Steering Rack Disassembly and Refurb

[Mike W]

Doesn't seem like my pictures showed up so I've posted them again here.

Mike.

[Captain Obvious]

Mike, Awesome. Those are great shots. Couple of questions...

You mentioned that you found the inner tie rod grease ports completely unplugged, right? Do you think it came from the factory that way, or is there a chance that a shop or previous owner lost something that was originally in those holes?

Also, that article you mentioned talked about replacing and honing the bronze bushings at the ends of the rack housing. Did you replace yours as part of your rebuild, or did you just leave them alone?

[Mike W]

Captain,

I'm the original owner so I know this is the way it came from the factory. I do not have any record or recall any service to the rack that would have removed whatever might have been there.

I wish I could have replaced those bronze bushings but I could not find them anywhere and did not want to go to the lengths of trying to find something that would fit. They looked pretty unique with the grease slot in the middle, so I didn't think they would be easy to find. All I did was clean everything out really well, re-greased it with good grease really well, and put it all back together.

I have the large adjustment screw in pretty tight, but it operates very smoothly and I cannot feel any play.

Mike.

[Captain Obvious]

Mike, That's great info for me about those grease holes left open. I checked the threads, and they're 1/4-28, so if I happen to be passing by a hardware store before the rack is done, I may stop in for a pair. But if not, it seems like leaving them open is a completely acceptable scheme as well. Excellent.

Also confirms my belief that those hard rubber coated washers are indeed bump stops to limit steering travel. My turning radius, and marred bronze bushings thank you!

About those bronze bushings... I bet they're not as uncommon as you might think, even including the lube slot. I've purchased similar stuff in the past for other unrelated applications. For research sake, I'll poke around a little and let you know what I find.

The spec on the tension adjust nut is to drive it all the way in until the spring is completely bound and then back the adjustment screw off by 20-25 degrees. In other words... Pretty tight is perfect.

[Mike W]

Great info especially about the tension on the adjust screw.

Yes please keep me posted on what you find with the bronze bushings. My plan is to disassemble the remanufactured rack over time and re-build that one with at least new inner tie rod ends and so if I can get the bushings as well, that would be a plus.

Mike.

[Captain Obvious]

Mike,

Here's a snipped out of the FSM that talks about the adjustment of the rack tension nut. They changed the wording a couple times over the years, but this is the simplest, easiest to understand version that I could find. This is from 73:

In later years (starting in 74) they started suggesting that you could shim the adjustment spring if necessary to get the correct pressure, but I don't think anyone is going to go to that level of detail.

So tighten it all the way. Loosen it up 20-25 degrees. Lock it down. Have a beer.

[siteunseen]

I will tease you a little bit and tell you that I got a pair of them for $8.99 each, and they look perfect! :tapemouth

I'll guess for an ATV?

[Captain Obvious]

Nope. It's from a car. A very popular import. From recent times as well!

I'm having a hard time containing myself, so unless I get requests for additional pics of the rack disassembled, then I'll spill it later tonight.

[rcb280z]

Let me guess....from a 350Z?

[240260280z]

I would have guessed Fiero because it's you but since it is an import I'll guess Subaru because some swap in Subie PS racks.

[rcb280z]

You know I was going to say subaru too but a friend of mine recently replaced his rack billows on his 350Z and they look close to the 280Z ones.

[Captain Obvious]

I got one word for you... Miata.

Well, that and a big thanks to manufacturers who still put mechanical drawings in their catalogs!

I took a couple measurements off the steering rack and off my old cracked boots and came up with the following:

- Big end needs to be about 1.42 inches (36mm).

- Small end needs to be about 0.47 inches (12mm).

- Natural boot length (neither compressed or extended) needs to be about 6 inches long.

Then I did some digging and turned up an Empi catalog in pdf that still has drawings in it and discovered that they had two product offerings that looked like they would fit. I cross referenced their part numbers and found they are used on the Miata. They had two numbers that looked like they would work OK. 88-1509 (used on non P/S Miatas), and 88-1527 (used on Miatas with P/S). From what I could tell, pretty much, the main difference between the two is that the one for P/S is a half inch longer.

I bought the non P/S boots 88-1509. Here's the old with the new:

Here's the big end:

Here's the small end. The Empi boot small end is a little smaller than the original:

I was a little worried about the small end being smaller than stock. Put a little tape on the tie rod end threads to smooth out the application. Put a little silicone grease on the tape:

Push the boot into place. Small end first. Big end last. Take off the tape. Worked great!! Smaller end didn't cause a problem at all. In fact, it just means you don't need any clamp on the small end. it's tight enough without. Here it is fully collapsed:

And here it is fully extended. Note that the big end clamp isn't even tight and it's not pulling off the big end, It snaps into the retaining groove just like the originals:

WOOT!!