When and how to refurbish steering rack?

[peter*g]

Oh wise community:

I'm in the middle of a ground-up restoration and build of a '76 911 into a rally car. I am at the point of refurbishment/reassembly of the suspension and steering, and I'm trying to decide what to do with my steering rack.

The rack itself appears to be in quite good condition. Not a lot of play, moves smoothly and no visible damage. That said, how do I know for sure that the rack does not require a rebuild? Is there anything else I should do with the rack while it's out of the car (other than the obvious clean up and lubrication)? I saw the great write-up on freshening the bearings, but not sure if this is necessary or not.

Any advice or guidance here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[GH85Carrera]

The obvious as you said is clean and fresh lube. If your rack has never been opened it is likely very dry. When I opened mine up is looked great, except for very little lube.

New ball joints, turbo tie rods, shocks & t-bar bushings made a BIG difference in the steering. Oh and new anti-roll bar bushings where "while I was in there"

[peter*g]

Thanks for chiming in. Any advice on the best way to lubricate the rack if you're not doing a full tear down?

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The obvious as you said is clean and fresh lube. If your rack has never been opened it is likely very dry. When I opened mine up is looked great, except for very little lube.

New ball joints, turbo tie rods, shocks & t-bar bushings made a BIG difference in the steering. Oh and new anti-roll bar bushings where "while I was in there"

[na2ub]

While you have it out, you might as well tear it down and replace the bearings. I also flipped the puck on the bottom of the rack as the surface was grooved slightly. Its really not that hard to disassemble / reassemble the rack. Bearings wear out and don't cost that much. I say go for it. I followed info found on this board and had no problems.

[dshepp806]

I chickened out and had the wrench order a fresh box from Germany for my '89. She was experiencing a "pop" when turning L or R. Waiting for it's arrival and all the rest that is entailed.

There are some great threads on this forum (and RL) regarding this rebuild.

BEST!

Doyle

[morrisjm1]

I had a failure of the needle bearing on the input side of the pinion. I would recommend cleaning it up, lube it and replacing the ball and needle bearings in the unit itself and the needle bearing in the pillow block up by the smuggler's box. Here are the bearings for you will need: 6202, HK-1710, & HK-1712. The needle bearings you'll take out are full complement bearings and these are caged. I couldn't find any full complement bears at any bearing suppler in town or on the internet.

Just noticed that yours is a '76, so those may not be the bearings you need. I think the ones I took out were all stamped, so you should be able to find the ones you need.

Good luck,
Mike

[Chuck.H]

I just did an entire refresh of the steering system, from rack rebuild to new bearings in the steering shaft (see my other post how to do this w/o removing the steering column). I had a 'detent' feeling in my steering that I was sure was in the rack/pinion but turned out to be in the upper steering column bearing.

Anyway, I have to say this is the best maintainence I've ever done on my car, the steering feels brand new now.

I found the following worn-to-the-point-of-useless items: steering rack puck, bearing in the rubber bushing on the intermediate steering shaft, and upper steering rack bearing.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 339k miles

[gregwils]

I'll bet some of the bearings feel gritty. I know the upper needle bearing will feel really nasty. The puck will also look really bad. It's not too difficult to get the rack out, replacing the bearings are easy. Once it's done you're good for another 25 years.

[peter*g]

Alright, you guys have _mostly_ convinced me to change the bearing as a matter of course. Do I need a press to R&R the bearings? I don't currently have one, so not sure what folks would recommend.

[Chuck.H]

Getting a new puck is the problem, IIRC, they are not available separately. Since I had all these miles on my original rack, I bought a used one from parts heaven and it came with a like new puck. I still changed the bearings in it though.

I don't recall using my press for the bearings, but if so I'll bet a bearing driver kit (harbor freight ok) would get them out. I recall the larger one being a slip fit, no press needed.

To re-iterate though, my bad bearings were NOT in the rack, they were in the shaft (rubber bushing enclosed one) and the upper steering column. My upper column bearing was in near failure, and I'm not just talking about the plastic bushing. I had the ML bushing in there, but the ball bearings were gritty and 'notchy'.

With the new bearing, you don't need the bushing, save it for when the plastic deteriorates :-)

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 339k miles

[peter*g]

Interestingly enough, my car didn't even _have_ the bearing in the column, so my plan was to rebuild the entire column. Those parts are sitting in a box on my bench right now.

Originally Posted by Chuck.H

Getting a new puck is the problem, IIRC, they are not available separately. Since I had all these miles on my original rack, I bought a used one from parts heaven and it came with a like new puck. I still changed the bearings in it though.

I don't recall using my press for the bearings, but if so I'll bet a bearing driver kit (harbor freight ok) would get them out. I recall the larger one being a slip fit, no press needed.

To re-iterate though, my bad bearings were NOT in the rack, they were in the shaft (rubber bushing enclosed one) and the upper steering column. My upper column bearing was in near failure, and I'm not just talking about the plastic bushing. I had the ML bushing in there, but the ball bearings were gritty and 'notchy'.

With the new bearing, you don't need the bushing, save it for when the plastic deteriorates :-)

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 339k miles

[steely]

I'd vote for cleaning/lubing too. The grease in my rack separated over the years, the oil had leaked out a bit, but the remaining gunk cleaned up well. I initially used Mobil 1 WB grease and drag seems high, and then I found a thread that recommended Swepco 101 which improved things.

Your rack is older than mine, so double check, but I think I had to buy some new tabbed washers and some other hardware (lock nuts).

Re-installation was fine except watch for steering wheel, and front wheel and rack centering. Align afterward. Re-installation into the lower steering universal coupler in the smugglers box was a beyotch initially. I had major heartburn loosening the 2 allen bolts from the C-clamp(?) that supports the upper rack bearing area to the car body in the smugglers box). My puck had little wear. I did not replace the bearing - I don't recall needing a press either. I am glad I addressed it.

HTH

[peter*g]

Originally Posted by steely

Re-installation was fine except watch for steering wheel, and front wheel and rack centering. Align afterward.
HTH

An alignment is most certainly in the cards, as this is the current state of the car:

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, you are gonna need more than just an alignment.

First you need something to align!

That is gonna be a real beauty.