Hello,

I just got the car back from the alignment shop after I replaced the bellows on the ZF steering rack. I was looking forward to the 1 o'clock offset steering wheel being corrected. I didn't attempt it myself because the tie-rods were already unequal length at 9.5 turns passenger side and 13.25 driver's side (spec is delta is 2mm). Correcting this would have put the wheel at the ~2 o'clock position. I cautioned the alignment shop about this and that perhaps the steering wheel had been installed with the rack not centered. (It looked that way with the bellows off since teeth were seen on the driver's side rack but not the passenger's with the wheels straight ahead.)

The shop ignored the 2mm spec and centered the wheel with the tie-rods which now show 1/4-inch threads on the driver's side and 3/4-inch on the passenger's side. Lock to lock the steering wheel gives equal number of turns and the car tracks properly. Should I chalk this up to 'old car' with worn ball joints, front end damage. etc. or is a 10mm tie-rod length delta a concern?

P.S. FCPeuro's bellows kit supplies one of the two zip-ties for the ZF rack that is way to short. Also, I had a lot of trouble getting the bellows over the mounting lips. What worked for me was to fold them over and then roll them into place.

Thanks,

Tom