Heavy Steering Fix/Service

[DRACO A5OG]

Hey Fellas,

Okay, so a Well Known and Trusted Pelican told me my steering felt really heavy, like I have a ton of weight up front he said "I felt like my arm was going to come off" {whimp} Really??? it is a 911 after all, without power steering.

But he was right, my car compared to both of his 3.2's were much heavier and recently I developed a metal to metal squeal, not the infamous wiper/horn switch contact [IMG]http://www.*****************/uploads/images/product/Steering%20wheel%20parts/91161352100lrb.jpg[/IMG]
or the notorious OEM plastic sleeve that fails

A real mystery???

So I decided, I better take a look. I don't need or want my steering to fail on me on the road.

Ordered 2 new U joints
[IMG]http://www.*************.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/93034702501%20911%20porsche%20carrera%20930%20stee ring%20shaft%20u%20joint.jpg[/IMG]
BEAUTIFUL, since I knew the upper one was sloppy and the bottom was replaced couple of years ago with a good used one. But was not sure if that held up or not. ( it was good, will put up for sale )

I also ordered a new steering wheel ring with the wired horn contact with female spade
[IMG]https://www.*********************.com/store/secure/images/products/30294.jpg[/IMG]
I knew this one was worn down and it would start grinding on the switch in short order

THE RACK:



Per Bentley, I followed all steps except removal of the sway bars, just disconnected the two mounts and left it on the car. You just have to do a little maneuvering and it will drop out. BE CAREFUL OF THE BRAKE LINES.

Once out, I verified the squeal in fact was coming from the Steering Rack. I did this when I disconnected the Lower U-joint.

Pulled back the Turbo Tie Rod End Boots and discovered the shafts were complete dry. I proceeded to Clean and use bearing grease.

From here there are two sets of diamond shaped panels held by 10MM bolts.

The one at the bottom end is where the bearing sits. Again, dry and a bit rusty. NOT GOOD, cleaned and packed with bearing grease.

The other side panel similar in shape held two thin shims and a tension spring

As soon as I removed the panel, the rack moved freely with zero resistance. As I turned the shaft I notice the sprocketted shaft could be observed thru the bolt holes. I dropped some lube and packed it with bearing grease. I was tempted to trim a ring off the spring then came to my senses. Apparently, this spring allows the steering to go back to center with less effort. I tried loosening the plate out about 1-2 MM and it had less effort to turn the steering in my hand. Enough playing around. I placed everything back to OEM and I tested it. SMOOTH AS SILK, NO Squeal. Cleaning and Grease made a huge difference.

Installed in reverse order and installed a Bump Steer Kit

since I lowered my front end awhile ago. ( now I have to align the car, oh the joy )

Centered the Wheels, then replaced the U-joints note the orientation upon each removal and replacement since I had to turn the steering to access the pinch bolts.

All torqued to spec and tested. VOILA, no more squeal and absolutely smooth, up in the air.

TEST:

The real test, sat her on the ground and she was lite as a feather. Lite as a 911 can be with out power steering. Driving is an absolute pleasure now :-), no heaving the wheel over while trying to park. Which I thought was normal.

Oh yeah the horn ring, the new one was at least 1MM thicker than the replaced one which would grind over time, very annoying.

Now to DIY align, probably toe adjust since slack was taken up when bump steer kit was added.

Lubed the Rubber Donut Bushing
[IMG]https://www.*********************.com/store/secure/images/products/21005.jpg[/IMG]

Verified center of the wheel by rotating 1.5 left and 1.5 right. PERFECT

[DRACO A5OG]

Well, I just discovered I am missing the needle bearing, oh the Joy $93, damn PAG !

[Chuck.H]

The steering rack puck is (to my knowledge) used to get zero backlash in the steering rack to pinion gear mesh. The spring pushes the puck, which pushes the rack against the pinion gear. Then, when you go to turn, the rack straightens out, but just enough to push the puck back against the shims, then the rack starts turning.

I agree that when you get the steering smooth and your alignment right, they are a dream to drive, and you find yourself carving back and forth just to feel the sensation.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 382k miles

[DRACO A5OG]

Yes, Yes, that is what that 2nd access panel is, a "puck" like device that centers the rack. Apparently my puck was stick and started to have a metal to metal squeal, gear lube took care of it immediately.

Brother Chuck.H, wow really a M491 with 382K Miles? , that is awesome sauce :-), 20K more and I will hit the 300K Mile Club (3MC)

[KTL]

Whew wee those are some pretty U joints!!!

$93 for the bearing inside the rubber donut is insane. I just bought three of these HK1712 (17x23x12) needle bearings from VXB bearings (vxb.com) for $6.77 ea.

You can also seal the bearing above and below with some 17x23x3 seals from Metric Seals Inc. (metricseals.com)

Nice job feeding the rack some grease in-situ. I would have pulled out the rack entirely because i'm the king of overthinking/overdoing things.

Definitely re-align the front toe. The front suspension is very sensitive to ride height change and toe change.

[DRACO A5OG]

Brother KTL, thanks for the bearing and seal lead.

