Sloppy and imprecise steering is just horrible, there are many factors that need to be looked if your zeds not going well in the pointing department, tyres , tyre pressures, tension road bushes, steering arms, steering knuckles, etc. etc.

 

But oddly one area that often gets overlooked is the steering rack bushes, these two rather large rubber sleeves keep the steering rack in position laterally.

 

Check out the photo's below see the state of the two bushes in particular the right hand one which was completely useless, in the next photo you can see the amount of insecure movement of the rack due to the worn bush, basically when turning at a junction the rack was able to move almost 30mm BEFORE any wheel angle changes started this translated to a frightening ¾ turn of the steering wheel. You can guess my surprise when road testing and encountering my first island! of course a couple of bushes and all was well again, interesingly the car came in for unrelated work!! just shows what you can get used to over a period of time.

 

Jeff TT

 

 

 

Is this a relatively easy job Jeff?

nice find jeff, there will be some people checking them this weekend lol

Is this a relatively easy job Jeff?

 

 

Yes it not too bad, the left hand ( passenger side ) is easy just undo the two bolts holding the clamping bracket and release the old bush and replace. the right hand one is a little harder as the once the clamping bracket is undone the bush is still semi captive and often fall to bits when removing it.

 

Replaceing the new one is easier with lots of WD40, the original Nissan bushes are easier to fit than after market ones as they are more flexiable the bushes are around £15 each

 

 

Jeff TT

Yes it not too bad, the left hand ( passenger side ) is easy just undo the two bolts holding the clamping bracket and release the old bush and replace. the right hand one is a little harder as the once the clamping bracket is undone the bush is still semi captive and often fall to bits when removing it.

 

Replaceing the new one is easier with lots of WD40, the original Nissan bushes are easier to fit than after market ones as they are more flexiable the bushes are around £15 each

 

 

Jeff TT

 

Cheers Jeff, I'll get mine done now :bow:

Did this on mine a few years ago and replaced with PU bushes. One side was easy, the other wise was quite fiddly.

One other thing I found made a big difference was to change out the rubber 'donut' coupling 1/2 way up the shaft in the engine bay. It looks like it's actually designed to give a small amount of slack in the neutral position, presumably to isolate road noise.

I made up a solid s/s replacement for mine years ago and it did improve the feel a lot. I think driftworks sell them too.

One other thing I found made a big difference was to change out the rubber 'donut' coupling 1/2 way up the shaft in the engine bay. It looks like it's actually designed to give a small amount of slack in the neutral position, presumably to isolate road noise.

I made up a solid s/s replacement for mine years ago and it did improve the feel a lot. I think driftworks sell them too.

 

http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/products/stainless-steering-bush.html

 

this is the one i bought, i replaced the rack bushings too and they make a hell of a difference, well worth it for the cost.

http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/products/stainless-steering-bush.html

 

this is the one i bought, i replaced the rack bushings too and they make a hell of a difference, well worth it for the cost.

 

Yep, that's it. Well worth the cash.

One other thing I found made a big difference was to change out the rubber 'donut' coupling 1/2 way up the shaft in the engine bay. It looks like it's actually designed to give a small amount of slack in the neutral position, presumably to isolate road noise.

I made up a solid s/s replacement for mine years ago and it did improve the feel a lot. I think driftworks sell them too.

 

Same here. Replaced for a solid bush, together with Urethane rack bushes and it makes a big difference.

I always recommend doing these if you have to take the engine out for any reason, they are so much easier to change then, and they are not expensive to buy.

I always recommend doing these if you have to take the engine out for any reason, they are so much easier to change then, and they are not expensive to buy.

 

Can you recommend a supplier for the steering rack bushes ?

Edited August 12, 200916 yr by zogg

Can you recommend a supplier for the steerihg rack bushes ?

 

MJP for stock bushes.

 

DTA, Zcentre, Z1 ..etc for Urethane bushes

MJP for stock bushes.

 

DTA, Zcentre, Z1 ..etc for Urethane bushes

 

Cheers Dave :bow: I think I will change these while my engine is out.:rolleyes:

I have changed everything to try and stop my wheel wobble but to no sucess. so these are the last things to do. :)

http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/products/stainless-steering-bush.html

 

this is the one i bought, i replaced the rack bushings too and they make a hell of a difference, well worth it for the cost.

 

Is it easy to change this column bush with the engine still in, whats involved for this job?

Is it easy to change this column bush with the engine still in, whats involved for this job?

 

yeah its easy enough, just be paitent, and dont turn the steering wheel or wheels once its off lol

yeah its easy enough, just be paitent, and dont turn the steering wheel or wheels once its off lol

 

Where abouts does it go??

Cheers James your a star :duffer: