1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
The new steering rack was a cost saving issue and the older larger aluminum housing rack did not have any problems. The new one was made of fabricated steel and was smaller. To mount this smaller cheaper rack, the rubber mount was made thick to fill the gap. The old rubber mounting bushings were quite thin. The newer bushing allows for rack movement. So the new rack was a source of problems, not an improvement in any way. That screw up persisted thru 2002 production. I think that they made the rubber harder in later years, but I don't have any firm data on that. So it simply sucked and after market solid steel rack mounts are the solution. The idiot who made that change should be put against the wall, and his buddy that designed the TBTC can keep him company. The rack can be easily seen from above... aluminum or steel.
The other change involves how the front anti sway bar connects to the suspension. 1994 has the sway bar connecting to the trailing arm. This means that it controls an arm that couples to the lateral arm and ball joint thru a large oil filled rubber bushing AKA blubber doughnut. This was rather ineffective and many vehicles had bad vibration and wheel shake, but not all of them. The new SB connects to the lateral arm and without jacking, you can put one knee on the ground and look at it from the front of each tire. Easy to see. The SB and both arms were new part numbers. Many vehicles were changed by dealers, but it seems only if the owners had problems.
The rack change was made in production later than the SW and arms were changed. Not a concurrent or co-dependant change.
There is a kit from Saab to rework the suspention SB and arms. One would not have any reason to replace the older aluminum rack, that would only make things worse.
posted by 68.93.19...
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