Some steering slack... alignment or worn steering parts?

[86560SEL]

My W126 has some slack in the steering and it pulls to the right fairly hard. I am going to get new tires soon and an alignment, but concerned that when I go for an alignment that I will be told that the car cant be aligned and it needs tie-rod ends and/or ball joints. I am wondering if bad alignment alone will cause slack in the steering? The slack is not terrible, but enough to notice for sure.

Thanks.

[86560SEL]

hmmm... interesting. 25 hours and no replies.

Is this a rare occurance on these cars or is it too stupid of a question to have answered?

[dpetryk]

You probably have worn steering components and wear in the steering box all adds up to play. Alignment will not cause slack in the steering. It causes tire wear.

[86560SEL]

Originally Posted by dpetryk

You probably have worn steering components and wear in the steering box all adds up to play. Alignment will not cause slack in the steering. It causes tire wear.

My gosh. Not how much telling that will cost me now. It is out of alignment as well.. the tires are wearing on in the inside and the wiring is starting to show.

Thanks again.

[t walgamuth]

Th egood news is that the steering box normally will respond to adjustment even if the car has over 300,00 miles on it. The only trick is that to tighten it you have to turn the adjuster anticlockwise.

It sounds like your worn front end parts are allowing a lot of toe out causing wear on the inside of the tires. It could simply be tie rod ends which are pretty inexpensive to replace. After replacement of them though you'll need an alignment.

[86560SEL]

Thanks Tom... yeah, the car only has 156K, which is fairly low for a W126, so there may be hope... thanks!