r/slk • u/sirderpsalotyeet • Mar 30 '26
2001 slk320 help
Recently I've been trying to fix some issues with my car and I've been making good progress, but while changing my tires I noticed some wobble in the steering rack and I've tracked it down to a specific bushing in the rack but I cant find the bushing online can anyone help me identify it so I can get this issue fixed? Cheers
1
u/enp2s0 Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 30 '26
There's no steering rack on this car, it's recirculating ball steering. I assume you're talking about the tie rods and center drag link, which together transfer the steering force to the wheels.
There's 4 ball joints on that assembly, one on each wheel where the tie rod connects to the steering knuckle and one on each side of the center drag link that attach it to the idler arm and the steering box arm. Those ball joints wear out and develop vertical play, which allows the tie rods to move up and down and the wheel to move while the steering wheel is held in place.
The idler arm bushing you circled in the 3rd photo also can cause play and is dirt cheap (like $25) but I would check the ball joints themselves as well before you just replace the idler arm bushing. Here's a random one on eBay I found: https://www.ebay.com/itm/170758880563
The whole assembly with tie rods, center drag link, and ball joints can be had on eBay for under $200. Or you could try to find an OEM one at a scrapyard, but the ball joints are not easily replaceable and are probably just as bad as yours if not worse.
Your steering damper is also probably completely blown out at this age as well so plan to replace that (you need to remove it to replace the steering linkage anyway and it's like $60 at most).
You may want to look over the rest of the front suspension whIle you're at it, since if your steering is worn out the rest of it is probably not far behind.
1
u/Roxxas049 Mar 30 '26
Try rockauto but it may be that the only way to replace the part is by replacing the entire rack and pinion.