There's a topic on another FX forum about this and since I performed it today I thought I'd pass along how to fix it. Several have done this also and the adjustment amount seems to vary between 1/4 and 3/4 of a turn. It seems a 1/4 of a turn at a time is the best way to do this. I believe to much will damage your rack. Plus it doesn't seem to take much so there's no need to go past the point you need.
My car is a 06 FX45 with new tires and a fresh alignment. I bought it used and it had the steering wheel shake at 60-65mph. I thought this was a balance issue until I seen the topic discussed in another forum. So here's what I did..
First off jack the driver side up and support it with jack stands. You will need to get under the car right behind the driver side front wheel. At this point you can probably see the bolt head (24mm bolt on steering rack) facing the rear of the car. You will have to remove two 10mm bolts (and one clip on mine) to allow the back of the steering rack cover to drop (you can hold it down while tightening). Then take a 24mm socket and rachet or breakover and tighten. The bolt you are tightening is on the rack itself and is to the left of two steering rack mounting bolts.
Here's what I found. When I initially tightened the bolt it was loose (probably to loose)and then became snug. I tried to keep in line with 1/4 and 1/2 turns so I went a full 1/2 at first. This went past the snug part by about an 1/8 a turn. I took it for a spin and noticed the following, tighter steering, the steering wheel did not return to center (had to manually do it), but the shake was completely gone. I didn't like the fact the steering wheel would not return so I went back and loosened the bolt an 1/8 turn which put it right where it would have been snug to begin with. I then took another drive. This time the steering was only slightly tighter (wife didn't notice), the steering wheel reacted normal, and the shake was gone. This seemed to be the sweet spot on mine. Its about 3/8 of a turn, but the most important part is it seemed to be right when the bolt got snug. I'd be interested to see if thats the same on some others. Either way this is very easy to do and works !!!
Thanks Mike
My car is a 06 FX45 with new tires and a fresh alignment. I bought it used and it had the steering wheel shake at 60-65mph. I thought this was a balance issue until I seen the topic discussed in another forum. So here's what I did..
First off jack the driver side up and support it with jack stands. You will need to get under the car right behind the driver side front wheel. At this point you can probably see the bolt head (24mm bolt on steering rack) facing the rear of the car. You will have to remove two 10mm bolts (and one clip on mine) to allow the back of the steering rack cover to drop (you can hold it down while tightening). Then take a 24mm socket and rachet or breakover and tighten. The bolt you are tightening is on the rack itself and is to the left of two steering rack mounting bolts.
Here's what I found. When I initially tightened the bolt it was loose (probably to loose)and then became snug. I tried to keep in line with 1/4 and 1/2 turns so I went a full 1/2 at first. This went past the snug part by about an 1/8 a turn. I took it for a spin and noticed the following, tighter steering, the steering wheel did not return to center (had to manually do it), but the shake was completely gone. I didn't like the fact the steering wheel would not return so I went back and loosened the bolt an 1/8 turn which put it right where it would have been snug to begin with. I then took another drive. This time the steering was only slightly tighter (wife didn't notice), the steering wheel reacted normal, and the shake was gone. This seemed to be the sweet spot on mine. Its about 3/8 of a turn, but the most important part is it seemed to be right when the bolt got snug. I'd be interested to see if thats the same on some others. Either way this is very easy to do and works !!!
Thanks Mike
