Strut replacement and strut mount torque vs steering binding
 

I replaced my front structs many months back but then I am having steering binding and was curious to know if overtightening the steering mount to the strut bolt could result in hard steering.

I have been to the dealership regarding the problem and they cannot root cause hard steering to either rack/pump.

Could the strut bearing (that plastic part) be bound to the mount resulting in hard steering?

So you noticed this right after changing your front struts? Sounds like an installation issue. Did you check and ensure the top hat was aligned properly? There is a stamp on the top hat that says "out" which indicates the direction it needs to be installed (meaning line up the out with the outside fender).

Other than that its pretty straight forwrad. When you disassmbled the top mount did you completely dissamble all components then piece together after putting in new strut? Perhaps a bushing is not installed correctly.

Best suggestion is to pull the front struts off and check assembly. When I changed out my top mounts I just used an impact wrench to tighten only tightening down a couple second after the nut was seated. You do not need extreme torque on the nut. I wouldn't know how you would toque the nut unless you have a jig to hold the components and keep them from turning.

Good luck...

The strut to steering knuckle bolts have to be really tight anyway, and there is no play so that isn't the problem. Did you happen to remove the bolt for the ball joint? That's the only bolt that I can think of in that area that would result in tight steering from over-tightening....I'm guessing the dealer checked your PS fluid when they were looking over the rack/pump so if all those are good you shouldn't be having problems. How hard is it to turn the steering wheel?

Another issue could simply be your cambers. If they're fine, visually, then you should ignore this. But, if they look to be more negative, then this may increase the "stiff" feel for the steering.

One other stupid thing I have done (while you said something about ball joint), I used a grease needle to pump in grease.

I feel hard steering not from the bottom but from the top, meaning stiffness in and around the steering column and while PMing another org member he told me that the steering coln ball bearing might have gone bad, which is a possibility.

One thing I am going to do is, remove the tie-end rods connected to the rack and see if there is any binding, if true then it is in the coln since the pump and rack seem OK.

Camber issues is a real possibilty too...

I did not realize this problem immediately, its been months since I have changed the front struts.

Also, the way the bolts for the hat are spaced out -- it is pretty intelligent..There is no way the 3 bolts on the hat will line up when installing to worry about the OUT sign (the bolts on the hat and uniquely spaced out, so when installing one cannot go wrong, pretty nice engg).

You would have noticed this immediately after changing out the struts. So eliminate that as a possibility.

Good advice. Check that and let us know how it looks :doublethu

Could the universal joint down where the column connects to the rack seized up? I tried to remove the cover from the inside of the vehicle but there is a flage welded to the column preventing to move the plastic cover all the way up to look at the ujoint.

Are there any ball bearing in the column that needs lubrication?