b071dc0

Oh and no need to thank me! I wouldn't have considered it without underdogs initial post. I'm glad I could give some input on the VDC. I'm always reading over things that have been addressed years ago, it's about time I get to give input.

Edit: I also wanted to add my mistake of following the general description torque specs of 50 something foot lbs for the steering rack mounting bolts. I should have known better. It seemed like alot of torque for such a small bolt. After I stripped one out I did some reading and realized the service manual lists the wrong torque specs in some of their general descriptions. To fix the stripped nut, I got a standard size tap of 7/16ths fine thread, just slightly larger than the metric bolt, and ran it through the welded nut. I was able to get it through without drilling a hole and the standard bolt tigtened down just fine.

b071dc0, did you experienced the same issue like oldskoolbiker of steering wheel not returning automatically to its original zero position? If yes how did you/plan to sort it out? I am seriously into this mod chasing the parts right now, but would like to know is that issue something I just have to live with, or maybe thee is a way to rectify it by getting some more 15 STI parts on the steering column side (or something else...)

I really don't want to have the s.wheel which is not coming back... :-/

Thank you for sharing your experience and I really appreciate your work, courage, time and money to do this mod! :-)

Your question was already answered but no I'm not experiencing any problems like that. My toe is set in a little. Not sure if I'll keep it like that, I just didn't want any toe out. We used old school methods of setting toe by overlapping two yardsticks and measuring front and back of the most middle we could access in between the tires.

Like I said I did suspension too which involved whiteline top hats, set to positive caster, which is said to increase steering effort. So that might attribute to the slight harder steering I feel. Maybe harder isn't to word, firm might describe it better.

Sorry about the delay in response guys. I'm only about 350 miles in on the new rack. Over those 350, the VDC hasn't turned off once nor has any other issue arose. I beat on it up and down the canyon a number of times, respectively of course, some city driving and highway.

I believe I've mentioned it, but I also did a whole suspension upgrade so the whole car feels totally different. I cant really say what the steering rack alone did. Not only that, but I've also had the car torn apart for a so long comparison between old and new would not be accurate. I can say that I love how the steering feels. The wheel is very responsive. Like most other people lower speeds is harder turning but once moving over 5ish mph it feels very smooth.

It seems like there's a little air in the system as it does shudder every once and a while at low speeds. No bubbles in my tank so it isn't a leak. I did turn the wheel from side to side, many times, while jacked up. I think it just has to naturally bleed over the course of driving it a little while. The shudder has gotten less frequent from when I first took it out and never has happened at higher speeds. My blinker also functions normally, shutting off after a turn.

I have yet to get it aligned. My dad and I spent a long time making sure everything was close so I could safely get some mileage (500) on the suspension before alignment. He worked in a small town garage in his younger years so he had some low tech methods of getting everything close. And damn its pretty spot on for staying straight on the road. But I don't know what problems could arise from an alignment so I'm going to say its likely good to go in my VDC car.

I'll continue to update. I don't drive the car much in the winter because my job comes to a halt first snow of the season. Thank god you can't pour concrete in the cold. So we're able to go to a one car family and I get to play stay at home dad. But like I say, I'll continue to update once the miles start getting racked up.

Installed the '15 STI steering rack in my '08 SpecB and it hasn't shown and problems with the VDC yet. The local Audi dealer supplied N10218708 jam nut worked perfect for the narrow profile needed. Directly associated with the rack, I also installed the whiteline KCA313 bump steer kit and the AVO steering rack bushings.

I only put 10 miles on the car so far because I also rebuilt the brake calipers, installed stainless brake and clutch lines, installed whiteline top hats and bushings in the front rear and differential, painted my rear subframe and installed Koni struts and sti Pinks (wagon). It was a short test run before looking over everything again.

It might not have been enough miles to register a check light? I'll update if I run into any problems and once I get it aligned.

If anyone is having trouble finding the 'jam nut' at a hardware store and there's an Audi/Volkswagen dealer nearby try part number N10218708. I want to note I have not tried it yet but from what info I could find it is an M14x1.5 jam nut (slim nut), which is used on some of their tie rods.

I hope there isn't a subaru nut which fits that profile I wouldn't know what to do with myself knowing I used non subaru parts.

I'm preping my rack for the install and I'm a bit confused. If there's that much thread left is it really essential to trim the inner tie rod? When I turn the outer tie rod on, it bottoms out with less than the supplied nut width left. Is it possible all you need is a thinner nut?

So I'm aligned and driving on the new rack. I wanted to provide some basic observations. They will be completely subjective, unfortunately, until I figure some practical ways to take some measurable data. I'm open to suggestions.

 

In the meantime, attached is a pic of the tie rod end. You can see there are still threads left.

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a5df38b3127ccee872204fc89500000030O00AauGzhs4cMWgPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00401886868520150119172345209.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

 

 

 

Turned out that when I actually got it back on the road, my steering wheel was off about 10 degrees left. It drove me nuts and I was concerned about the indexing, but it seemed to work out just fine as she drives straight and the wheel sits at 12 once again!

 

Overall, the steering is noticeably tighter feeling than before. It's also very responsive. In my old rack, I had a small dead spot at 12 o'clock, I now get immediate response from the wheel when turned. I don't exactly trust my observations because I've already adjusted to the new rack; I can't really recall the complete feel of the old rack.

 

Having said that, if you can suggest some practical ways to compare, I'd be very willing to hear them and provide any data possible. Just say the word...

Sorry, I shouldn't have been so vague. By 'later this year', I meant more like within the next year. My goals to have it done by the end of winter. I work my summers away, so the only bit of build time I have is in the winter.

I bought the car two years ago, totaled with 86k. I did the necessary body work, rebuilt the engine with forged internals (not necessary) while adding and deleting anything that needed to be done with a BNR 18g, before getting a tune from Delicious.

Now I'm at 105k, refreshing the suspension and fixing the power steering leak it might have received from the crash... 'fixing' as in upgrading. I'm still trying to decide on the springs and struts though.

I'm trying to keep my daily driver fun yet 'reliable'.

18" Tenzo Type M V2 Copper Bronze

General Exclaim UHP 245/45

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb338/b071dc0/DSC00839.jpg

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb338/b071dc0/DSC00847.jpg

Firestone Winterforce on Stock Wheels. Gotta love all the cargo room.

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb338/b071dc0/DSC01055.jpg

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb338/b071dc0/DSC01041.jpg

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http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb338/b071dc0/DSC01058.jpg

Tenzo Type M version 1 in Charcoal Grey

 

Yokohama Advan S.4 (205/50/17)

 

http://photos-b.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v369/222/81/39706490/n39706490_32194537_195.jpg

 

http://photos-f.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v369/222/81/39706490/n39706490_32194541_1423.jpg

I'm thinking about purchasing the same rims but cant decide if i should get 17's or 18's. Would you be able to repost the pictures or send them to me because they are not showing up. Thanks.