berton Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Hey guys my project this week is the rack. Today I tore down the steering rack got all the old grease out got and got it cleaned up. Once it was clean I noticed inside the housing where the pinion inserts it looks like what I am assuming is wear. Has any one else noticed this if you’ve opened you rack? It wasn’t easy to get a good shot but you can kind of make out what one taking about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolman Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 (edited) beton, Looking at the pics that you posted, Maybe this damage properly occurred previously and was then repaired. Most common repair on this type of rack and pinion is worn out INNER TIE ROD ENDS. The RACK travels in a very straight line if not. you will definitely have a "Bind" when turning the steering wheel. In this case, the Rack would be replaced. The cause could be from hitting a rock damaging Rack or Bad Accident. I am including copies of Factory Service Manual -Serving the Steering Rack pages. Does this help? Toolman Edited April 12, 2022 by toolman add text and pics. put wrong pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 (edited) I just did my steering rack, shafts, and column very recently. At the very end of each side of the rack there is a brass lined steel bushing that holds the rack centered in the tube. Your actual rack will never touch any other parts of the tube in the housing. You have a 240Z rack housing which means that the bearing for the pinion is only sealed by a press fit on plastic cap instead of the the bolt/gasket style of later models. Likely your pinion seal let water in which made its way past the bearing and sat just under it for a while allowing the corrosion to happen. The good news is that your pinion or rack will never actually touch that area so I would suggest trying your best to convert that corrosion to stop it, and maybe a high grit barrel sander or grinding stone on a dremel to smooth it out some and it should be good to go. ZCarDepot had quite a few hard to find steering rack parts including that pinion seal and a new koyo bearing that was a perfect fit after a little scotch bright on the pinion and housing. I’ll be posting a video on our garage YouTube channel soon because I found that there are parts on the rack that were never in any diagrams likely because they intended on them never being part of servicing. Edited April 8, 2022 by Sanchez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 @Sanchez Looking forward to that video. Would be helpful if you link it here. My steering rack is... usable haha. I'm at a very awkwards spot where tightening the big screw even by a few degrees too much creates a light sticking point just outside the center of travel either way. So I have to keep it more loose than I'd prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 @Zetsaz Yeah I’ll link in this thread along with my build thread. Just got most of it filmed yesterday, so should be up soon. I have the same issue with tensioning that you have. My guess is that the best way to go about essentially “seating” all the metal on metal contact points back in is to run it loose while the brass is still touching the rack shaft to let them “lap” each other smooth then you should be able to re tension and maybe do that 2-3 times while turning it lock to lock a couple dozen times between each. The rack and steering column were clearly designed to be replaceable items instead of items a dealership would rebuild back in the day, so that’s why I get the feeling the FSM and manuals don’t have a ton of detail on these pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 @Zetsaz @berton Video is up. Ended up being a longer video than expected so editing took a while. 240Z Steering Rack & Column 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 Nice video, @Sanchez -- thanks for taking the time to produce it. Looks like a great candidate for a Sticky in the FAQs, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 Yeah definitely sticky the video. It should be pretty helpful for those digging into the stock steering system or rebuilding it for originality or cost effectiveness. Now for those who have a really shot rack and pinion, TTT just released completely new reproduction complete and assembled steering rack. Price seems really on point too, so it may be a better option for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Behine.Dechilis Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 "TTT just released completely new reproduction complete and assembled steering rack." Sorry for my ignorance, but who is TTT? I am very interested in a new repro rack, but I could not find a reference to TTT. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calZ Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 6 hours ago, Behine.Dechilis said: "TTT just released completely new reproduction complete and assembled steering rack." Sorry for my ignorance, but who is TTT? I am very interested in a new repro rack, but I could not find a reference to TTT. Thanks. TechnoToy Tuning. They're also called T3 quite often. https://technotoytuning.com/nissan/240z/ultimate-steering-rack-240z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Behine.Dechilis Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 Awesome info! Thanks, that looks like a great product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.