cam rack inner tie rod and boots used on a zf rack?

and if so what are the consequences.

i ask because i am confronted currently with this scenario. all in all the car seems to steer properly BUT there does seem to be an imbalance between the amount the steering wheel is rotated and the amount the wheel actually turns.

hard to explain other than to say the steering does not feel as tight as typical 240's.

all components are solid and tight. sound/good outer rod ends and sound/good inner rods. the rack is good. the pump groans ever so little on turning. no leaks anywhere.

i am wondering is inner rod length varies a bit between cam and zf rods.

the rods definitely were for a cam rack but made no difference to the steering down the road.

apparently the rack had been replaced last by a garage recently that did it fast on a rush basis. it turned out they did NOT properly tighten the 2 nuts and 2 bolts securing the rack to the engine cradle beam.

the rack on close inspection with extra hands turning the wheel shifted right to left and back and again as the steering wheel turned.

quite a dangerous situation imo since the nuts were very loose and one of the bolts was almost half out.

A groan might indicate air in the system or the relief valve is triggering too low.

Either could cause funny steering.

For air, make sure the fluid level is up and steer from lock to lock 10 times or so.

You could do this by driving slowly in an employ parking lot - or stack 3 or 4 pieces of cardboard under each front wheel then steer lock to lock. The relief valve should trigger if you press a bit against the lock.

See if you get a groan using cardboard, then try on bare pavement to see if the groan is different.

How is the toe-in ? I can't imagine that the rack cares what it is pushing or pulling.

Greg