240sx steering problem

[scoobyillu]

Hi

My name is Steven

I have an s13 it is the same as the 240sx but the 200sx with the CA18DET motor. I have replaced and rebuilt most of the car
but my problem is the steering wheel it is not returning to center after I corner, always missing ca the last 20%.

The things I have done up to now at the front is:

new tension rods adjustable
new Tein inner and outer tie rods
OEM front lower control arms only got about 5þ miles on them
Coilover system from Apex performance

after all this the car was aligned at a pro shop

Camber is 3°
toe 0°
caster at 7° it is at max there


and still the problem is the same, so my question is what am I missing?

All ideas and help would be appreciated

[MikeRL411]

You forgot the Year! It just might make a difference,

[scoobyillu]

thanks m8 it is a 1991 car

[centralcoaster33]

Does your power steering system leak or whine? The alignment guys have no comment on this? They centered your wheel to do the alignment. I'm not sure what your issue is, but it is interesting. Could be the actual rack. If you've been through everything else, maybe it's time to rebuild the rack with new seals and such. I haven't done that task before, but imagine something inside there could be causing this. What if you jack up the car and move the wheels with the steering wheel and such, do you get any delayed responses or steering wheel play?

[justinrps13]

Well there is a lot wrong here, to start from the looks of things you adjusted your caster with just your tension rods, you need to reset it back to stock

first things first stock caster is 7 degrees 240s run a lot of caster for a stock car as it is now that's set up from the factory, not saying its right or wrong or best or worst set up but the suspension on the car works with each other and, your running coils, tie rods and tension rods all pretty basic stuff but nothing that really significantly allows for serious suspension geometry changes for that you need lower control arms and adjustable sway bars and ends which are the single most overlooked s chassis suspension parts

now with stock lower control arms they only move 2 ways up and down that's it, pulling them forward or backwards puts a lot of stress on the lcas and 1 degree of caster is a lot that's a lot of forward movement for a joint that doesn't move forward and backwards, now the purpose of caster is to increase or decrease camber as the wheel is turned which also subsequently raises and lowers the front of the car a small amount as the wheels roll up onto the edge of the tire, this is what creates that front line stability the weight of the car is actually pushing down and trying to keep the contact patch flat by keeping the wheels straight

one of the major things that changes when you increase caster is your tie rod angles that can not be readjusted using adjustable ends, it kills your ackerman angle and overall angle

all of these things combined with a multitude of others like changing sway bar end link angles and changing the strut angle and top hat contact can cause all sorts of unwanted results almost all of which cannot be fixed with anything currently on your car, my biggest pet peeve is people who change caster without a full suspension setup and a lot of research, everything you change suspension wise changes everything else that's a given, everyone knows that, caster is something that arguably makes the largest changes and puts a ton of stress on stock parts no matter how new they are

[justinrps13]

also you should run a small amount of toe running zero isnt doing you any favors