Rack and pinion

[78 280zcar]

Hello ya all, well today I took my my car in for a wheel alignment and they told me that the rack and pinion was leaking and was no longer useable and if they aligned it it would just go out again, well any way they wanted $590.00 to put another reman. rack and pinion in it and bushings, . like I was going to pay that much, Well I looked one up on parts america and the rack and pinion was $179.00 reman., well I was thinking about going to a pick and pull and getting one, but my question is which years are interchangeble with a 78. Thanks

[Zrush]

If i'm not mistaken, the same rack was used from 70-78 Z's. I have one that is great condition except maybe replacing the boots. The boot started to crack on the small end and I went ahead and changed the rack because at the time I was putting all new parts on my 77Z while it was under restoration. If you can't find a good one let me know. Good luck.

ScottROFL

[78 280zcar]

How much do you want for it and shipping , if it aint too much I will take it, I can always get new dust boots for it for 27.00 from kragen, you wouldnt happen to have a paypal account would you cause then I could send the money to you quicker, thanks alot man.

Shane

[panchovisa]

Hold on a second! I think your jumping the gun a bit. "The rack and pinion was leaking"?????

The rack doesn't hold oil, just grease. If you over fill it, it will leak out. Not a problem, you know it's lubed!

They were scaming you and you didn't fall for (all) of it. Don't try to outsmart a liar, because you base your decision upon their lie.

Just go to a good shop and get it aligned. Keep the rack.

[sblake01]

Wait a minute! What would it be leaking? A 78 Z has manual rack and pinion steering. There is no fluid running through it. I think you are being scammed.

(evidently panchovisa types faster than me!)

[panchovisa]

sblake, where do you think the $590.00 "re-manufactured" (wiped off with degreaser) came from??? The previous mark????

[sblake01]

No, panchovisa. What I meant is that evidently we were responding at the same time and your reply came through first. When I noticed that I went back and added the line about you being a faster typist.

[Ed]

Where did you go to get the allignment? We need to stay away from those crooks!

[78 280zcar]

I went to pacific tire and wheel, about the leak, I was telling my girlfriend about that to that it shouldnt be leaking because it has manual steering, I told her the only thing it should be leaking is grease and not oil. Well anyways my steering is so hard to turn, I'm kind of a big guy and it takes all my effort to turn the damn steering wheel, is it suppose to be like that, does anyone else have this problem and is there a way to fix it. Thanks

[GunnerRob]

Where is Turlock?

I'm thinking maybe, if you're close to a club member, you could take your car to one of them to give the steering a try. My 75z's rack is original with over 250,00 miles on it and it's not hard to turn at all while the car is in motion. Even while it's parked it's not too difficult, and I'm running a tire with an 8" wide tread contact patch.

If you're not too far from Ventura, Ca. I'd be more than happy to help you out!

[2ManyZs]

A few of the things will make the steering hard to turn are:

Wider than stock tires

Tire pressures too low

Bad or improperly lubed ball joints

Steering rack not properly lubed

Bad or improperly lubed bearing on top of struts

Steering rack bushings worn, resulting in rack movement before the tires turn.

Bad u-joints in steering column

Steering rack pinion too tight, results in binding of rack and pinion

That's not all, but those are the main causes....

[Ed]

Jack up the front of your Z at the crossmember. Leave the drivers window down. With both front tires in the air turn the steering wheel. You should be able to turn it with one finger.