[DeTomaso] steering rack question

Tomas Gunnarsson guson at home.se
Wed Jun 16 13:26:27 EDT 2010


Justin,

There should be no need to remove the rod ends from the spindles, just
separate the rod ends from the tie rod.

Tomas

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
[mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of Justin Greisberg
Sent: den 16 juni 2010 01:55
To: mikeldrew at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack question


Engine assembly lube (used during prep of a new engine) is a lightweight
grease, and I happen to have a bit of it hanging around.  The rack seems to
be seeping a little bit from a bunch of different spots, and after buying
the wrong bellows from a vendor, I paid wilkinson for the right ones (just
another example of doing it twice!).  however, given the persistence of
gravity, everything is a little moist at all possible orifices of the
rack -- desirable in some situations in life, but not this one...



Given the fact that I completely painted the undersurface of the car, it is
a bummer to see the heavy lube getting everything dirty, and a nice spot has
built up on the floor under the car, making me wonder how much is really in
there anyway.  the rack was essentially dry when I rebuilt it, so I wonder
how much lube these things ever had after the first couple years...  I think
I will try to pull off the bellows with the rack in the car and lube the
rack and ends and see how it goes.  I bet i can get a lotof lube on the rack
from the driver side by turning the wheels all the way to the left, and then
lubing the rack and moving it back and forth on the pinion.  i'll let you
know.  taking the tie rod ends out of the front spindles is a bummer when
everything is nicely painted, but I am prepared to do this job again if
needed...



From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:51:07 -0400
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack question
To: justingreisberg at hotmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com


In a message dated 6/14/10 5 17 55, justingreisberg at hotmail.com writes:



anyway, big question is what to do?  I think I might just take off one of
the rubber bellows while in the car, and turn wheel all the way to one side
to expose part of the rack,  then lube up rack with thin engine assembly
lube, then rotate wheel back and forth a bunch to get lube on the pinion
gear and rest of rack.  And just dump the rest of the fluid out before it
gets all over my nicely restored frame.  any thoughts?  I would love not to
have to remove rack again, even though I have become an expert at doing
everything twice on the car.  (those who follow my exploits might recall the
4 times I had to take the cylinder head off the block in the car)


>>>You really can't properly lube the rack with grease without removing it
from the car and fully dismantling it.  Fortunately it's not too difficult,
especially in light of the fact that you've done the job recently.

If you install new boots (Wilkinson is now selling new factory-style boots
quite cheaply) with proper-sized hose clamps, you might be able to get it to
seal.  You'll also have to work to keep fluid from seeping past all the
various other places where it likes to leak out (pinion seal, pinion cover,
etc. etc.)

Back in the 1970s, racks were lubricated with differential oil, but times
have changed.  The current manufacturer of the rack does not use oil; they
use a very light grease.  Years ago, Rick Moseley contacted the TRW tech
department (TRW bought Cam Gears UK, the company that made our original
racks) and they advised against using oil, and instead advised using grease.

But not any old grease will do.  Jack published an article on grease in the
most recent POCA newsletter, and the section dealing with steering rack
lubrication did contain one accurate and important statement--you can do
more harm than good by just sticking axle bearing grease in there.  The
manufacturer wants 0-weight grease, which is extremely difficult to come by
except in 55-gallon drums.

They recommended CRC engine assembly lube, which is 0-1/2 weight.  It's
available in 2.75 oz (too small, not enough methinks) and 10 oz tubes; the
larger tubes are under ten bucks.  It's a lithium 12 hydroxy stearate-based
grease which adheres to metal surfaces.  Here's a photo from the CRC
website:

http://www.crcindustries.com/catalog/images/Lubricant%20and%20Penetrant/SL33
31.jpg

Just pulling an accordian boot off one end and squirting some of this stuff
in there is wishful thinking in the extreme.  You have to fully dismantle
the rack, and ensure a thorough coating of the rack and pinion gears, both
upper and lower bearings, the surface where the rack passes through the
bushing, and also the union of both tie rods and the rack itself.  Don't be
shy about pouring it on; you can under-lubricate the system but it would be
virtually impossible to over-lubricate it.

The problem with using oil instead of grease is that the tie rods normally
hang down when the car is at rest; all the oil drains from the rack and just
pools in the boots, leaving the rack largely unprotected, particularly the
upper bearing.  The grease does an excellent job of staying put and doing
the job it's supposed to do, which is almost assuredly why the manufacturer
switched away from oil many years ago.

Mike


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