Rack and pinion - homemade Steeroids with GrandAm rack

Replacing the lower steering column bearing is fairly simple and I highly recommend it to do! That´s also an important part for a thight steering.

Regards, Günther
 
MYBAD79 said:
Bearing and plastic retainer are on their way :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Those parts will fit any steering column from the GM and 1/2+ of the Chrysler line up for decades.....I"d imagine your local parts house would stock them....

:gurney:
 
Got the bearing and retainer today, pulled the old stuff, installed the new and voila: no more play, no more slop..... Now that the header and clutch linkage was out of the way it was a easy 10 minute job..... Well worth it....

I bought the parts from GMpartsgiant.com, found these guys on Google shopping when I put the part numbers in the Google search.... They were not the cheapest on the parts but shipping was reasonable, they sent it in a flat rate box and I ordered Tuesday, received parts on Thursday, cannot complain....

I tried GMpartsdirect but shipping was inflated to $15... BS !!!!

These are good quality GM parts (yeah, I know, doesn't sound right....) and not some cheapo ill fitting pieces from PepBoys.... Like I said, I installed these parts tonight, they fit tight and there's no more slop on that shaft.... The bearing is a very tight fit into the plastic retainer but that's just what it needs to be, there is quiet a bit of feedback on the net that it requires a vice to press the bearing into the retainer: that is not a bad thing.... It fits tight because it fits correctly !!!

Here are the part numbers ... Old bearing and new bearing, old retainer is yellow, new retainer is white:

photo_zps4f19c868.jpg
 
Wow, that's something that never occured to me. Perhaps I should do that 'while I'm at it' doing the box & coupling & PS components. What's involved?
 
JPhil said:
Wow, that's something that never occured to me. Perhaps I should do that 'while I'm at it' doing the box & coupling & PS components. What's involved?
Click to expand...

Not much.... There's a wire clip and a dust cap, once you pulled these off you simply pull the retainer and the bearing out (leave the bearing in the retainer), clean, grease, pop the new stuff in there, put the dust cap back on and clip the wire back in place....
 
Update:

Cut a new doubleD shaft because now with the collapsed column I needed a longer one.... Installed the DD shaft, bolted the rack in place.... Connected the tie rods and voila: turned the steering wheel and no binding at all....

Here's where it's at as of tonight:

photo_zps47ec0531.jpg

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How thick is that adapter bracket the tie rods are tied to??

it looks like it's really thin.....


:chinese:
 
mrvette said:
How thick is that adapter bracket the tie rods are tied to??

it looks like it's really thin.....


:chinese:
Click to expand...


3/16" with thick washers welded to it on the back side.... Before I welded the washers to it it took a 10lbs mini-sledge to bend it ...
 
just an observation

Karsten,

Judging by your picture and the reports in previously bump steer posts it looks like your tie rods are longer than the ideal length. Maybe we'll get some pivot to pivot dimensions from Gunther bump steer measurements.

Grampy
 
Yes, the tie rods are about as long as they can be. This is a copy of Gene's setup (minus the inner ball joints)... I am using stock style outer ball joint (tie rod ends) at the wheel, rod ends at the inner location....

Guenther uses the adapter bolts to lower the outer rod ends, another interesting different approach....

I also have the square tubing center link for the stock length tie rods, once the car is drivable I'll swap the center links back and forth to see what I like best....
 
Progress .... Slow but somewhat steady ..... Lol

I got the car down on the ground and off the jackstands, steering effort is absolutely acceptable at standstill - I was concerned it might be too hard to turn the steering wheel but so far I have to say, it could not be better : there is no play whatsoever in the steering, effort is hard but not too hard ....

And there's still some clearance to the 275/40 tires :

photo_zps28c531ec.jpg

The brown truck delivered these brand new MOOG tie rod ends today :)

View from under the car:
photo_zps599a1ea4.jpg
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View from top ....

photo_zpsb6f4e165.jpg

Header clearance is plenty .... Damn, looks like I built something that works :)))
 
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MYBAD79 said:
Progress .... Slow but somewhat steady ..... Lol

I got the car down on the ground and off the jackstands, steering effort is absolutely acceptable at standstill - I was concerned it might be too hard to turn the steering wheel but so far I have to say, it could not be better : there is no play whatsoever in the steering, effort is hard but not too hard ....

And there's still some clearance to the 275/40 tires :



The brown truck delivered these brand new MOOG tie rod ends today :)

View from under the car:

.
View from top ....


Header clearance is plenty .... Damn, looks like I built something that works :)))
Click to expand...

:nuts::bump::nuts: Good show man,
 
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Welded the crossmember in, added gussets, sandblasted and sprayed a good coat epoxy .... Making some progress here ....

photo_zps71151b4a.jpg
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photo_zps9cee28d5.jpg
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mrvette said:
:nuts::bump::nuts: Good show man,
Click to expand...

Yup..... Now that I know this stuff works I'm going to make it look good :D

Oh boy, this is a lot of measuring, cutting, fitting, cutting again, shit don't fit, measure again, cut again, shit cut too much, now too short, try again, new piece , cut , weld, cuss.....

You know, that $1299 for the Steeroids kit doesn't sound too bad right now, too bad their crap is so flimsy.....lol
 
The crossmember you welded in looks verry interesting. Can you make a pic of underneath the car how to see the crossmember looks like?

Günther
 
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