steering rack woes

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Steering rack bushing failure, while working on control arms (had long tubes and long bushing tabs - I shortened the arms) I noticed play between wheels - about ½ free play between wheels - with one side off the ground, there is a ½" of slop on the elevated wheel; jack the other side up and same deal - this is caused by steering rack bushing out of place

bushing.jpg

I replaced the rack previously for the same condition; F5R said they have not seen the problem before - I wonder how may others have the condition and are just not aware of it?

How to test: all wheels on ground, rock steering wheel back and forth and see if drivers wheel has slight movement before passenger wheel moves, notice if passenger side tie rod is slopping around under boot. One wheel off the ground has free play before moving with other side.

I would be surprised if I am the only one with this condition since I have experienced it more than once - anyone else?

[Pat Landymore]

I’ll check mine and advise…likely tomorrow as I have to head in to work for a few hours today.

Do you have the electric power steering that could be putting more pressure on the rack?

[Frank Pav]

Steering rack bushing failure, while working on control arms (had long tubes and long bushing tabs - I shortened the arms) I noticed play between wheels - about ½ free play between wheels - with one side off the ground, there is a ½" of slop on the elevated wheel; jack the other side up and same deal - this is caused by steering rack bushing out of place

bushing.jpg

I replaced the rack previously for the same condition; F5R said they have not seen the problem before - I wonder how may others have the condition and are just not aware of it?

How to test: all wheels on ground, rock steering wheel back and forth and see if drivers wheel has slight movement before passenger wheel moves, notice if passenger side tie rod is slopping around under boot. One wheel off the ground has free play before moving with other side.

I would be surprised if I am the only one with this condition since I have experienced it more than once - anyone else?

I too, have had two instances of steering rack bushing failure. I noticed it when the vehicle was jacked up and I put steer inputs in by hand to the right front tire. The wheel moved in each direction about a 1/4". Grabbing the RHS tie rod boot and shaking it made it move internally. Removing the boot revealed the displaced bushing. This was first noticed on May 17 at 1000 miles. I notified F5R with photos of the displaced bushing and they said it was a factory fault, covered under warranty and they immediately sent a new rack. Installed the new rack and at 2100 miles I had the occasion to jack the front up and was able to move the tire as before. Removing the boot revealed the same problem. Contacted F5R again and they said that they have been sourcing this rack for 15 years and haven't had this problem. The director of engineering, Jesper Ingerslev requested my alignment specs and ride height. I replied with caster +6.8 degrees, camber -.8 deg, toe in 1/16" and ride height at corners of square frame about 7.5" with 5" clearance at running board. Jesper said that my caster should be lowered to 4.5 deg and lower the ride height to 6.5"

I reset the caster but I won't lower the vehicle because I am at risk scraping the running boards going over railroad crossing humps. I re-installed the failed bushing back in the first rack and put it back in the vehicle. I measured the slope of the tie rods with the vehicle on the ground and it was 4.35 deg downward. I don't understand how alignment can affect the dislodging of the bushing.

The only time the angle of the tie rod is in a position where it could apply side loads of any magnitude is when the vehicle is jacked up. In that situation, the angle of the tie rod approaches 45 deg and can jam in the tie rod spindle. Is it possible that in the past I put steering inputs into the system with it jacked up and that action contributed to the failure? I'm sure I did steer the vehicle while checking brakes or greasing suspension or other work. That is the only logical conclusion I can make. Any thoughts?

[VIRGIN MIKE]

I too, have had two instances of steering rack bushing failure. I noticed it when the vehicle was jacked up and I put steer inputs in by hand to the right front tire. The wheel moved in each direction about a 1/4". Grabbing the RHS tie rod boot and shaking it made it move internally. Removing the boot revealed the displaced bushing. This was first noticed on May 17 at 1000 miles. I notified F5R with photos of the displaced bushing and they said it was a factory fault, covered under warranty and they immediately sent a new rack. Installed the new rack and at 2100 miles I had the occasion to jack the front up and was able to move the tire as before. Removing the boot revealed the same problem. Contacted F5R again and they said that they have been sourcing this rack for 15 years and haven't had this problem. The director of engineering, Jesper Ingerslev requested my alignment specs and ride height. I replied with caster +6.8 degrees, camber -.8 deg, toe in 1/16" and ride height at corners of square frame about 7.5" with 5" clearance at running board. Jesper said that my caster should be lowered to 4.5 deg and lower the ride height to 6.5"

I reset the caster but I won't lower the vehicle because I am at risk scraping the running boards going over railroad crossing humps. I re-installed the failed bushing back in the first rack and put it back in the vehicle. I measured the slope of the tie rods with the vehicle on the ground and it was 4.35 deg downward. I don't understand how alignment can affect the dislodging of the bushing.

