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or use aluminum bushes , made on lathe in 1/2 hr, been 25yrs solid as a rock,, most important is better steering response !
lousy pic but 25yrs ago crapy camera
I found that the original rack bushes are easy to remove with only a cold chisel and a hammer. The outer steel sleeve extends past the edge of the rack. Put a good chisel on it and whack it good towards the inside. It will fold up. Once it is folded in sufficiently to make a good landing for your chisel drive it through the rack. Pops right out. Two minutes.
Your thread is what re-inspired me to go do it on my car! I’m placing the order to rent the tool from John’s Cars....
Will share my experience when it’s done, but I won’t get to it this month. It’ll happen in August.
Well....I set off to do the work yesterday. Note to anyone ready to do the same, all you’ll need are all of your 1/2 sockets and short extensions. (Plus the 15/16 and the 3/4 sockets to get the x-brace off). Clearances certainly made for a beast of a job. A lift makes this a piece of cake.
After lowering my steering rack, I realized I already had the JagSport bushings installed, so back up it went. I essentially did nothing.
I did end up with two large washers that I didn’t recall seeing when I took it apart. One rather flimsy and one beefier. I can attach a photo. Does anyone know where those fell out from. I fear that while I was going on the house for some more tools, the fell out of place without me seeing it.
The washers are usually at each end of the bush, inboard of the mount bracket. They are often stuck to the bracket or bush when you dismantle them. It seems they probably fell off one of the brackets when you were looking at one of the others. You might want to dismantle again and see which one(s) need the packing washers re-installed.
Is it possible that it came off that third bushing? The two that are in line with the steering rack are of the SportsPack variety, so they have a metal cap at one end. The third bushing is located above the drivers side bushing. That one is not a SportsPack bushing, but a standard bushing.
I'm wondering if the fender washers that fell out were simply taking up small empty space between my SportsPack bushing and the steering rack assembly point.
Over the years there have been a number of reports that mounting the rack too rigidly might have a very real downside....in the form of the subframe 'ears' breaking or tearing away from the subframe. I had this happen and found out that I wasn't alone. This is a safety concern, obviously.
It might come down to nothing more than a a very tiny percentage of 'ears' suffering from imperfect welds or some other anomoly. I dunno. But, the only people suffering from the broken ears, apparently, are ones who took-up all the free play in the rack mountings.
Not intending any melodrama here....but felt compelled to at least mention the possibility. It's something to keep an eye on.
good point doug, but mine has been perfect for 26yrs! the driving experience is well worth it for ME!
i have seen some XJS in junkyards that have been in an accident , and the ears were torn off
that could well happen to the factory ears?
ron
good point doug, but mine has been perfect for 26yrs! the driving experience is well worth it for ME!
I suspect most will NOT have a problem. Just something to be mindful of, that's all.
When one of the mounting ears started to tear away from the subframe of my old Series III it was a simple matter to re-weld it with a small gusset added for extra strength. I'd hate to think what might've happened if I hadn't noticed it early on and the ear had broken away entirely while I was driving.
