Hi Folks,
My car will be going into my favorite shop shortly and one issue they'll solve is a bit of vagueness in steering, thanks to Gernold's assessment a couple of years ago. The shop works on quite a few 113's but they always appreciate any information I can give them. No, I don't move fast on anything.
After doing a bit of investigation here, it seems the most logical place to start is the steering coupling bushings, (located in the steering coupling); followed by the coupling itself, and lastly the steering box.
I know many of you have changed the bushings before, but my questions are as follows--
1) How can you determine, if at all, if the coupling bushings, versus the coupling itself, is worn?
2) Are there other parts/pieces in the coupling that can go beyond their service life, causing a replacement of the entire coupling?
(note: page 95 in my catalog B shows this as item 29, and it looks like a small U-joint)
3) The steering box does not leak, but may be worn itself. Are there any quick tests once things are apart to determine if the box is worn?
I see that our regular suppliers sell "rebuilt" boxes. Rather than an exchange, has anybody actually sent their box out for a rebuild? Who does this? My guess is if mine is worn, it is worn and not just old or bad seals.