My Steering Rack Bush Replacement

[element]

Not wanting to add on to Dave's thread I thought I'd start my own, despite both being closely similar.

I'm not a pro mechanic but can turn a spanner to most car maintenance and with the car failing its MOT on steering rack play to the nearside track rod.. I read all I could find and this thread from Sidon has proven very useful: http://www.marlinownersclub.com/foru...MOT-fail/page8

So, lifted the front up, axle stands, nearside wheel off, track rod balljoint seperated, undone and unwound (counted 14.5 turns), rubber gaiter removed, steering wheel turned to full lock to expose the outer nearside balljoint. When I look inside the tube with a torch, I don't see any obvious plastic bush at all and neither do I see any remnants of a broken one...? How deep should the 'old bush' be? Maybe I missed the point and originally there were no plastic bushes and only metal ones which over time, wear out & the modern fix is Chris Weedons' Australian poly bush that just slides in?

Second query is the removal of the outer balljoint itself; I took a picture from underneath and I see a small ring which appears to have a hammered punch piece punched into a slot (see attached picture - arrow) .. Is that where I lever up the punched piece and remove the ring to unlock the balljoint which would then unwind outwards?

Do I simply then put the new poly bush onto the track rod and slide it in - how far - as far as it will go? Once its in I understand that I drill a small hole in the track rod 'sleeve' to fit a small self tapping screw to hold the bush in place.. then reassemble all afterwards. If so it is a lot easier then I had imagined it would be... but maybe I have missed something!

Cheers
Tony

[element]

Re: My Steering Rack Bush Replacement

Well, this job had me somewhat concerned and hesitant but it turned out to be one of the simplest jobs I have ever encountered. Very easy and straightforward. The last picture above showed the little indent (arrowed) that had me confused at first but I just drilled it and then used a dremmel tool to clean the punch point up. Then, not having the right specific tools for undoing the inner track rod balljoint (something called a 'C spanner' I believe?) and unscrewing it outward I just gripped the inner rod with a tight pair of molegrips and did the same with the balljoint itself & it came away easy. Once off, I cleaned up the locking ring to be re-used.
The new poly bush from Chris Weedon had a hexagon shaped inner - so I wonder if it is actually designed for a different purpose but someone figured it would equally do well for this one. I measured the depth into the rack cylinder from the outside edge to the old metal bearing inside, then I measured the width of the new bush and calculated the half way point on the new bush would be exactly 30mm from the outside of the rack cylinder. marked a pencil line and then pushed a bit of cloth rag up inside the rack cylinder to where I would be drilling the hole. Drilled the 3mm hole and cleaned the scarf from around it and then pulled out the cloth which had caught the scarf that had fallen inside. Then slid the new bush onto the rod and up into the rack cylinder, making sure that the 'thickest part' was to the newly drilled hole. The self tapping screw I used had to be slightly modified (tip ground down and then repointed) so as to travel into the hole and penetrate the bush slightly but not to pass through it.
This done it was a simple case of reassembly. The balljoint locking ring positioned 1/8th inch turned from where it was originally so I could punch it into the slot on the rod. Then the balljoint screwed back on and up tight against the locking ring and then the second punch into the slot on the balljoint itself. That done it was gaiter back on and secured and the track rod end fitted.
The new track rod ends I bought were slightly larger (2.5mm longer) so I had to compensate for this extra distance when screwing the rod end onto the track rod (instead of 14.5 turns I gave it 16.5 turns). Once I have driven it on a main road I'll know how good the tracking is and can slightly adjust it back / forth to get the tracking as it was before. That done, I'll then replace the other track rod end too and repeat the same procedure.

The new bush has had an amazing effect - there is no play at all in the nearside track rod now - it is firm and tight as it should be. I'm no mechanic... but I'm getting there!

[stevejgreen]

Re: My Steering Rack Bush Replacement

It is pleasing to hear that the work that Chris and myself put into this repetitive problem has a happy outcome.

As a footnote. These bushes/bearings are not available in the UK!

As others, not just me, have suggested, the quality of allegeded reconditioned steering racks must be considered with extreme caution.

Hopefully now there is sufficient evidence to prove both Chris and myself and others thoughts are correct, ignore the evidence at your peril.

There may well be a Marina Steering rack reconditioner out there that is absolutely reliable, but, current evidence suggests otherwise.

I hope that this can be a close to the debate, until someone else has definitive, proven supplier.