Rack and pinion U-bolt clamp ? 71Z

[240260280z]

I think if the car rode over an obstacle the first impact (after the radiator lower bulkhead) would be with the front pieces stuck out of the crossmember that hold the steering rack. If these protrusions were bent up, that bracket would prevent the rack from rotating and jamming the U joints in the steering column.

[ajmcforester]

Interesting. I just took pictures of my car and a par ts car. The 1/70 model is missing the clamp and the 1/72 model has it:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68231[/ATTACH]

I know the 1/70 car was raced, don't know if they had any problems with it though even if they did they might not have known the corrective action.

1/70 might have been before they added them. I looked at some series I cars that don't have them and I did not see any indication they ever had one. As you can see with your car the coloring of the shaft is different from the bracket. I'd add the part when you find one it is good insurance,

[Mikes Z car]

Good advice I will move that clamp on my parts car over to my car. I didn't know the clamp was for safety.

[grannyknot]

Mike, any chance you can take some measurements and some pics while you have it off? I need to make one for my car

Thanks,

Chris

[John Coffey]

They are not a safety upgrade. Purely a driving feel, customer complaint issue at least here in the US. I don't know if this part was added to cars in other markets.

[bacarl]

John, do you know how it affects feel/feedback? It doesn't affect lateral stiffness of the rack, only rotational stiffness (if that). Any idea what were the customer complaints that it addressed?

It would seem that any axial rotation of the rack would be absorbed by the multiple joints in the steering shaft, and wouldn't be perceived by the driver.

[Zed Head]

Here's an interesting paragraph from Humble's Restore book. I wonder if the forum's parts CD has an illustration of the referenced upside-down installation.

[timsz]

Thank you very much. The rubber bumper must rest on the suspension member( The engine mount crossmember)? TimsZ

[Mikes Z car]

Mike, any chance you can take some measurements and some pics while you have it off? I need to make one for my car

Thanks,

Chris

grannyknot,

I will post some measurements and pics. I will need to be able to duplicate where it is on my parts car anyway to be sure I get it on my driver car properly. If I post info and you see that you need additional info guide me on what would be helpful. I hope I can get it off okay.

Mike

[Mikes Z car]

grannyknot,

These are all the measurements I could think of, let me know if there are other measurements that might help. I noticed one of the bolts has more threads than the other but as far as I can tell there is no significance associated with that. I wirewheeled the part to make it easier to see.

Distance from rack mount to clamp 24MM:

Rubber clearance to crossmember:

Bolt size, length of long piece:

Bolt center to center distance 43.8MM by eyeballing caliper:

I am no expert on hardware but the nuts on the clamp appear to be peened. I noticed they took a little force to get off:

Outside measurement bolt to bolt 51.9MM:

Width, length and height of long piece:

Edited December 6, 2013 by Mikes Z car
spelling

[grannyknot]

Perfect! This will be the definitive U bolt clamp thread. I would be willing to bet that the rubber block was just touching the cross member when it was installed.

Thank you,

Chris

[Mikes Z car]

Crhis,

You are welcome. It would be interesting if someone would look at the clamp on their car to see how close the rubber is to the crossmember. Good observation, maybe to be effective it should be closer to the crossmember because it would kick in sooner that way.

Edited December 7, 2013 by Mikes Z car