Steering Rack Bushes

[Omurru]

Firstly, it has bushes/a bush? Where is it?

Have seen a couple of refrences to a harder steering rack bush/solid aluminium ones, what are the benifits and are they a worthwhile mod for a track/street car?

[BHDave]

there are 2 different ones.

the steering rack bushes (there are 2 on the rack itself) and steering column bush (there's one just up from the uni joint on the column)

I've just changed the rack bushes as i had a spare 70 bucks and a couple of hours to blow over the long weekend. Haven't driven it yet though.

[CEF11E]

the uni joint steering spacer is a really good mod. your turn in feel is highly improved and as is steering feedback and response.

you will get a bit of power steering noise but it's only when parking. If your wheels are not ballanced you will feel it right away with the spacer fitted.

Drifting the car is a lot more enjoyable with this spacer fitted.

[Omurru]

hmmm interesting, anybody know who was running that group buy for the spacers...seems to have been deleted....

also who makes heavy duty rack bushes, can't seem to find anything about them in the whiteline catalog....

[skylinecouple]

I got the Superpro bushes for the rack and noticed slightly quicker steering responce.No extra noise.

[Omurru]

Hmmm might have to add this to my list of bits. Anybody know of a manafacturer appart from superpro that make the bushes?

[BHDave]

drift motorsport (who is a forum sponsor) has both types, but check his thread to see what cars he has them for or send a pm.

[boomtheroom]

drift motorsport (who is a forum sponsor) has both types, but check his thread to see what cars he has them for or send a pm.

how do u take the bushes on and off and install?

[BHDave]

There are 4 bolts accessible from under the car that hold the syrups over the rack. undo those and a couple of smaller bolts on heat shields and odds and ends to get some room. the old bushes will probably fall apart when you try to remove them. Installation is the opposite of removal.

It's an easy enough job, just a pain in the arse location to work.

[Birth]

I realise that this is a little old, but I am interested none-the-less. BHDave, you say that installation is the opposite of removal, but the removal process involved the old bushes falling apart! Do the new bushes slide on from each side? Does that mean you need to take the tie rod ends off? Alternatively, do the new bushes have a slit in them to allow the bush to simply slide onto the rack? Any info would be good. Also how long does the job take?

[BHDave]

The D project ones i use have a poly bush on one end which is slit so you can slip it over the rack and a 2 piece one for the drivers side which have steel inserts with fairly stiff rubber on the outsides so you can slip those on either side of the rack and then seat the whole thing back down and put the stirrups (dunno why it says syrups earlier in the thread ) back on.

All going well under 2 hours.

[Roy]

As part of the susp rehash of my car these are going in this week. in curious to see the differences

[Birth]

Thanks BHDave!

[sam5709]

i put the superpro rack mount bushes in my car and yes i did notice a slight improvement in steering response, was well worth the money and killed about an hour of bordness

[Birth]

BHDave, I went with the Drift Motorsport ones too, but I have found after alot of pushing that I can't seat the rack to seat properly. The new bushes seem to be too big to get the styrups over - the drivers side one won't even go around the new bush.

Did you find that it was a very tight fit on the way back in?

sam5709, how much did you pay for the Superpro bushes - Supercheap Auto quoted me $210 for the two which I thought was steep compared to the $80 delivered I paid D Project and the $35 that Nissan want for the stock ones (part numbers 54445-05U00 and 54444-05U0)

Edited February 9, 2008 by Birth

[STATUS]

depending on application you can get ones that move the rack closer to the x-member to stop over extension of the arms during drift etc.. uras do them as do a few other manufacturers... the Drift Motorsport ones are excellent value... but im suprised they dont fit ^^^

[Bl4cK32]

BHDave, I went with the Drift Motorsport ones too, but I have found after alot of pushing that I can't seat the rack to seat properly. The new bushes seem to be too big to get the styrups over - the drivers side one won't even go around the new bush.

Did you find that it was a very tight fit on the way back in?

Have u got the bush in round the right way? If you cant sit the rack down it sounds like something is off...?

I cant remember when i did mine, but from memory the stirrup pulled down onto the new bush a little.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Ring up Burson's Automotive, I paid $17.50, excluding freight for mine, you guys are purely getting ripped off LOL

SPF2492K Front Steering Rack & Pinion Mount Bushing $17.435

[Beer Baron]

nismo make rack bushes for R32 too. quite cheap as well.

[Birth]

I didn't see the Nismo ones at www.nengum.com or Unique Autosports. Do you know who sells them? How much did you pay?