240Z steering rack

[Richard McDonel]

I'm doing a ground-up resto on a '71 240Z, but having a problem with the steering rack. I've removed the outer tie rods and the boots. I did have some difficulty removing the inner tie rods because the lock (jam) nut is quite thin and is crammed between the tie rod one one side and an unidentified object on the inside. This object does not appear in illustrations in either the factory manual or Haynes. Instructions in both books make no mention. Overall shape and size (there's one at each end of the rack) is much like a bearing. It is round, without wrench flats. Push on it hard by hand, and it feels like there might be a spring inside. Immediately adjacent to it is a hole drilled into the rack. I've poked around the hole with a punch, but that has yielded nothing. Until I get rid of these things, I can't withdraw the rack.

My local Nissan dealer has no knowledge of, or interest in, early models.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If someone needs photos, let me know.

Regards,

Richard McDonell

Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

[Nigel1943]

If you look at page 188 of the Haynes manual you will see the ball end of the inner track rod sitting in its seat with the spring behind it. The seat and the spring should just pull out. Try putting the rack on end and gently tap the end of the housing, it should just fall out.

[Nissanman]

Some images for you:)

[cygnusx1]

I believe I loosened mine with a punch and hammer, but a spanner wrench might be the right tool.

[Lazeum]

I'm working in car steering system, this is the tool we are using on inner tie rods It might damage your tie rods (scratches on ball joint housing) though so be careful

[cygnusx1]

Yes, Pipe wrenches are indispensable in any toolbox. They provide the grip of death to anything short of hard chrome. My inner tie rod had a slight amount of play on the drivers side in my 280Z. When I got it apart, I saw no visible sign of excessive wear or damage so I simply fit a washer behind the spring to increase the preload slightly. I don't endorse this, but I like to be frugal sometimes, and tend to "make due" when I can. Let the flames begin.

[Richard McDonel]

Thanks fellows. I think we're getting close, but not quite there yet.

I have page 188 of Haynes in front of me, and I'm assuming the illustration in question is Fig. 11.66. There is still a piece missing. That figure shows a cross section of the threaded-on ball joint body, then one more threaded-on piece to the left. Mine has a third piece (I'm guessing a steering stop) and if you look at the attached photo, my friend is pointing to it. That is the mystery piece that has me confused. We have determined that it is not spring-loaded, but rather is rubber-mounted. I'm sure that I could get it off with a pipe wrench or a big hammer, but that would no doubt destroy whatever rubber mounting there is.

Now I do have a second 240 steering rack, and as you can see from that photo, there is a metal-foil wrapper around the ball joint and lock nut, with the words "disassembly instr." But there are no English "instr," only oriental script. The mystery piece is to the right in that photo.

Any further thoughts? Again, I am appreciative of your advice.

[zcarnut]

Richard;

The “third piece” is indeed a steering stop. It is just a hollow rubber sleeve within a metal shell. It’s a tight fit on the rack, but it can be moved away from the lock nut by simply prying over with a screwdriver. This will allow you to remove the lock nut and then unscrew the inner ball joint.

[Richard McDonel]

Thanks Steve,

I was happy to receive your post, as it was the first outside confirmation I had that the damn things existed, what with Haynes and the factory making no mention. My situation is that I'm stripping the rack right down so I can get the housing sandblasted and painted, but the rack won't come out with steering stops in place.

Actually, I already had the lock nut and ball joint off - I just put them back on to make my photo of last night a bit clearer. To loosen the lock nut with the steering stop in place, I first used a 32 mm bicycle cone wrench, which bent. Then I bought a cheap 32 mm combination wrench and ground the open end down thin enough to fit between the steering stop and the ball joint. Now I understand from you that no great damage would have been done by just prying the thing out of the way.

So the remaining question is what happens to the rubber in the steering stop when I pull the whole thing right off the rack? I don't see replacement parts in anyone's catalogue. It seems to me you would have a pretty iffy "stop" if you just shoved the thing back on. Also, what are the immediately adjacent holes in the rack for? Do they accomodate some sort of set screw to prevent the stop from moving on the rack? As the King of Siam repeatedly says in "The King and I," "Tis a puzzlement!"

I appreciate your help.

[zcarnut]

Yes, depending on the condition of the rubber, the stops may not survive being removed. I have several spare used ones if you should need one.

I think you can still get the rack bronze sleeves (fiche #4) the pinion bearing (#10) and the pinion bushing (#3) which should be replaced or at least inspected during a rack re-build.

The holes in the rack allow you to use a Zerk grease fitting so you can lube the inner ball socket joint. If you blow out the holes with a air gun you can see where they connect to.

Of course, you must remove the Zerk fitting after adding grease because it would hit the rack housing.

[Richard McDonel]

Wow Steve, you are a fount of knowledge! I think we'd all do better with a Golik manual that with a Haynes.

Many thanks. I'll let you know how I make out.

Regards,

[Richard McDonel]

Yes, the stops came off with no problem. One little twist of each with pliers to get started, then gently rotating in line with the threads on the rack. The parts are probably re-usable.

Thanks again.