[DeTomaso] steering rack question

John Taphorn jtaphorn at kingwoodcable.com
Thu Jun 17 23:12:36 EDT 2010


Jim

That has worked great.  In fact, I showed a doubting Mike Drew how to take a 
tube of grease that would fit in a grease gun and replace the grease in it 
with white engine assembly grease.  Adding a zerk to the rack, I then 
injected the white assembly grease into the rack.  Mike assured me it 
couldn't be done.  Of course, it worked like a charm.

Now the verdict.  Both Panteras have similar steering feel. It doesn't seem 
to matter which grease that you use.  Regardless, I'll use the engine 
assembly grease in the future as it appears closer in weight to the 
manufacturers recommendation.

JT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Gray" <grayjim at att.net>
To: <MikeLDrew at aol.com>; <justingreisberg at hotmail.com>; 
<detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 9:59 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack question


What about John Taphorn's solution of adding a grease zerk in the pinion 
gear cover and filling the rack with some special Euro rack lube. I've 
forgotten the grease type and brand. I know I plan on doing this soon as it 
makes a great deal of sense to me.

But what do I know?
Jim Gray




________________________________
From: "MikeLDrew at aol.com" <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
To: justingreisberg at hotmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Tue, June 15, 2010 8:51:07 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack question


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
_______________________________________________

Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA

Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/

DeTomaso mailing list
DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
_______________________________________________

Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA

Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/

DeTomaso mailing list
DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso 




More information about the DeTomaso mailing list