ZR1/C4 steering rack minor overhaul.

[ZR1cliff]

By far one of the dirtiest places on my Z was the area just forward of the sump and around the steering rack,oil ,fluid mixed with road dust makes a lovely mess but the positive is it keeps the area free of corrosion.

First make sure the front wheels are facing forward the steering wheel central(steering lock on) before raising the car,in an ideal world there should be equal amounts of thread either side of each track rod.

Once i had disconected the power steering system(i broke it down to 3 parts, the cooler,pump/resovoir and the rack),i gave it all a good clean.

I knew that the rack was operating OK as there were no noises and the workings seemed smooth,with the rack on the worktop i took of both clips that held the concertina boots in place at both ends ,once these are off you will need a small screwdriver to dislodge the boot at the large end from its groove and then do the same at the small end.

With the boot withdrawn you can check inner rod joint,mine seemed OK so i cleaned and regreased them and put the clean boots back on using new jubilee clips(sizes 16 & 55) to secure.

While the boot was off the passenger side i slid off the old doughnut bush and put on a new one and renewed the bush on the driver side(an attachment to the underside of the rack that was pressed out with a vice).

Ive ordered new outer track rods from mid american corvettes to complete the rebuild.

Costs so far, £1.80 for clips,$70 for outer track rods and new bushes come with the total urathane supension kit.

Job is relatively straightforward but undoing pipes can be awkward due to restricted access.

>>> Edited by ZR1cliff on Monday 13th December 11:28