Hello from Germany, during the Easter holidays I discovered, that now the play on the passenger side of my steering rack has gotten so bad, that I now either want to replace the rack or rebuild it. I know, it probably is just that bush, but where to obtain one ? Does anyone of you have any experiences with the new complete racks which Superformance in the UK sells ? Or can anyone of you point me in the right direction of obtaining a rebuild kit including all the necessary parts ? Best Regards and thank you in advance for any help Martin
Kiley Clinton make the parts for superperformance and if required will send the parts if you are rebuilding , they did mine very cheaply and the rack is excellent. They dont do track rod ends but these are morris minor/mini ones
Thank you. But you are talking about 'superPERformance' (?). Do you mean them ? www.Superformance.co.uk ? Best Regards Martin
Martin the rack is the same as a Pantera and the bushing is available from P.I. Motorsport. Go down that page: S Products Instruction to do it : Pantera Steering Rack I've done it twice, including my 308.
Thanks; From what I see, what it is, I think I will fabricate this bushing on my lathe myself. I thought there are further parts which are needed for the rebuild. I just wonder, whether I should make the bushing from bronze or plastics ( POM ---> Delrin, etc. ) And many thanks for showing me the great instructions. Best Regards from Germany Martin
I made mine from Nylon MDS 6/6. There was a debate here a few years ago between plastic VS bronze. I chose plastic as that's what was used originally. When it will wear out, I'll make a new one. If you make one using plastic, you'll find that if you turn the ID to exact or a few thou' oversize, once it's installed, the casting of the steering rack housing will slightly deform it. It's hard to describe, but the housing has three ridges which support the bushing's metal shell, the three hollows allow rack oil to move from one side to the other (if the hollows weren't there, the rack boots would get blown off). Even taking into consideration clamping pressure from the lathe chuck's three jaws, it still isn't enough to simulate the actual installation. If you make the ID bigger to compensate for the deformity, then it will be too much. Anyways, what I ended up with is after I installed the new bushing, I used an adjustable hand reamer and made the ID concentric again. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Peter; Thanks a lot. Nylon is Polyamide, isn't it ? I like your design very much, since so far I didn't think of using the original metal sleeve with a new plastic insert. This also prevents me from guessing about the correct OD tolerance. Reaming the ID AFTER installation is also a good idea. But at the moment I wonder whether reaming works with plastics. Especially with something like Polyamide. Didn't it spread sideways ? And one additional question; do you know by any chance the necessary sizes for the notch and pin spanners for removal of the tie rods ? I don't want to perform the task with tools which mar the nut and locking ring. But I would prefer obtaining the correct tools ( ~ EUR 8,-- / spanner ) prior to removal of the rack from the car. Best Regards and thank you in advance Martin Best Regards Martin
With the reaming, I took very light cuts (and I should emphasize LIGHT). Also, the reamer I used was brand new and the edges were perfectly sharp. I will keep this reamer ONLY for this job, so the teeth will remain this sharp (I have it stored with grease to keep it from developing rust). Will need to check what wrenches I used... Will let you know later...