The only time the angle of the tie rod is in a position where it could apply side loads of any magnitude is when the vehicle is jacked up. In that situation, the angle of the tie rod approaches 45 deg and can jam in the tie rod spindle. Is it possible that in the past I put steering inputs into the system with it jacked up and that action contributed to the failure? I'm sure I did steer the vehicle while checking brakes or greasing suspension or other work. That is the only logical conclusion I can make. Any thoughts?

Had poor handling, discovered bushing problem, FFR had no suggestions, sent me new rack. second rack failed first time I turned steering wheel, I think, due to too much caster (13 degrees I was told). Fabbed a keeper for the bushing and trucked to alignment shop; set caster to 6 degrees; now after about 100 miles of in town driving, handling went away again, scheduled another trip to alignment shop. Checking measurements before taking to shop, found my bushing failure. Just sent email to FFR
awaiting reply.
Any ideas for field repair to keep bushing in place; cause of failure?

[Pat Landymore]

I’m now very curious if it’s always the same side of the rack pushing out the bushing?

If so, that could indicate the need for a travel limiter to be installed. (on the opposite side if I’m correctly understanding how they work)

Google ‘ foxbody rack travel limiter ‘ or a similar search string to find out more.

[J R Jones]

If you can find the original application you could shop RockAuto for an alternative brand, maybe OEM rebuilt.
OTOH I ordered a rebuilt Lexus rack from RockAuto and they delivered a new replica rack made in NC. It was not identical and my street rod modification for the Lexus rack did not fit the NC rack. More fabricating.
jim

[VIRGIN MIKE]

drivers side tie rod connects directly to rack- no bushing.
Pass. side tie rod connects to a push rod about a foot away from rack housing, bushing should stabilize push rod at end of rack tube. Push rod / tie rod angle (lateral force) is what is forcing bushing out of position
steering bushing 1.jpg

[J R Jones]

Mike, the failure indicates a crap design or manufacturing failure. Jesper's suggestions are to reduce load. Large caster results in lifting the front of the car with steering input. With anguality there is side load on the push/pull rod that displaces the bushing.
In a steering component design, the safety factor should be several times the typical load.
Looseness:
NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/570.7

The increased caster intent is to improve steering stability on the Roadster at highway speed, and is recommended for the track car. I don't know what is recommended for the Hot Rod. You need a higher quality part.
jim

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Thanks Jim, I understand and agree; just not sure what the fix is, going forward, I hope the home office can help - awaiting their reply.
(and thanks for the link, good information)

[J R Jones]

Mike, With more thought the steering load does not contribute to this failure. Jespers theory is the angularity of your alignment specs cause the steering rods to rub on the bushing and push it out. That is hard for me to visualize; you should be able to see the contact, maybe an abrasion. Unless you have a steering or tire contact issue, more moderate alignment settings may be an acceptable solution.
jim

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Agreed, I actually had an alignment appointment set and was double checking measurements when issue discovered. steering works fine unloaded, can't imagine anything other than alignment (tie rod angle) causing overload. Bushing is molded rubber(?), with three small tabs to hold it in place - clearly not designed to withstand lateral loading. Stance and wheel centered in fender do not indicate any glaring errors
IMG_0666.jpg
FFR acknowledged my email, yet to respond with advice or solution

[McGuyver]

Mike, I may have an easy fix for you (at least I hope so). From the picture it looks like your steering rack might be installed in the upper set of holes. My understanding is to mount the rack in the lower set when you are using the lower holes for the suspension. To do so I remember trimming a tab for rack clearance on the drivers side.

[Pat Landymore]

Ah, thanks McGuyver…I remember that issue now.

Didn’t want to deal with more modifications…plus recognized the potential for bump steer with my chosen (much taller) ride height, so I installed these, for a Foxbody Mustang:

97B338FD-6F55-4315-88F4-5537619C418E.jpeg

Technically they’re for lowering, but on the 35 kit they magically work out as a bump steer kit for raised suspension.

DISCLAIMER ALERT 🚨 I could be wrong In what I’ve done…and I’m fine with that! But for me, and me only it drives great even with my current ‘tuner boy’ high negative camber. (Disclaimer ended)

I’m still very curious if the only folks that have the rack issue also have the electric power steering. My thought is the stop/aka bushing on the passenger side was engineered for normal human strength as a travel stop…not with electric assist. Ergo my post a couple days ago about Foxbody rack travel limiters.

