308 quick-ratio steering rack install question...

I think the steering arm (inner) are screwd on but not 100% sure, and if you can separate the ball joint from the hub with out damaging the b-joint, you should be able to reuse it, I do recomend getting it align after ward.

 

Greg I dont think you can pull the rack rod out with the tie rod ends still in place.And even then you still have to remove the whole rack assemly as well.Just get a ball joint seperator from you local car parts store.This is the one that I have and it wont damage the tie rod end.http://www.landsharkoz.com/tt/ttbjs.htmThe fork type will tend to damage the boot.

 

The important thing is to make sure you take and post pics

 

I bought one from Superformance back in 2003 and had my local shop fit the rack. I recall that they had to machine something to make it fit my my 1984 QV

Makes the car a ***** to park but its great on the road.

Check the cone bearings where the coulumn joins the rack as they are prone to wear and cause a bit of play in the steering. (they are hard to come by these days too, at least they were back then)

 

Nothing should need machining.

 

Having had two racks out and apart and back once or three times, I thought this might help.....

The tie rods have an inner ball joint with a cap that is screwed onto the rack shaft itself. There is no need to remove the outer tie rod ends from the tie rods. Lacking a tool, two hammers tapped against the steering arm can "shock" the tie rod out without harm. I have two 1977 308, and both tie rods are attached simularly, but differently to the rack shaft. There is a locking "jam" nut that screws on first, then a cap. There is a nylon socket in the end of that rack shaft that the tie rod ball rides against, dont lose it. The cap screws down until no play, dont overtighten, then back thread the jam nut to lock the cap.

I have seen two types, but others have mentioned a third type. One of mine had pins hammered into holes in the rack shaft to "lock" the cap as well as the jam nut. One was between the two, and another in the jam nut. The second rack had a keyway along the threads of the shaft that a portion of the jam nut was staked into, and the jam nut had a slot for a simular portion of the cap to stake into. I have heard there are some others that have a roll pin that locks the cap.

The pinion gear needs to be set up first with the cover tightened down and shimmed for zero play, but again, not overtight. It should turn freely with no play. Once its set up, take it apart and remove the pinion to install the shaft. The shoe and shims taken off the shaft side cover should work just as they were to keep the shaft tight.

There is a bushing in the right side end of the rack housing, and a screw through the side to secure it. Both mine were shot. Actually, one wasnt even there. I dont know how it could have got off the shaft, but it was nowhere to be seen. I made a new bushing from delrin and that fixed that.

You could measure the lengths of the rack shafts when you get it apart, and while they are probably the same, any difference could be taken out, or added, by "adjusting" the outer tie rod ends "half each" the same exact amount. Now when you put the rack in the car, your toe should be very accurate. Still have it checked though, unless you can check it yourself. I made a trammel guage and its quite simple to check and adjust toe.

The steering wheel locks in the straight ahead position. Eyeball the rack to center, and loosly attach the steering shaft to the rack so you can further center the rack. Now turn full left. Now, make some kind of mark you can align with, then go full right. Make another mark, and turn back "exactly" half way. Now the rack should be "fairly" centered. Now the trickey part. Disconnect the steering from the rack without disturbing anything, and put the steering wheel in the centered position and lock the steering. Now re-attach the steering to the rack, unlock the steering and check it. This all sounds harder than it looks, but its all actually pretty simple. This should put you very close to dead center, and if you measured your length and/or adjusted your ends to compensate, your toe should be as accurate as it was before you started. If your wheel is off a bit, you can then correct with your tie rod ends. If its off a lot, you really should re-center the rack to the wheel. If its right, there should be "about" the same amount of threads showing at the tie rod ends.

 

MC,
How big of front tires u running.
My daily driver is a Vette with a 2.x steering ratio & every time I drive the 308 I dam near sideswipe someone expecting a tighter turn. So how bad is the 2.2 in slow driving?
thxs
Bill

 

FWIW - a repost of my rack replacement - might help with the removal of the tie rod ends from the the rack bar....




In removing the rack, I did not want to use a fork and possibly tear the outer tie rod boots. I was able to get the outer joints out of the steering knuckle by heating the outside of the joint backing off the retaining nut and tapping out the stud. With the rack on the bench I was able to see the inner bushing had turned to crumbs and poured out with the gear oil.
Next trick was getting off one the inner tie rod end to install the new bushing. It was not too difficult to drill out the locking pin. The pin was not a roll type and was much softer than the tie rod so it tended to be self guiding. With the pin out, I resorted to a pair of vice grips and leather strips to protect the surfaces. It looks like there are holes for a special tool to remove the ends, but not in my inventory. The tie rod is split at the interference pin. With a vice grip on the inside collar and one on the outer part of the inner tie rod end, it came off easily.
Next was removing the metal jacket which surrounded the old rubber bushing. First had to remove the small Phillips screw in the side of the rack over the busing. Then pull out the jacket through the passenger side of the rack, This was a bit tricky in that I did not have anything long enough to tap it out from the drivers side . I resorted to bending it inwards using a screwdriver wedged into the 3 oil via’s . Took a bit of doing and one broken screwdriver but it eventually fell out.
After cleaning all parts and bearings to remove the remains of the original bushing, reassembled with new nylon bushing and replaced the outer tie rod to the same position , which aligned with the interference hole. I took a bit of trial and error to get the end and the collar to line up with the hole. The technique I used was to line the collar up with the hole and inserted a small nail which allowed my to turn the outer joint end and see that the collar was still aligned. The nail has to be thin enough to allow the outer joint to turn while the nail remains in the half-hole of the collar. (half-hole….sounds funny) once the end was tight and aligned, I cut a replacement pin from a section of steel rod, tapped in and center punched it a few times to assure a snug fit.
With everything cleaned and back in place I filled with gear oil and starting installation. First issue was centering the rack. I ran it end to end which was 3 ¼ turns. So I backed it off 1 5/8 turns and installed it with the steering wheel centered. It was also tricky to get the pinion collar back over the pinion spline, but there is enough flexibility in the steering shaft to push the collar back into the passenger compartment about 3/8 inch which provides just enough room to mate the rack. This step is the only step which requires assistance of someone to hold the rack from under the car while you re-mate the spline. Finished up by installing all bolts and washers (remember the thin washers between the rubber mounts and the frame). As the outer tie rods did not come off and the inner tie rod had to go back to the same spot , the finished assembly tracked very well. I will still go for alignment to correct any small issues, but with the new bushing in place the wheel is centered, there is no pull while driving or under breaking, and the entire feel is tight and responsive.

Start to finish was about 3 hours work (and 2 hours of pondering) including about 30 min of cleaning out bits of bushing from inside the ribs in the boots. Not as difficult as I thought. Sorry for no pics, but I have bad luck with posting large files to this site.

 

I was able to knock out the bushing collar by using a long 3/8 drive extension, and a socket that just fit the bore but that was large enough not to pass through the collar.

Were you able to find the correct bushing, or did you make one/have one made??

So, how does it drive? We need a driver report. How many turns lock to lock in reality? How hard to park?

 

Sorry I cannot remember which part was machined. The tecnician was Mohammed Bin Suliman's (Dubai) tech so he knew what he was doing.

Regarding the cars handeling, it is very responsive and light once underway, has a good feel to it and plenty of road feedback. As I said before it is just very heavy to park.

It was great on the F1 track in Shanghai, there first series of bends require a lot of pull on the wheel.