Steering Rack Play

[mgar88]

This play in my steering rack has persisted after two professional R&R rebuilds. Taking any advice.

https://youtu.be/N1dKUQ0DS9I

[chris_seven]

Any 'lash' will probably be down to wear on the support pad which has reduced the preload on the pinion.

The Post 1969 racks were designed to take up wear in a subtly different way to the early rack.

Changing the support pad is not too difficult and in the late rack is the only way to reduce the lash.

The ‘puck’ in the early racks had a Delrin face but this was changed to Steel on Steel on later racks.

These parts seem more prone to wear than early parts.





Ws make a replacement ‘puck’ for both early and late racks both with a Delrin face which is the part on the left.

I would ask the 're-builders' if they replaced the puck.

[J-Mac]

Can that puck be changed in situ, or does the rack have to come out? Tx.

[DRACO A5OG]

Yes, if you have clear access, just take careful notes

[mgar88]

Thanks for the great info, guys.

Dumb question: Is the puck included in the diagram posted above? I can't find Waldo...

[Autoban]

Check my thread about the problem I had with my steering rack Play in Steering Mechanism . In my case the bushing (#19 in Draco's schematic) had come out because the retainer ring holding the bushing broke. My steering rack did not have a circlip (#17), but had retainer rings.

Juergen

[DRACO A5OG]

Yes, #7

[Autoban]

I could be wrong, but I believe the puck (#7) acts more like a steering damper with the spring (#6) pressing the puck against the rack (#16). The bushings (#19) should prevent the radial play as shown in the video.
It is easy to remove the rubber boot (in car) to see what is actually moving. When I did that on my car is when I found the bushing had come out.

Juergen

[chris_seven]

The early steering unit - up to 1969 - had a stiffer rack bar and is less prone to suffer from this problem.

The later rack bar is more flexible and is supported by this puck.

When they wear the back lash does increase and as the later unit uses steel against steel I am not sure it 'damps'.

The lash does reduce when this puck wears.

This is the comment from the last guy who use this part on his 3.2 Carrera

When it was worn down it isn't pushing the rack up as hard, so the cogs aren't meshing tightly - hence the lash/slop

With Chris's remanufactured puck installed all the slop was gone

Result!!!

Looking at the video it seems as if one of the main support bearings has failed which is quite serious.

The original racks used a rubber coated steel backed bi-metallic bearing, which was held in place using a Seeger-Orbis Locking Ring (18).

In the UK many re-builders replace these bushes using hard plastic or Nylatron which I think is crazy.

ZF just won't sell the original bushes and I even had a Sales Rep visit to try to persuade then to supply.

We make a bush for the early rack (Up to 1969) which is 30mm diameter but haven't seen the market for the 29mm bush needed for the later racks.

[Kraftwerk]

Not to add to the confusion : but I am going through some steering rack issues. Rebuilt the rack and then ended up removing the puck 3 more times to address it. My issue is that there is too much tension, steering has too much resistance. It takes way too much effort to spin the steering wheel, this is with the car off the ground front wheels in the air. I polished the puck and added all the shims, maybe even more. Then I realized it might not be the puck at all_ the lack of play or stiffness can also be from the very stiff rod-ends. One way to determine this is to remove the tire rods from the ends. I suppose a 'loose-ness' could also be felt because of worn tie-rod ends? How are yours ? Perhaps I should start my own damn thread but I thought this could be of some help to you.

[DRACO A5OG]

JT,

try adding more shims to help reduce the tension, now to find the shims :-(

[chris_seven]

Originally Posted by DRACO A5OG

JT,

try adding more shims to help reduce the tension, now to find the shims :-(

I think you need to remove shims.

The springs sit under the spring and the more shims the greater the compression.

If you want to reduce the steering effort this compression also needs to be reduced.

[DRACO A5OG]

I stand corrected, done this awhile back, gettin old :-(

[Kraftwerk]

It was a few months ago when I had the rack out ...twice (!) and removed the puck 3X.. SO I should remember the details.. It
is clear from looking at the exploded factory diagram that the shims compress the 'puck" thereby decreasing the space for the spring to compress and increasing the pressure or 'lash'. Now I remember that I added ALOT of shims since I had made a rather thick custom seal: #4, out of gasket material.
BTW, this #4 seal was missing from BOTH racks I have dismantled....(Why I even own TWO racks is along story) Why neither had the gasket is also a bit mysterious, I am pretty sure my cars' rack had never been touched from the factory yet still did not have this #4 gasket.

Attn. J Mac:

It is possible to check your puck w/ rack in place. You have to remove the big piece of metal, 'bash guard' (?) which covers the whole steering rack.. I have to open mine up again and remove the shims, if there are in fact in there, I forget. If they are they are coming out!
All I know for sure is my steering is stiff and probably unsafe ( car is not on the road currently) but I do remember that to remove the puck cover, since it is under spring -pressure, it is a good idea to clamp the cover down, add a "c clamp" or the like when removing or installing the cover so you don't strip one of those little screws which hold the cover on.

[Ferrino]

It seems to me the play shown in the video is too large to be explained by the puck - my money's on one of the end bushings being out of place.