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Steering rack fitting problem

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blartbox

Enthusiast
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Hi everybody, hope you can help. I have a LHD 1974 French-registered R4L (850cc). Due to the usual problem of play in the non-pinion end of the steering rack, I ordered a replacement off French E-Bay. The rack fits the mounting points on the chassis, but I can't connect up to the steering . This is because the minimum distance apart I can get the centre points of the rack-end bushes is ~630mm. This is despite the rack-end bushes being fully screwed into the rack. This dimension on the original rack is ~605mm, & that's with one of the bushes wound out from the rack by ~10mm (presumably due to setting the tracking). Like the original, the replacement rack does not have a return spring, (so not a pre-69 rack supplied by mistake), & it's definitely not a post '79 rack because that's a completely different fitment. The steering arms on the car are ~220mm long (from the centre point of the rack connection to the centre point of the ball joint). I wonder if they are correct for my car? Prior to removing the original rack, I noticed that the steering arm on the passenger side of the car does not link up in a straight line with the rack end bush. It was out of line towards the front of the car, to the extent that the rack-end bush was distorted. Methinks this would also have put a side load onto the rack, possibly accelerating the rack wear. Can this be adjusted via the tie rod? (Tie rod bushes appear to be OK). The car was extensively restored before I bought it 13 years ago. Due to its pristine condition, I don't think that the chassis can possibly be the original, so I don't think the chassis is distorted. Any suggestions?
 
Some photos as a follow-up to Harbourseal's post -P1060915.JPG
I'm pretty sure the longer ones were fitted to R12s and R16s - part number 7700504987, whereas the R4 part number is 7700504988. Maybe the eBay rack was rebuilt with the wrong ones?P1060913.JPG
Above: Long one fully screwed in.
Below: Short one fully screwed in. (Locknut removed for clarity)P1060914.JPG
 
Last edited:
Post '79 racks are exactly the same as 69-78 ones, minus the track rod bushes at the end. I seem to remember that there was a difference in rack length from one type to another, the threads at the end of the rack being always the same diameter and pitch. So it may be that they rebuilt a later rack and fitted a pair of bushes from an early one. I am going to check lengths of an early and a late rack today to see what is happening.
Can you post photos of the track rod arm, and also the stub axle carrier on the passenger side?
 
Thanks for the replies guys. The issue of the rack end bush threads being too long had occurred to me, so I compared the ones off my old rack. Same size. I think that the hub carriers must be correct for my car or the steering would have next to no self-centring. Crazy question; is it possible to fit a post 1979 rack, complete with tie rods & ball joints, to a 1974 car? Melun stock these, but not the pre '69 or '69-79 racks.
I guess another solution would be to fit a replacement plastic bush into the non-pinion end of my old rack, though compared to the new rack the old one feels as rough as hell when turned by hand. Does anyone know of a UK supplier for said bush? Not having much luck with this in France. Will try to post photo of passenger side (ie RHS on my LHD car?) steering arm etc this weekend.
 
blartbox said:
Crazy question; is it possible to fit a post 1979 rack, complete with tie rods & ball joints, to a 1974 car? Melun stock these, but not the pre '69 or '69-79 racks.
Click to expand...

It's entirely possible.
 
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