figgen

Looks like my Steering rack bushings are toast. I had my tires ground force balanced and the mechanic points out my wandering rack.

looks like one more thing for my "winter project" list...unfortunately winter will be here sooner rather then later



the question:

are the regular steering rack bushings about as good as they get or is there a poly upgrade out there??

Anything special about the replacement of old with the new I should know about or good links on how-to???



Thanks ( once again) for the help!

PatrickB

Haven't heard of any aftermarket bushings for that myself, but I do know John Pirtle has a write-up on how to replace them at his site:


http://members.rennlist.com/pirtle/


Patrick

Erik - Denmark

Rich,
Don't cry ------ Actually there are no real bushes in the steering rack - The rack is held in place of a pressure 'piston' placed just under the pinion shaft, remove the cover and you can take this 'piston' out and inspect - Most properly (if your rack is not leaking) a new complete 'piston' and correct riding height (that's important) can cure your steering rack play
Also do a search on this forum and you will tons of information regarding the steering rack
Good luck!

Jim @ EuroWerks

Sure appears to be four bushings holding the rack to the car. Oh, I've replaced those on a few cars. It was a bitch everytime. The hardest part for me was crimping the metal part of bushing into place. Good luck! better you than me!

Erik - Denmark

Jim,
Yes, you are talking about the 'outside' rubber bushes, I think Figgen was talking about inside bushes for the rack shaft - Two different things!

figgen

Thanks for the feed back.

Unfortunately I'm referring to the 4 outer bushing which hold the rack in place on the frame. When the tech grabbed the wheel and shook the rack moved around these 4 mounting points.

I guess if one had to do motor mounts this would be a good time.

BTW the rack looks to be in good shape and has never leaked any fluid.

BC

I know that a few people have made METAL pieces in the same shape as the bushings. Viola, no more wear.

Erik - Denmark

Yes, even easier - Place some big washers (20x35Ø) around the bushes and in this way eliminate the rubber bushes and the wear
With the 'same medicine' that possible to lift the steering rack and minimize the toe-change (Bump-steer), but if you do, then remember to adjust the U-joint and the toe accordantly
That can all be done without removing the steering rack - The result will be more direct steering

GlenL

Someone sent me this assembly drawing. Unfortunately it's getting a bit difficult to read after scanning and going through who knows how many conversions.

Thought it might help with the discussion. If only the numbers were readable! I don't have any description of the parts anyways.

Figgen is interested in the big "going up" things in the lower left corner.

As for bushings and looseness, I've tossed this around with Erik previously, and am going to check out the pressure piston he's described. I'm on my second rebuilt rack where the shaft moves up/down inside the housing.

I do find it difficult to accept that none of the rings shown going around the rack proper serve as bushings. I've got a spare, junk rack and will be checking it out this Winter.

Lizard928

Does PET 5 give a breakdown of the rack and internal parts, or is it only as a whole?

GlenL

Just the racks, man.

Erik - Denmark

Glen,
I think you got the drawing from me, see: http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/zfsteeringrack.gif - There is another one scanned with 300p at http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/zfsteeringrack2.gif
I do not have the description, and if I had, that would be in German - I got the drawing from the Danish ZF dealer
You said: 'I do find it difficult to accept that none of the rings shown going around the rack proper serve as bushings'.
Try to remove the cover item 34 and remove the piston item 30 and you will discover how loose the rack-shaft is
But good idea with that junk rack - That was also the way I started

drnick

erik,

when you add washers are you correcting the geometry for a lower ride height? which side of the rack are you adding them to and what is the 'u' joint?

Erik - Denmark

Nick,
I have normal ride height (In the 'window' of the spec.)
Which side of the rack? - That depends of what you want to obtain
If you just want to do the rubber bushes inoperative, you place them equal up and down, so you do not change the position of the steering rack (Start with this, if do not want to go for experiment)
If you also want to minimize the toe-change (Bump-steer) you place then down
The U-joint is the flexible connection between the steering wheel shaft and the rack pinion shaft (Maybe I am wrong by calling that the U-joint)
PS: I am running a test where I minimized the bump-steer to about 10% of what it was before - This test has now run for about 6 months

drnick

what is your test erik? is it simply the washers to ajust steering rack height? and just for clarity, when you say down you mean the lower aspect, closest to the ground - yes?

how many washers do you place to reduce bumpsteer by 90%?