Hello,

I went for an alignment today with my '92 after installing new inner and outer tie rods on my original Adwest steering rack. The tech aligned it well, but told me that due to the condition of the rack bushings, the steering wheel may not stay centered.

When making a sharp turn, the rack is moving horizontally very slightly within the bushings, and is causing the wheel to go off-center. When turning the wheel the opposite way, the rack centers out.

I do have a freshly rebuilt rack (that leaks...) which I can scavenge parts from. It has nice, tight bushings. My question is this:

How does one go about removing and installing them? I imagine that as long as I can pry the metal mounts off the racks (after removing the inner and outer tie rods and boots, and swap them, without actually having to press the actual rubber bushings in and out of the mounts, as they are identical.

I guess removing the mounts is pretty straight forward, but how would one get the mounts back on? Would some kind of press be needed to slide the mount and bushing back onto the rack?

Thanks,
Nick

 

Hi Nick,

It's been awhile since we've heard from xjack, but he might be able to answer your questions. See his post about rebuilding his Adwest rack here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ebuild-109815/


Another option would be to either make and install some rack stiffening bushes as I did, or devise some alternate solution that accomplishes the same thing. I have heard of owners wrapping the gaps with wire or installing U-bolts to prevent the rack from moving side to side. Here's how I made stiffening bushes patterened after the ones used on certain Jaguar Sport models and XJRs:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...es-diy-134396/

Please keep us informed on your progress.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks Don,

I read your How-To post about creating those rack spacers. I actually contacted the seller overseas, and ordered a set of Jaguar OE spacers (SPC1059) from him. He offered free postage so I really couldn't turn down the deal. I don't have the tools or the time to create my own. Hopefully they'll do the trick.

I'm wondering if they'll be big enough to prevent the movement that I'm getting, which is bad enough to throw my steering wheel off-center by "half an hour".

I suppose if they aren't thick enough, I could use some sort of epoxy to thicken them sufficiently to prevent movement.

This link shows in detail the bushings and their installation.

Thanks again,
Nick

 

working on a rack soon.
i am doing the whole system

i have already all hoses and rack

need

radiator
power steering pump rebuilt
power steering res