I need Some Pointers on Steering Box disassembly

drkane

drkane

Longtime Owner
Hey all,

It has been ages since I have visited, but a quck search shows that all is well and vibrant here on the forum.

I chased down an unusual clunk noise only heard on very rough pavement and eminating from the passenger footwell. I thought it had to do with the battery replacment that I did. But to make a long story shorter, it turned out to be the bushing in the steering rack on the passenger side had disentgrated. So the rack was bouncing around in the tube.

So I have a new bushing on order. Madd Matt has an aluminum one for sale that I think I will use. I am working on a 1982 model so it has the long tie rod links. I have the steering box stripped down so far: Tie rod ends removed, boots removed, pressure block with springs and shims removed. I think I only have to remove one of the two ends and the input shaft so I can clean out the broken plastic bits and install the new bushing.

But the ball joint ends are staked into place. I drove out the stake but I am not sure if I can just grab the shaft with a vice grip to turn off the ball joint end or if there is some more elegant way to go.

Also the input shaft has a retainer plate that has 4 divots in the surface to lock it into place. Any suggestions on how to drive these out and loosen the cover?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help offered.

Damon Kane
North Wales PA
 
There should be wrenching flats on the ball joint end, put a proper size wrench on these to remove the ball joint. Vise grips tend to leave bite marks on the part, not good in many ways try to avoid doing this if possible.

Once the ball joint end is removed, wind the rack gear into the rack housing, then dis-engage the three tabs that retain the plastic bushing on the sheet metal slots and remove it.

If the pinion and rack gear is worn, it is easier to get a replacement rack.

While the rack is out, replace both boots as problem prevention.

Some racks are filled with gear oil, others have Moly grease as lubricant.


drkane said:
Hey all,

But the ball joint ends are staked into place. I drove out the stake but I am not sure if I can just grab the shaft with a vice grip to turn off the ball joint end or if there is some more elegant way to go.

Also the input shaft has a retainer plate that has 4 divots in the surface to lock it into place. Any suggestions on how to drive these out and loosen the cover?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help offered.

Damon Kane
North Wales PA
Click to expand...
 
Hmm...let me ask a follow up question

Yes the ball joints have flats on them. Won't the rack rotate without grabbing it somehow, or should I put back the pressure block and rely on the rack to resist the turning torque I am trying to use to loosen the ball joint? If so, then can I just put the whole assembly in a vice to hold in place?

Bushing has disintigrated so I am disassembling just to get all the broken bits out. Boots are suprisingly supple and in good shape. I think this is because they are in a dark place and not subject to alot of temperature extremes.

thank you much for your thougths
 
No, the rack gear is held in place by the pinion gear. The torque required for ball joint removal should not be too high, about 30-40 ft/lb. Put the rack body in a soft jaw vise (use the rack mount locations) the rack housing and have at it.


drkane said:
Yes the ball joints have flats on them. Won't the rack rotate without grabbing it somehow, or should I put back the pressure block and rely on the rack to resist the turning torque I am trying to use to loosen the ball joint? If so, then can I just put the whole assembly in a vice to hold in place?

Bushing has disintigrated so I am disassembling just to get all the broken bits out. Boots are suprisingly supple and in good shape. I think this is because they are in a dark place and not subject to alot of temperature extremes.

thank you much for your thougths
Click to expand...
 
Yep Worked like a charm, now a question about lube

I got the one end off by putting the prssure block back in and doing as you suggested. This worked fine. I had to pull the input shaft out as well as the rack will not pull out without removing that part and the pressure block.

I bought 90 weight EP oil (for outboard motor gears) and Moly-graphite lithium grease. Not sure which to use, which type of lubricant did you use, or did you use a combination?
 
The FIAT service manual says gear oil or Moly grease. I have seen both in stock racks. My opinion on this would be to use moly grease. If the boot fails, the grease would stay put better than oil.

These days, I have a perfernce towards using synthetic lubricants and grease. Problem for some synthetic grease is compatibility with non-synthetic grease like lithium based greases. This requires a compete take apart and clean out before a synthetic grease change over. It's a lot of work to do this, worth while for parts like CV joints, not nearly as needed for steering rack as the operating conditions and requirements are different. So, a basic high quality moly grease should be fine.

drkane said:
I got the one end off by putting the prssure block back in and doing as you suggested. This worked fine. I had to pull the input shaft out as well as the rack will not pull out without removing that part and the pressure block.

I bought 90 weight EP oil (for outboard motor gears) and Moly-graphite lithium grease. Not sure which to use, which type of lubricant did you use, or did you use a combination?
Click to expand...
 
Reassembly went well

I got a new bushing from Mad Matt, both an aluminum one and the OEM plastic. The aluminum one was much easier to install. I cleaned every thing up, painted the outside and gooped up everything with moly-graphic lithimum grease. Assembly was pretty straight forward.

Now I have to get the toe-in adjusted. I have one of those aluminum toe gagues you use with a piece of electical conduit. Have to find some time to do this. I saw a useful post by Steve Hoeschler about using this tool and adjusting the tie rods without having to lift the car every time to adjust.

thanks again for the help. It is so nice to benefit from someone else's experience to build up confidence to do a new job.
 
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