I looked and my tires are almost 6 years old so I probably could change that very soon