energy suspensions poly bushings dont fit!!!

[CruxGNZ]

Scott, your picture turned out good. I was looking at maybe welding a bead along both sides of the "caps" that hold the steering rack in place and grinding the beads down to the correct thickness to keep the rack from moving. Pretty simple, but it will take some trial and error to get it right. Playing with the steering rack earlier this evening, this sucker does move about 3/16" in both directions! That is really a lot in my books.

 

!M!

[Guest hegan1956]

Hey Strotter, got a question for ya. What year is your Z? Mine is a 78 and the rack looks different than yours. It has ribs on the housing and the Poly rack bushings hold it real tight. That makes me wonder if the bushings are to large for your rack. I'm working on mine again this weekend and I'll snap a few pics for comparison.

[strotter]

Hegen, mine's a '72 and I've noticed the difference, too. While installing the poly bushing kit last year, I *often* wondered if there were other dimensional differences between my year and whatever the kit was designed for. Perhaps that's our problem with fitting these bushings - they're all designed for "some other" year models.

 

Something else that bothers me about the rack bushing is that they were snug when first installed - rubber hammer kind of snug. Now they drop in and out. Sure, they got oil soaked once, and fuel soaked another time, but I've have started closely checking any poly bushing in sight whenever the car is jacked up.

[Guest hegan1956]

I'm not harping on the bushings, but I still have a problem with .02 extra clearance in the control arms. If yours is the same as mine, that extra flex in the control arm bushings could be stretching or compressing to the point where it has too much clearance in some of the bushings giving the slop in the steering. I'm working on mine this weekend and since I have the whole crossmember out I'll be able to double check all clearances before I go back up with it. Maybe I'll see something that might help. I got the bushings in the freezer and before I begin I'm going to heat the control arms in the oven. Hopefully that will give me the ease of installation I want. Otherwise its to the machine shop monday and using a press.

[EvilRufusKay]

Great Thread!!

 

 

Missa Lufus say Fibe Star!!!

 

[strotter]

Ok, I've found a reference I've been remembering, but couldn't place; In Wick Humble's "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car", he mentions the bushings and the steering rack: on page 88, he talks about the bushings themselves, "Many drivers complained the 240Z's bushings allowed too much lateral steering-box movement, especially as the rubber aged. This was corrected by *shimming* and stiffer replacement bushings" (My emphasis). I'm wondering if mention of these shims strikes a bell for anybody - has anyone ever seen a picture, or heard a detailed description, of them? If so, GIVE!

 

Elsewhere, there's a mention of the little "keeper" I was talking about earlier. It's actually called a "Rack Stopper", and it's installation is mentioned on page 90 of the same book: "Rack Stopper - Install the little stabilizer that fastened to the steering-gear housing. Load the rubber bumper firmly against the surface of the suspension crossmember. Tighten the Nylon locknuts. Reference the marks you made to align it to the gear." Now, I'm wondering just how critical the angular alignment of the steering rack really is: perhaps there's something to do here regarding hard-to-track-down vibration and vague steering?

 

BTW, if you don't have a copy of this book, get one. It's got restoration details galore, is well laid-out, and is an easy, even fun read for any gearhead.

[buZy]

Yea! Cool Thread!

[strotter]

Bringing this thread back from the dead, 'cause I made the modification mentioned above (along with replacing some components) which pretty much eliminated the "darting" situation and I thought I'd share.

 

I started out by replacing the steering assembly from steering wheel to rack. Yeah, it was extreme, but some time ago I took a very close look at the little teeny bearings in the steering universals, and they were just too loose for my tastes. Thought I'd replace the bearings, but they're an odd size (10mm x 15mm, iirc) and I guess impossible to get. Reassembled and lived with it until I found a '78 2+2 at the local pnp that looked like it had lived indoors until junked, so I ripped the entire steering assembly out. The universal bearings were much fresher than those in my car, and after some gyrations under the dash I managed to get it to bolt into my '72. The teeny little bit of free play I had was gone, but the rack still moved about quite a bit.

 

For the runaway rack, I fabricated a spacer out of some 20 gauge steel sheet - just a rectangle long enough to fit around the periphery of the outside of the upper bushing, and wide enough to form a saddle for it on either side - perhaps 4" x 2 1/2" (who measures?). Made cuts into both sides about 1/2" deep every 1/4", bent the whole assembly so that it mated to the outside of the bushing, reassembled and tightened it down. Voila, no more wiggly rack. Note that I only did this for the driver's side - the passenger side was snug as a bug in a rug, no need to fix what wasn't broken.

 

As a result, it feels like a new car. Very precise steering, no more "dead zone", much less darting (though still a bit), yet road vibration is well damped. Downside is now I can feel the vibration from my front tires due to the flat spots sustained during the panic stop avoiding coyotes on the road on my way to work. Sigh. Time for new tires...

[EvilRufusKay]

Thanks Strotter. That is some good info!!

[Guest 240zJake]

Another thing about installing the new bushings, I have been told to soak them in penatrating oil for a day.

And a while back Sport Compact Car said "Half the time it felt like we were trying to press Fat Albert through a keyhole."