cschou

Hi there fellow shark owners...

Having spend a couple of hours searching and reading here in the forum, it is still not clear to me.

Are the power steering racks on a 928 interchangeable?

I have a '89 S4 where one side of the steering rack is leaking. I could have it rebuild, but I do also have access to a rebuild steering rack from a 928 '78, complete with inner and outer tie-rods.
I know there is a difference in the overall length of the racks, but since I will be swapping the entire rack and tie-rods, will I then be able to use the one from a '78 on my '89?
Can I simply compensate for the difference in length by readjusting the toe-in?

Hope you guys can help me with this one, although it seems there are different oppinions. Bare in mind that I'm from Denmark, so ordering parts from the US is a bit costy.

Thanks
Casper Schou

GlenL

Yes. The difference is the length of the "rack" rod. You may need to use the tie rods off the later rack.

cschou

Okay thanks a lot

I will try the rack from the '78 then.

Best regards
Casper Schou

SeanR

You won't be able to swap the rack stops between racks though. Be careful.

heinrich

Older racks have a little pipe between sides -- not sure what this does.

GlenL

It let's the air rush between the sides.

Good point about the stops. Those are the round parts with rubber sandwiched between metal plates.

cschou

Okay thanks. But if I'm swapping the entire rack including the tie-rods, can't I just use the stops on the old rack? ('78)

cschou

So I've now taken of both racks and placed them along side each other. The overall length (rack + tie-rods) don't seem to be a problem. Only negative aspect of fitting the '78 rack is, that the turning radius of the car seems to increase.

Are the rubber boots (protecting the steering axel between rack and tie-rod) in each end the same on all 928? The ones on the racks I've got "look" a bit different from eachother, but the I meassure them to approx the same, although they are difficult to meassure. Searching the part-stores they only carry one type, but you would expect the new rack to have "longer" boots?
I'm guessing they are the same, but can somebody please confirm that?

Thanks everyone

Best regards
Casper Schou