Agreed, but was hoping the bump steer was plug and play, Nope, actually tracks straight but steering wheel is off by half a knotch and my eyes are telling me she is toed out a bit on one side. I wonder if camber changed??? Well time to get my strings and level out.

[KTL]

The donut bearing fix is an easy one. Put a 16mm deep socket in the steel sleeve, put it in your vise, and it will push the bearing right out. The seals are radial shaft seals to replace the seal you'll wreck when you push the bearing out. The original setup contains a felt donut that is intended to provide oil to the needle bearing. Needless to say that doesn't last. I suggest packing the new bearing with some good wheel bearing grease, press into the steel sleeve and then install the new shaft seals.

The bump steer is plug & play but remember that you're effectively changing the length of the tie rods when you raise it. If you tie rods are currently parallel with the ground with the car on its tires, raising the rack will make them point slightly downward and effectively shorten them a tiny bit and slightly adding toe-in. If your tie rods are currently pointing upward a bit (low ride height) then the rack raising will effectively lengthen the rods and toe it out a bit.

[DRACO A5OG]

Oh perfect, thank you KTL! I will try that method.

Yeap, toed out. My ride height is a modified Euro height a 1/4" lower with about a 0.8 degree forward rake.

[porsche930dude]

great writeup i think im going to lube up my rack tomorow because i was thinking the same thing. the rubber donut bushing im guessing that has something to do with the u-joint shaft?

[DRACO A5OG]

Actually no, it is a separate bearing all together for the lower 3rd shaft that connects to the rack.

You see there are 3 shafts in total from my count, in the dash, in the trunk and down to the rack linked by the two U-joints.

I just had my weakling Pelican buddy test it, he was amazed at the difference. I told him about the needle bearing, he said it should even be better, now he is thinking of lubing he rack.

Sorry guys, I know more things to do.

[javadog]

FWIW, Stoddard's is now selling reproductions of the plastic pucks used in older steering racks, if you decide to open one up and rebuild it. I recall seeing one in an ad while thumbing quickly through a magazine but I didn't investigate which racks they fit.

JR

[Flieger]

It is alarming how much resistance there is when you reinstall the puck (mine was steel), even after liberally greasing everything after a thorough cleaning. But once you have the leverage of the steering wheel you won't notice it. But it is very hard to push the rack with the puck in, compared to it falling easily under its own weight without. But you can turn the shaft and move the rack with your fingers once you have the yoke on where the rubber coupling attaches to.

[SC Eddie]

Great thread ! I will be doing some front end work next, will definitely do maintenance on the rack as well! I want a set of those uj's for a freaking awesome paperweight, are they made of gold?

[DRACO A5OG]

LOL, yeah, I wanted to put back the old good one and use the other one a table top ornament

It really did not take too long either.

Just jacked up the front, removed stone guard and went to town or course you also have to remove the Fresh air lower and hoses, Heck while I was in there fixed my AC blower motor. Placing the stone guard back was a bit tricky but the trick is try to align everything then when it comes to the allen bolt use the bolt itself to align in place with the allen tool. It definitely needs a bit of tweeking to get in straight.

Jim

[ClickClickBoom]

Here was my solution!
Quick Ratio 911 rack
Awesome mod, wish I had done it long ago!

[DRACO A5OG]

Tried that link on that post, it appears to be broken.

But reading the thread, I see it would take more effort in parking lots, since mine is a daily. That would not be acceptable. Kinda defeat my purpose of trying to free up the "drag". But for AutoX it seems like a good match.

[ClickClickBoom]

Originally Posted by DRACO A5OG

Tried that link on that post, it appears to be broken.

But reading the thread, I see it would take more effort in parking lots, since mine is a daily. That would not be acceptable. Kinda defeat my purpose of trying to free up the "drag". But for AutoX it seems like a good match.

Link works fine for me, the slight effort is worth every ounce and a whole lot more, my car is my daily and the the increased effort is only evident below 5 mph and once under way is unnoticeable. My guess is they reduced the ratio to appease the hausfrau contingent, it is easily one of my top 5 improvements, closer to the top than the bottom of the list. The D-Zug solid spacer is next on my short list!

[DRACO A5OG]

Ah ha, found it: QSF3Q001 | Quaife USA

Interesting, if my rack fails I just may have to upgrade

[Chuck.H]

Originally Posted by javadog

FWIW, Stoddard's is now selling reproductions of the plastic pucks used in older steering racks, if you decide to open one up and rebuild it. I recall seeing one in an ad while thumbing quickly through a magazine but I didn't investigate which racks they fit.

JR

This is great information, thanks. I rebuilt my rack using parts from a rack I got from Parts Heaven, mainly because I couldn't find the puck. Even with periodic greasing, my original puck had a 5mm groove worn in it after only 250k miles.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 382k miles (and we're 350 miles from home, road trip tomorrow!)

[DRACO A5OG]

Ah poop, Stoddard's site states their puck is for 65-68 :-(

SIC-347-929-00 Steering Rack Puck to repair pressure block, for early 911/912 up to early 1968.