Oversteer & Clunk (Fixed)
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,162
Likes: 383
From: Johnson City, TN
Oversteer & Clunk (Fixed)
Our 84 developed steering problems:
Play increased in steering wheel; car tramlined
Started to break into dramatic oversteer in right sweeping turns.
Clunked in the front end when backing out of parking space.
Two problems. 1) Didn't properly torque lower control arm bolts and they backed-out. Embarassing, since I did the suspension work. 2) Driver's side rack shaft had developed front/back play, presumeably a worn plastic guide washer. Word is that this guide washer is not included in the retail-available reseal kit, instead, sold only to rebuilders by the rack OEM.
Rennlist search turned-up a series of threads. One entry by Capt Earl revealed he had alleviated rack shaft play with a external plastic insert that he hand-fit to racks. A quick PM exchange confirmed his solution is still holding on cars he outfitted. Post #8 in particular of this thread..... https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t=rack+rebuild
So, I made something similar, and tapped it into the end of the rack (while rack was on car). Had to remove tie rod inner/outer. Pictures below show the plastic piece and the picture of the gap at the end of the rack is where I put it.
IGNORE the caliper reading in the picture. The hole needs to be bored bigger than the 1.003 shown. I used a 1" forstner initially--- then hand sanded until it just fit over the shaft. (Should have used a 1 1/16" forstner but didn't have one.) Outside diameter is roughly 1.3 inches, hand-sanded to fit. Did not drill the rack for a set screw to hold the bushing, instead am assuming its tight enough to stay in the rack. Will see.
Car tracks now like its on rails. Can believe the stabilization of the shaft itself with the insert. It really clunked when roughly tugged. Seems stable and tight now.
Play increased in steering wheel; car tramlined
Started to break into dramatic oversteer in right sweeping turns.
Clunked in the front end when backing out of parking space.
Two problems. 1) Didn't properly torque lower control arm bolts and they backed-out. Embarassing, since I did the suspension work. 2) Driver's side rack shaft had developed front/back play, presumeably a worn plastic guide washer. Word is that this guide washer is not included in the retail-available reseal kit, instead, sold only to rebuilders by the rack OEM.
Rennlist search turned-up a series of threads. One entry by Capt Earl revealed he had alleviated rack shaft play with a external plastic insert that he hand-fit to racks. A quick PM exchange confirmed his solution is still holding on cars he outfitted. Post #8 in particular of this thread..... https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t=rack+rebuild
So, I made something similar, and tapped it into the end of the rack (while rack was on car). Had to remove tie rod inner/outer. Pictures below show the plastic piece and the picture of the gap at the end of the rack is where I put it.
IGNORE the caliper reading in the picture. The hole needs to be bored bigger than the 1.003 shown. I used a 1" forstner initially--- then hand sanded until it just fit over the shaft. (Should have used a 1 1/16" forstner but didn't have one.) Outside diameter is roughly 1.3 inches, hand-sanded to fit. Did not drill the rack for a set screw to hold the bushing, instead am assuming its tight enough to stay in the rack. Will see.
Car tracks now like its on rails. Can believe the stabilization of the shaft itself with the insert. It really clunked when roughly tugged. Seems stable and tight now.
Last edited by Landseer; Sep 13, 2008 at 01:19 AM.
Rennlist Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,210
Likes: 6
From: Y-Bridge City, Zanesville, Ohio
Chris,
Great post, thanx. A couple of questions.
You write "... the gap at the end of the rack is where I put it." Am I right to think that the piece you made goes inside the "shiny circle" that shows in the second picture? And ...
You show two different plastic pieces, one with a shoulder and one w/out. Is one the old and one the new? And ...
Cap'n Earl says the hole is tapered, so no set screw surprised me. Comment? (Other than "Damn, I hate tapered shafts!")
Great post, thanx. A couple of questions.
You write "... the gap at the end of the rack is where I put it." Am I right to think that the piece you made goes inside the "shiny circle" that shows in the second picture? And ...
You show two different plastic pieces, one with a shoulder and one w/out. Is one the old and one the new? And ...
Cap'n Earl says the hole is tapered, so no set screw surprised me. Comment? (Other than "Damn, I hate tapered shafts!")
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,162
Likes: 383
From: Johnson City, TN
Yes, the plastic piece fills the gap shown in 2nd picture. The rough turning is shown, then the piece I ended-up with from it.
The outer diameter of the plastic piece is hand-sanded to a force-fit, tapped in place with a drift. Interference fit is between outer diameter of the plastic and the rack.
The inner diameter (hole) in the plastic piece has to be big enough for the steering shaft to move in-out and not bind, but, it must be small enough that it guides the shaft. The shaft is just a hair bigger than 1 inch diameter. Its top surface, not shown, is actually a geared flat, so the pinion gear can drive the shaft in and out when steering.
My plastic piece is not the optimum. Here's why. I drilled the hole too small with the 1 inch Forstner. Interference with the steering shaft. I re-drilled from the oposite side of my turning using my next-largest bit, 1 1/8 Forstner. But I did not drill all the way. Resulting hole was 1 1/8, stepping down to 1".
1 1/8 was too big, too sloppy, shaft wasn't guided.
My recovery was to hand-file and sand the 1" area until it fit over the shaft --- That was about 1 1/16 inches (guesstimate).
I oriented the smaller part of the hole inward toward the rack, sliding over the shaft, when I positioned it.
Cap'n Earl had the luxury of being able to see the rack clearly, as his was off the car. I couldn't see the taper or feel it, it wasn't very abrupt or pronounced, so I sanded to fit.
I think I will eventually remake the piece with a uniform center hole (roughly 1 1/16) and refit with a set screw. I didn't want to risk the rack core by drilling if I wasn't sure it would work. Without a set screw, if the plastic piece pops-out, it can potenially wedge between the bump stop just inside the inner tie rod end and the rack body, restricting ability to turn left. That's why he did it that way.
This was more exploratory surgery and fix ---- I probably should have pointed that out.
The outer diameter of the plastic piece is hand-sanded to a force-fit, tapped in place with a drift. Interference fit is between outer diameter of the plastic and the rack.
The inner diameter (hole) in the plastic piece has to be big enough for the steering shaft to move in-out and not bind, but, it must be small enough that it guides the shaft. The shaft is just a hair bigger than 1 inch diameter. Its top surface, not shown, is actually a geared flat, so the pinion gear can drive the shaft in and out when steering.
My plastic piece is not the optimum. Here's why. I drilled the hole too small with the 1 inch Forstner. Interference with the steering shaft. I re-drilled from the oposite side of my turning using my next-largest bit, 1 1/8 Forstner. But I did not drill all the way. Resulting hole was 1 1/8, stepping down to 1".
1 1/8 was too big, too sloppy, shaft wasn't guided.
My recovery was to hand-file and sand the 1" area until it fit over the shaft --- That was about 1 1/16 inches (guesstimate).
I oriented the smaller part of the hole inward toward the rack, sliding over the shaft, when I positioned it.
Cap'n Earl had the luxury of being able to see the rack clearly, as his was off the car. I couldn't see the taper or feel it, it wasn't very abrupt or pronounced, so I sanded to fit.
I think I will eventually remake the piece with a uniform center hole (roughly 1 1/16) and refit with a set screw. I didn't want to risk the rack core by drilling if I wasn't sure it would work. Without a set screw, if the plastic piece pops-out, it can potenially wedge between the bump stop just inside the inner tie rod end and the rack body, restricting ability to turn left. That's why he did it that way.
This was more exploratory surgery and fix ---- I probably should have pointed that out.