Sticky Steering... my solution

[Hogndos]

I know much has been written about the "sticky steering" on the older Zeds and I have read much of it.

I will start off by saying that I have not seen a schematic or cutaway of the steering column of an '03 Z and understand that it is possible that my recent experience may has nothing to do with other peoples sticky steering issues...I just know that this most simple action made a world of difference in my car.

When I purchased the car a couple of years ago it did not exhibit any disturbing traits...it was mid summer last year that my car began having that big sticking spot on center which made just traveling straight down the roadway challenging and lane changes some times scary...it became very pronounced by the end of the season.

The car was garaged most of the winter except for our annual top down "sleigh ride" during the Christmas holidays. I noted the steering was smoother when cold outside then when hot which has also been well documented by others.

As the weather warmed I began thinking about solutions and found the "Zirk" fitting solution on another forum which seemed reasonable.

I was looking at access and thinking about the mod process and decided to sit in the car to see how the telescoping column might affect access. I moved the column in and out several times while noodling the fix...
On my way to hardware store to source the parts I note that stickiness was much improved. When i got to the store I sat in parking lot and moved the steering column in and out quickly 8 to 10 times while turning the wheel left and right.

I then gave it a quick test drive to see if there was any more improvement....to my astonishment the stickiness was entirely eliminated.

Now every couple of weeks or so I push and pull the the wheel in and out quickly a half dozen times and have not experienced any symptoms since...

As I said....I do not know if, from a technical aspect, this is a solution to the much reported typical sticky steering problem (bearing)...all I know is it seems to be the solution to MY sticky steering problem