Dan Juday Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Preparing for phase IV on my Z, the suspension. Question for you guys that have changed out your old rubber steering rack bushings for polyurethane ones. How has this effected your steering effort? My car: '73 240Z. I have the stock non-power steering, sbc iron heads in JTR position, 265/50/15 front tires with 0 offset, and a 13" Momo steering wheel. Needless to say, the 265 wide front tires and the 13" steering wheel conspire to make this a pain to park. Maybe down the road (phase X or XX?) I'll do the power steering mod. But right now it's not on the radar. So, will the stiffer rack bushing help or hurt steering this thing in a tight parking maneuver? (Or make any difference at all) Right now it seems like half the effort is used just to stretch the rubber to the point that it finally starts moving the tires. Also, a slight aside, what is all this I read about some people finding the rack bushings to be too tight while others find them to be too loose? What's with that? I know that the sizes changed between the 240's and the 280's but everyone swears they have the right ones. (shug) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 When I changed mine, the steering got tighter and was more responsive (no slop). The rubber bushings that were in there moved around quite a bit like yours. Steering effort won't be affected by changing them. Also, my '73 already had a plastic steering rod coupler bushing thingy (technical term). !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 It will not affect steering effort. Get ready for some wrestling though...the poly bushings are much tougher to squeeze the 'clamps' over and get the bolts in than the rubber ones.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 One of the best mods you can do to a Z... no drawbacks at all in my eyes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 I have the urethane ones on mine, it seems easier to turn at rest then without. Its worth it just for getting rid of the slop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Anyone have pics of the install anywhere? Or should I just use the service manual for this one? (I've never messed with manual steering... but mine is sloppy and needs tightening) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Have to disagree with the guys above. I upgraded my steering rack bushings and replaced the rubber steering coupler at the same time so I don't know which had the big effect, but doing those things was like adding power steering. In my smooth floor garage turning effort went from a two arm lug to literally one hand. This was with with narrow 195 street tires, but I was amazed. I think you hit it right. Most of the effort is spent charging and recharging all the rubber in the front end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Anyone have pics of the install anywhere? Or should I just use the service manual for this one? It's very simple. I would take a few pictures for you right now, because I have the car right outside and no engine in the way, BUT some dumb person spilled a drink on my digital camera and now it doesn't work. So, I'll explain. There are two brackets that hold down the steering rack. Jack the car up, throw some stands under it, and take the 12mm bolts off. On each side, there is one bolt that can be plainly seen and one that you have to go through the crossmember to get at. Once the bolts are off, take the brackets off, lift up on the steering rack and remove the old worn rubber. Then replace those with the new ones. Like I said, simple . Oh, about those 12mm bolts, for some reason on my 240Z, there was nuts on top of the captured nuts on my brackets. So, it was like someone put the bracket on, then to be safe, put some nuts on top of the brackets, like a jam nut. So to simplify, remove the brackets, take out old bushings, install new ones. (Uhg... I had too much coffee this morning and it hasn't worn off yet ) !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 matgnz, those jam nutz are there from the factory. first time i changed rack bushings i stripped the bolts because i didn't expect to have the jam nutz there...lesson learned. dan, i agree with other posts that the most difficult part of the swap was wrestling the rack bushings over the rack, swearing they sent the wrong ones. the biggest plus i've seen on my car was when i put mike kelly's front adjustables on and changed the caster some-better/quicker in turn-in response and...lighter effort even with the tires i run-235/40/17. david ps-where can i view pics of your z now that it's finished, the only pics i've been able to find are some in progress at eric's site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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