Cra$h

reassembling the rack last night... didn't realize a shim/spacer wasn't lined up correctly when the the steering gear went in... Need a new one.



It's the 1mm thick shim that goes in the bottom of the gear housing with the flat bearing. I noticed it snapped like it's a hardened steel rather than bent. I haven't talked to the dealer yet, but I'm guessing it's probably not available separately. Does this absolutley have to be replaced with the same part? If not, where would I look for shims of this size?

500

Hey Cra$h... I think you have about 0.1% probability of finding a steering rack inner part at the dealer. I think you can only get the rack itself...

However, I believe I actually have a spare of the part you are looking for... is this it (note: dimensions in millimeters)? If it is, I can send it to you by mail. If you need it in a rush, it can be FedEx'd for cost. Let me know...

F18Rep

Those (or something very close) are not hard to find. My country hardware store has a selection of them - along with alot of other tractor parts ;]

Its been a couple of years but I swapped out the oem spacer for one that was a hair thicker - I was trying to shift the control valve up in the tower because I had pretty deep grooves in the tower casting - sort of like retracking the AFM but for the rack. Bruce

Cra$h

Thanks for the reply and offer Allan! I think the one you're showing is the thicker of the two that surround the bearing based on what appears to be a bevel that I only noticed on the thicker one. I need the thinner one that's exactly 1mm, and I think the thicker one is probably about 3mm.

I did measure it with the caliper last night and I got 46.6mm (possibly 46.5?) OD, 30mm ID, and 1mm thick.

xsboost90

i have an extra rack already in a box for shipping if you want that...

Cra$h

Excellent. Exactly what I was hoping to find out. It's the 3rd one in from the right on the picture. Thanks for posting that! Interesting idea about the grooves as I noticed that myself. I don't think mine are that bad, but I wasn't sure what to do about it.

500

I have that thinner one too. If you can't find one elsewhere, let me know and I'll gladly slip it in the mail...

DanG

Crash, I'm embarrassed to say I went through TWO of those puppies when I was rebuilding my rack (that still leaked, I'm thinking because I shoved that valve in so many times).

Look up "Motion Industries" (bearing supplier). Pretend you're a business (they just asked me where I worked, no verification or anything) and tell them you want a thrust bearing race with the dimensions matching your busted one. Mine were $.96 each. Here's a hint from actually getting it in without breaking the third try... install the valve with the housing UPSIDE DOWN. As in push it up from the ground with this thrust bearing sitting on the top of valve assembly.

Here's the thread I started when I busted the first one...

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/284640-wtb-ps-rack-thrust-bearing-need-one-asap.html

Cra$h

Well I did as Bruce suggested and found a shim at the local hardware store meant for farm machinery. Not perfect, but seems close enough.

Got everything back together last night around 3am with the rack and crossmember loosely installed (did other stuff while I was in there). Hope to do an initial leak test tonight and hope I don't see Old Faithful.

Is it leak free? Even if mine is fixed, I might still be interested. I like having spares. PM me a price.

Allan, thanks again for the offer. Hopefully the shim I found will work fine, but I'll let you know if I still need it.
Dan, thanks for the link and thread. Glad to know I'm not the only one. My heart sank when I heard the telltale *snap*...