993 steering rack brace/ 18"
04-20-2013, 02:18 PM
#31
Rennlist Member
Excuse me for digging up this old post. Does this mean ALL 96's and up came with the brace installed from Porsche? Regardless if the car came with 17's or 18's? 
I'd have a look at mine to see if its installed - but it is in the shop getting a rebuilt steering rack... My car came originally with 17's cups but I just picked up some 18's...
I'd have a look at mine to see if its installed - but it is in the shop getting a rebuilt steering rack... My car came originally with 17's cups but I just picked up some 18's...
Cheers Guy
04-21-2013, 10:03 AM
#32
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I am not a professional technician so use my observations and advice at your own risk:
Recently I had my steering rack rebuilt and I installed it myself. The brace is nothing more than a cast aluminum strap that fits under the two forward most bolts that hold the rack clamps in place.
When adding the brace the 60mmm bolts in the front position are replaced with 80mm bolts to allow for the additional height of the strap. The strap is such a simple part I would just go to a DIY hardware store and buy an aluminum bar and some washers and fabricate it myself.
The bar seems to add very little to the structural integrity of the rack's mounting as the rack is mounted in two rubber bushings inside the clamps that the bar seems to add reinforcing to. The most critical part of the install is to use new OE bolts once the old ones are removed as the bolts have some sort of thread locker pre-applied to them. Also sometimes the bolts will gall when turned in. Galling makes a loud creaking sound when turning the bolts back in. I resorted to using a very small amount of ant-seize to avoid the galling. The thread locker seemed to still provide considerable resistance to the bolt install with the anti-seize used. It is very important to observe that the bolt has fully pulled the U-clam against the frame and that the bolt is torqued down with a torque wrench as the bolt is threaded to a soft metal base that if over torqued will strip.
I am not a professional technician so use my observations and advice at your own risk.
Andy
Recently I had my steering rack rebuilt and I installed it myself. The brace is nothing more than a cast aluminum strap that fits under the two forward most bolts that hold the rack clamps in place.
When adding the brace the 60mmm bolts in the front position are replaced with 80mm bolts to allow for the additional height of the strap. The strap is such a simple part I would just go to a DIY hardware store and buy an aluminum bar and some washers and fabricate it myself.
The bar seems to add very little to the structural integrity of the rack's mounting as the rack is mounted in two rubber bushings inside the clamps that the bar seems to add reinforcing to. The most critical part of the install is to use new OE bolts once the old ones are removed as the bolts have some sort of thread locker pre-applied to them. Also sometimes the bolts will gall when turned in. Galling makes a loud creaking sound when turning the bolts back in. I resorted to using a very small amount of ant-seize to avoid the galling. The thread locker seemed to still provide considerable resistance to the bolt install with the anti-seize used. It is very important to observe that the bolt has fully pulled the U-clam against the frame and that the bolt is torqued down with a torque wrench as the bolt is threaded to a soft metal base that if over torqued will strip.
I am not a professional technician so use my observations and advice at your own risk.
Andy
