SC Steering Rack DIY Bearing Replace

[911SCfanatic]

Alright, Tim, looking for more bearing help. The steering shaft bearing is the same as your #1712 needle bearing. However, there is a felt and rubber seal on either side of it. Any idea of where to get those?

[Navaros911]

Tim,

Thanks for the post...

I'm at it this week. Last weekend I pulled the complete front suspension out (except the strut just not to make a mess with the brake fluid, but the shock will be replaced), including the steering rack.

I'll open it up and replace the bearings, since it sounds so easy (but doesn't it always

- Michiel

[patkeefe]

BTW, I went to an autocross two weeks ago, and had one of the instructors drive my car. He asked me "is there power steering in this?"

Pat

[KTL]

Hopefully somebody can shed some light on this "feels like power steering" issue.

'Cause my steering is VERY heavy compared to some other cars i've driven. And these cars most certainly did not have the rack rebuilt.

Is the heavy steering related to tires, alignment, ............ I don't think there's any binding in the steering shaft u-joints (probably couldn't hurt to oil them) and the steering shaft itself has been rebuilt with new bearings, as well as the rack being relubed by me not too long ago.

I've had either Kumho MX or Yoko ES 100 tires on the car (steering feels a little lighter with the Yokos) and the alignment is not overly aggressive with 1/32nd toe-in, -1 deg. camber and 7-8 deg. of caster, I think.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by KTL

Is the heavy steering related to tires, alignment, .....

all I can say is that there is a distinct increase in steering effort between my 6" front wheels and by brothers 911 7" front wheels.

[KTL]

Thanks Ron.

Yet I still notice my car has a noticeably higher effort with my 6's than my buddy's car with 7's up front. Weird.

[RoninLB]

If I suspected the steering rack I'd jack the front end to see how the steering wheel felt then.

[ghnat]

Has anybody found a replacement puck? Mine is very worn and I would feel better with a new one? Sorry to hijack the thread...

[KTL]

Steering is smooth and effortless with wheels in the air. So maybe it's alignment related? I kinda think tires though. Because the steering was noticeably lighter when I had a different set of wheels & tires installed- 17 in. ROH wheels with Sumitomo HTRZ II tires.

Never looked into sourcing a new puck. You could try Griffiths (http://www.griffiths.com) and I bet they'd set you up with one? I simply rotated mine 90 deg. to make the rack ride on the high side of the puck. Dunno if it's still riding on the high side or if it self-rotated back to the worn groove.

[ghnat]

Kevin,

I got in contact with Griffiths - they do not sell parts
Any other suggestions?

[patkeefe]

Kevin:
I run ROH wheels on mine also, 16x7 front and 16x8 rears. I suspect the offset associated with these wheels has a bit to do with the steering being a bit better, but I am not an authority by any means. My steering was about the same with the stock cookie cutters also, however.
Pat

[KTL]

Originally posted by ghnat
Kevin,

I got in contact with Griffiths - they do not sell parts
Any other suggestions?

I figured that'd be the case. If they give out parts, they're giving away business. Dunno where else you can get parts off the top of my head other than contacting Sachs-ZF directly. ZF is who manufactured the steering racks.

http://www.sachsna.com/

Pat,

Thanks for the insight on the wheels. Makes sense to me. Also, the 17 inchers I had typically ran higher tire pressures. Might have something to do with it as well?

[85carrera]

anyone know of a rebuild kit floating around for these racks? one of the outer circlips on the two ends broke and im looking for a new one.

david

[dean]

I don't think you are going to find any parts besides bearings for a rack. Nobody I know sells parts due to liability I think. I e-mailed ZF for some help and got no response.

[randywebb]

related thread:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/85404-steering-rack-rebuild-procedure-post3096686.html#post3096686

[sjf911]

For those interested, I was able to source replacement bearings #1712 and #6202 from EB Atmus Co. in the US.

http://www.ebatmus.com/search.epl?Query=1712

http://www.ebatmus.com/search.epl?Query=6202

HK-1712 NEEDLE BEARINGS-SHELL TYPE-OPEN 1 $5.86 RFQ
6202-SKF SINGLE ROW BALL BRGS 1 $7.07 RFQ

http://www.ebatmus.com/index.html

[burgermeister]

That's where I got mine also. They were very nice to deal with.

Thanks Tim for the rack disassembly post BTW!

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by 73911guy

Tim

I've always wondered if it is possible to remove the stamped steel cover from the rack while it is in the car to add some fresh grease to the rack without having parts fall out that make it necessary to remove and rebuild the whole assembly. Did your experience make this look feasible? Or are the lower ball bearings in the way of getting to the rack?

Thanks

Jim

- Anybody know if this is possible? worthwhile??

[KTL]

Sure it's possible. When you remove the belly pan that cover plate is staring right at you. Remove the plate, spring, shims and pressure block/piston and shove some grease in there. I think it's worthwhile too because look at Tim's pressure block. It has a substantial groove worn into it- mine was in the same condition. Therefore that tells me over time the block gets starved of lubrication.

[LM3929]

nice work guys