Again…I could be completely up the creek on this one also…
?????

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Thanks, I am in the lower holes, and I did have to trim the tab to do that

[VIRGIN MIKE]

The bushing is inside the tube, only function (I think) is to keep steering push rod centered in rack tube, it is getting displaced by side load camming it out of position, when this happens, the unsupported end of the push rod will move laterally allowing free play (lash) at the wheel

[1932]

My fix for bushing working outIMG_8883.jpgIMG_8884.jpgIMG_8886.jpgIMG_8889.jpg
Hot Rod but i think it is same manual rack. Metal is one inch pipe.
Bushing was good, new part to keep it in, with no steering movement lost.

[sread]

I have noticed this issue on my car, although I was looking at the drivers side of the rack. First came to my attention when trying to determine the source of free play at the wheel. With the bellows removed you can easily see quite a bit of deflection of the inner rack because it has no support for several inches. I honestly thought there must be something missing. I can see where the problem is exacerbated by increased ride height or extra caster (both necessary to make the car more practical for real world driving).
The reality is this rack is very light weight and is probably sourced from a car that was designed around 13 or 14 inch front tires about 6 inches wide.
I think 1932 is on the right track - the real fix is some type of support bushing (bronze maybe) which could be inserted in each side of the rack tube and secured with a set screw or something similar. Should be very easy to make on a lathe. Any of you home machinists out there with an entrepreneurial spirit?
I really can't believe this hasn't been more of an issue, especially with the size of the front tires some of the guys are now building with.

[VIRGIN MIKE]

I posted this in a new thread as well:
I was way out of specs - duh! Several factors led to this but are irrelevant to the facts.
Bottom line is (was) ride height about 3" too high and too much caster causing the tie rod angle to rack to be more than the system could handle. Pulled the shocks and screwed the adjust collar to about ½" from the bottom (I had it up about halfway to keep the springs in place at full droop), lowering the height - measured at the firewall! - to be 4 ¾"; this put the tie-rod dead level with the steering rack.
Next went to a highly recommended front-end guy, who fussed and eyeballed with it for about half an hour and proclaimed it all set.
When I mentioned he never asked what the specs should be, he replied: camber 0, toe in 1/16th and a bit of caster; take it for a ride see how it feels. I did and it feels perfect. I rechecked the CA measurements when I got home and they are about 17 ¾ and 14 ⅛. I will be getting a second opinion from a more conventional alignment shop first chance I get.

[RoadRacer]

Just to add here too.. I just discovered the same problem on my hot rod. Passenger side bushing forced out. I don’t have excessive caster but am running 4.5deg and -1.5deg camber, pretty stiff springs and wide tires. I autocross a lot so maybe some of this led to more stress? Anyway I will reinstall and experiment with some ways to keep it in place.. right now I’m thinking of a hoseclamp holding an end cap so I don’t have to find a welder.

[VIRGIN MIKE]

This is my fix
bushing2.jpg

[RoadRacer]

A few things to add here.. one is that I noticed in post 7 a very clean bushing - just wanted to say when mine came out it was covered in heavy grease. FWIW..

Second, I had reached out (email) to FFR just to ask for advice, and although I hadn't heard back a response yet, yesterday a brand new rack showed up with a note saying "customer had fault rack, tech support have picture". this after having ordered my kit in 2017. So I'm pretty stoked. Yes I know they've done that to others before, and failed again, but this gives me a nice spare to swap in, make mods to (bump steer, end cap etc). FFR still surprise me how good their cust service is, even in these times.

[VIRGIN MIKE]

The busting on the first rack was destroyed; the second one pushed out of the tube intact, so I made the keepers shown in post 20 (trimmed out of stainless clamp strap) and held in place with two hose clamps. Got a proper alignment and have logged about 600 city miles with no issues.

[Frank Pav]

Referring to my post #3, I made a nylon bushing to replace the original rubber one and attached it with 6 brass screws. After 500 miles, the steering rack is still solid and stable. I have photos but my iPhone's resolution is greater than the 2mb image limit on this forum. Can you suggest what I need to do to incorporate the images?

[RoadRacer]

Referring to my post #3, I made a nylon bushing to replace the original rubber one and attached it with 6 brass screws. After 500 miles, the steering rack is still solid and stable. I have photos but my iPhone's resolution is great than the 2mb image limit on this forum. Can you suggest what I need to do to incorporate the images?

I always resize images to 900px wide, which is plenty for resolution, but still makes them small enough to upload.