Rebuilding/tightening inner tie-rods on steering rack

Hi Everyone,
I am undertaking a front-end rebuild on the Mondial this winter (new shocks, bushings, etc.) which was necessitated by a need to rebuild the steering rack because of play and resulting tram-lining and wandering in the steering.

I have the rack out with the assistance of the local FFIC dudes and after carefully examining the play, it seems that there is no play at all in the pinion gear. It has play in the rack bushing on the passenger side and in the "socket" joint of the inner tie rod on the driver's side.

I have heard differing opinions on whether the tie rod "socket" joint can be tightened or not. Some say yes and some say no. So I'm positing pics and I have questions from the experts.

The first pic shows the joint in question. I have never had one of these apart, so I have some noob questions before I just start wrenching on it. The "socket" with the ball of the joint in it appears to be threaded onto the end of the rack, with a ring-like lock nut jammed against it to keep it from working its way off. Then it looks like a pin has been jammed between the two of them and stamped into place with an "X" on top of it (see close up pic). So here are my questions.

1. Can I loosen the ring nut, tighten down the "socket" onto the rack to remove play, and then put the ring nut back? Will that work?
2. If so, what is the proper technique to remove the pin (drill it?)
3. When replacing the pin, do you drill a hole to jam a new pin in (I doubt the two halves of the current hole will line up again.)
4. How do you deal with the peening from the X stamp? Cold chisel to work it apart once the pin is gone?
5. How long is the pin?

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Birdman
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Hi Peter,
Thanks so much for chiming in. Yes, my passenger side bushing is worn reasonably badly. I got a rebuild kit for the rack from John Heller here on fchat which includes the bushing in question, plus new boots, etc. I was surprised when I took my rack out that there was not as much play in it as I suspected based on the sloppy steering. The pinion gear was tight. The only play was in the passenger end bushing and the driver's side inner-tie rod joint. My ball joints are tight. But I did have some damage to an A-arm that must have thrown my alignment off. I'm hoping that once this thing is rebuilt, new shocks, new A-arm plus an alignment, it's going to feel as good as the steering on my 308, which is absolutely awesome!

Birdman

 

Peter,
Interesting how the cam gears and TRW racks are different. I like the fact that you machined your own replacement bushing. Cool stuff!

Jonathan

 

Hey Peter,
How the heck do you hold it in place without the three tabs? This is the part that baffles me about the people who make them out of bronze or whatever. Set screw?

An update. I was able to remove the tie-rods very easily from the rack. I just used a center punch on each pin to get the drill started in the middle, then drilled it out with a 1/8" bit (took about 3 minutes per side). Next I sharpened a cold chisel and spread out that X a little with a few taps between the jam nut and the "socket" of the inner tie-rod. I put a pair of vice grips on the "socket" part of the tie-rod, and used a 32 mm open end wrench on the flats of the jam-nut and unscrewed the socket part. The pin actually went all the way into the threads on the rack end, so I had to yank it out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers before the jam nut would move. (I didn't drill deep enough....stopped at the threads). I cleaned up the threads and removed the jam nut. Then the rack would come apart for replacement of the end bushing and the cup seal on the pinion gear. Cleaned, checked clearances, greased, lubed, put it back together. Took 2 hours in total. I took pics, will post tomorrow when I dump the camera.

The guts of the inner tie rod are simple. It's just a ball in that socket, with a plastic cup on the other side. When you screw it onto the end of the rack, the play is a function of how tight you make it. So screw it down until the thing has no play, then jam the nut against it, drill a hole and bash a new pin in there. Voila! It's not very elegant, but I guess it works.

Now I have a question. How much play in the passenger end of the rack at the bushing should there be? I replaced the bushing and the play with the new bushing is honestly about the same as it was with the old. Maybe a couple thousanths. Not a lot, but it definitely is not ZERO play. Normal, or did I get a bad bushing?

(I bought the complete rebuild kit for the rack from fchatter John Haller, who is the resident rack expert...it came with the bushing. Also came with instructions that were easy to follow...but it didn't address the removal of the inner tie rods on a TRW rack, only on the cam gears style...hence my questions here.)

Birdman

 

Sean,
How do you keep a bronze bushing in place without the tabs???

Jonathan

 

The bushing in the TRW rack has three little tabs that stick out and go into three little slots in the rack. You heat the bushing to make it soft and push it in. The tabs hold the bushing in place, no screw. I'll post a pic.

A person who wishes to remain anonymous says:

The bushing is used for three purposes, one is a bushing to guide the rack through it's travel, the second allows lubrication to pass through to the inner tie rod, and third is to function as a shock absorber. The two opposing Triangular shapes allow the bushing to function as a shock absorbing point, isolating road vibrations. Normal is somewhere around .010 to .020" depending on the diameter of the housing and rack.

I have read on many threads where guys have machined solid Delrin or Bronze bushings, they totally miss the point of the bushing on two points. A solid bushing will not allow grease to pass through it, and a solid bushing has no shock absorbing properties, thus defeating two functions needed in a street car During the 80's, we used solid metal bushings for the track because we cared only about feedback and rigidity.

His opinion is my couple thousanths of play with the new bushing is about right.

Birdman

 

Here are some pics. Again, these are from a TRW rack from a Mondial. Obviously, there are some differences between the TRW rack and the cam-gears racks that other have posted pics from.

First is a shot of the old bushing as removed from the rack (a little mangled looking) which shows one of the three retaining tabs, plus the "flat" on one side to allow lube through and to provide some "give". Think of the bushing as being a tad triangular because of the three flats, with a round hole for the rack itself.

A pic of the new bushing mounted in the TRW rack showing how the tabs retain it.

Next, an "exploded" view of the components in the tie-rod's connection to the end of the rack. The plastic cup provides pressure on the ball. When the "socket" is tightened the right amount, you have enough pressure to take out all the play. Then you tighten down the jam nut to lock it in place, then pin it to keep the whole thing from loosening over time. Note is you look carefully at the threads on the rack, you can see that the pin was actually placed into a hole about 1/8" deep into the rack itself.

Last pic is the joint re-assembled, showing how the holes no longer align once you have re-torqued the inner tie-rod joint. So, re-drill and re-pin.

Birdman

Birdman
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I have no idea if you can replace the plastic cup, but you don't really need to unless I suppose it gets broken or really really worn.

The ball rotates against the cup. The cup has a pin on the back side that goes into a hole in the end of the rack, and holds it at the same angle. The ball on the tie rod end is pushed up against it. The tighter to screw the "socket" onto the end of the rack, the tighter the joint. If you overtighten it, I'm sure you will break the plastic cup. But you screw it down until it is just snug enough to have no wiggle and a little holding power (so it doesn't sag when you let go). Then run the jam nut up against it to lock them in place. Then pin it as a safety.

I suppose that drilling and repinning is easier to remove than a spot weld. Also a spot weld might get the part hot enough to damage the plastic cup. Also, the pin actually goes into a hole into the threads, so it doesn't just lock the two parts together, but pins them against the threaded section of the rack. I thought about spot welding it but decided to just go with the way it was done originally.

Birdman

 

John's rebuild kit comes with the proper goop. I don't have it here in front of me, but it's pretty thick...you squeeze it (with effort) from a squirt bottle. It's viscosity seems somewhere in between grease and gear oil. I'll post it later.

Birdman