oh yes please. And it would also be great to know the size of the adjustable reamer. Thank you in advance !! Best Regards Martin
Hello all, today I removed the steering rack from my car to look what wrenches I will need. As opposed to procedures I have read so far I will need two different pin wrenches and no notch spanner. But most important; and what makes things more complicated: There is nothing peened together on my tie rods. But there is a pin, which secures tie rod and locking ring together. It seems that I have no choice but drilling out this pin carefully. Did anyone of you, who has rebuilt his rack, experience this same design ? Best Regards from Germany Martin Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks guys, after a thorough search I have found this thread, which answers most of my questions. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q/226728-rebuilding-tightening-inner-tie-rods-steering-rack.html Best Regards from Germany Martin
Hello all, though there doesn't seem to be much interest in this thread I want to share with you the lastest experiences. I have purchased two proper wrenches for dismantling the tie rods. with those it was an easy task. And I want to show you, what I found. One picture shows the remaining bush. It was just the metal sleeve. And the other one shows the largest (!) remaining part of the bush I found inside my steering rack. The rest was a lot of powder and debris mixed with the semi-fluid grease I had in my rack. Amazing; but last year things still seemed to be alright. No play, no noises. In the meantime the rack is back in my car with a new bush made from POM ( Polyoximethylene ) and it works smooth as silk. Best Regards from Germany Martin Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Martin, I initially Rebuild my Steering rack with one of the original plastic bushings, but it only lasted a year before I again had too much play in the bushing. I then machined a bushings in bronze According to jesper's drawing and locked it in place with a small screw. Since then the rack has been working perfect. Remember to use the correct grease when you reassemble the rack. It must be a very thin grease. I believe you can use multifac 00, it's a grease used in automatik greasing systems on trucks amongst other things. Best regards Peter
Hi Peter, I admit I ignored all the recommendations I heard and went the 'engineering path'. Say; I used a material, from which I think that it's the best plastic for such applications. Polyoxymethylene has properties which makes it the first choice for requirements like we have them in the steering rack. I didn't want to use bronze for certain reasons discussed on several threads ( vibrations, abrasion, etc. ). For lubrication I use a low-viscosity grease for gears grade 00. Best Regards Martin
Your engineered approach with the softer bushing is the correct way to solve the wear problem with the original bushing. I just lost patient after having to redo my rack and went for the bullet proof solution with good old bronze. Though I must admit that I haven't noticed any increased amount of vibrations or any other differences from converting to a "hard" style bushing. Regards Peter
Martin, I am watching this closely as I just found my rack leaking and just posted a thread! I am looking for a whole rebuild kit including the bushing as i have no way of making one for myself. Peter thought there was a guy in WA state that had these parts? Most of the links except the Pantera one are old and dont work. Is it the exact same rack? What do those special wrenches do? Rob
Robert, I've done this on my Pantera and my 308. The internal parts of the rack look absolutely indentical to me(with some years between the 2 jobs) and the only difference I noted was the size of the tie-rods.
Gents, I've done at least 30 of these rack rebuilds over the years. Started with my Pantera, did a whole lot for friends and then my Ferrari and several friends. The Ferrari rack is almost an identical rack made by CamGears Ltd. There are some tie rod size differences. The other big difference is they way they are mounted. The Pantera rack is solid mounted and the Ferrari is in rubber bushings. Because its solid mounted, the (stock) Pantera rack off side bushing takes a much worse beating. Most Ferrari racks I've rebuilt have some of the (stock) off side bushing intact. Every Pantera stock bushing has been pulverized. For those in "the know". Probably the only hobbyist who has touched more of these racks is Mike Drew (for those really in the know, Mikey just got married... amazing) As far as parts working or fitting. IF... and thats a big IF these days... IF The Pantera vendors are selling the right parts (and not chinese knock-off crap) the parts fit and work fine. Some years ago I even went to the trouble to track down some engineers who worked for CamGears in England before they were bought out by TRW. While many of these racks came originally with a measured amount of 90wt oil in them, the engineers I contacted said the correct lubrication is a ZERO weight grease. IMHO, the bronze bushing on the off side is the best upgrade. It pretty much negates ever having a problem in the future. If fitment of the rack rod in the bushing is a problem, is probably due to oxidation on the rack itself. Some oil and 1500grit sandpaper will resolve that. If the fitment of the bushing in the rack body is a problem, then its probably the wrong bushing. Although, I did see one rack where the stock bushing was so blasted it did damage the internal tube end. Here is my rack rebuild in pictures if you need help. https://secure.flickr.com/photos/moseley_ferrari/sets/72157602899521527/ Rick
I'd just like to add that by saying the bronze bushing is the best upgrade, I meant that it is so much better than the stock bushing (if you can find one), requires no special tooling (if its the right part) and is readily available from many vendors. Peter's and Martin's solutions were elegant and will work fine, last a long time too. But we are the rare few who have lathes at our disposal. Rick
I rebuilt the rack on my 308 GT4. I had the left-hand (UK) bushing made in Phosphor Bronze and with a very small clearance fit for the rack to move through. Pinned in to the rack body. Sealed and secured the end housing to the main body using sealed pop rivets. Works fantastic and the oil moves from one end to the other no probs.
