"The Rack"

[gwbutler]

Hello all,

I just bought an 88 5ksq for my son...(I know he'll pay me back).  Based on 
generous technical advice from other listers I thought I did a good job of 
doing a pre-sales assessment (actually, I didn't pay a lot for the vehicle 
anyway). However, while "shaking-down" the car (driving it for a couple of 
weeks before letting him have it), I've noticed that the steering is a little 
funky.  I've thrown some better rubber on the car which seems to have helped 
somewhat and will be scheduling a four-wheel alignment very soon.  After 
seeing numerous references to faulty steering racks on the Quattro list, I 
wondered if this particular rack was on the way out.  It [the rack] doesn't 
leak steering fluid (although,..the steering fluid was very low when I bought 
the car). What I notice is that the car seems to, occasionally, pull very 
slightly to one side or the other. Once it seemed to momentarily stiffen while 
turning right.  I'll cut to the chase... How would I know if my rack was shot?
 What characteristics should I be watching for?  TIA

Regards,

George B.
84 4ksq
88 5ks