Steering rack bushing

[DougM]

It's been months since I had the failure coming back from Carlisle, so I decided to pull the rack out of the 73 tonight. Right side rack bushing broke the three tabs off that hold it in place and it slipped out of place as I was driving. I thought about reusing it, but the plastic also had enough cracks to make me think otherwise. I know Jeff has a rebuild kit he bought in Carlisle, but I thought I also read somewhere someone had reproduced said bushings. The first spare rack I pulled out of the barn, the bushing was not in great shape either. I have a few more spares in the basement, but thought I'd post to see if there was actually another option at his point.

[Geoff]

Dave (Sonett here) had some rebuild kits made. I don't know if he has anymore. Might be worth a message to him.

[KoogiA17]

Dave (Sonett here) had some rebuild kits made. I don't know if he has anymore. Might be worth a message to him.

Yep, speak to Sonett. A Saab specialist here in the UK (MALBRAD) had some rack refurb kits made that include: the bushing you need & 2 inner bearing cups (made from phosphor bronze). They also commissioned some solid rack mounts to replace the rubber ones that are NLA.

I think MALBRAD were out of stock of the bushings but were having some more done, I'm sure Sonett or simo96 will know for certain.

[Jordan]

I have that piece in the kit they reproduced. It doesn't look like it would be that hard to recast or re-machine. I think theirs is made from nylon and split for installation.

[DougM]

I thought maybe I could run down to Home Depot to the plumbing dept and pick up a piece of PVC and make my own. Instead of putting tabs on it and splitting it so it can be installed, I thought maybe use short screws to hold it in place. I'd reuse this one, but after the blood the car drew from me last night, I'm not taking this rack out again.

Thanks for the lead - I sent sonett a note.

The rest of the rack is in really good shape, and the two mounting rubbers(d-rubber and the right side) are brand new. I sourced the d-rubber out of Finland ~8 years ago.

[KoogiA17]

The rest of the rack is in really good shape, and the two mounting rubbers(d-rubber and the right side) are brand new. I sourced the d-rubber out of Finland ~8 years ago.

I'd be interested to know where exactly you got the D rubber and circular rubber from.

[DougM]

I used to chat over at saabnet every day for almost ten years. There used to be a saab owner/tech from Finland named Kalle who would pop in on occasion, though he hasn't chatted in years. I mentioned one day that I needed a d-rubber, so I sent him $20 and he sent me the rubber. Supposedly 8-10 years ago you could walk into a parts store in Finland and buy a d-rubber off the shelf. Wish we had that luxury in the US. The circular one I sourced on ebay about that many years ago as well and it came in a TRW box with a part number HB1171.

[DougM]

The bushing measures out at 1" ID and 1.355 OD. I think I'll go to HD and see what they have. One inch ID would seem to be a standard on PVC pipe.

[Jordan]

I did this before just as I needed to make some more for myself. My mold is fairly destroyed now, but having a good original wouldn't be hard to make more.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1491&p=15749

[DeLorean]

Sonett no longer has any of the kits, and the guy who made them is apparently out of business... so that option is gone. With my 99-t, I was entirely un impressed with the plastic tabs on the kit that sonnett had made, so what I ended up doing was pushing them a little past the tabs into the steering rack, and then pinned the bushing in there with a punch (there were 3 slots that the tabs engaged into that I was able to do this with) - I didn't want the new bushing to simply pop out of the rack in a few thousand miles once the tabs gave out...

I have been intentionally tossing the car around about as hard as I can to make sure it's solid, and so far it's been doing very nicely.

Interestingly enough, my DeLorean has a very very similar rack to the 99 turbo, and rebuilt racks are available from just about every single vendor. I have not taken it apart yet, as it still works fine, however if someone were to contact John Harvey from special-T auto, the parts to rebuild the 99 steering rack may be sitting on the shelf of one of the DMC vendors... I don't know this for a fact though, there may be some slight variation that makes it not work, however whom ever makes the parts for the DMC racks might be willing to do a run of components for 99 racks.

[KoogiA17]

I recently got the plastic bushing and brass cup bushings from MALBRAD and the plastic bushing is identical to the Saab one. I believe that MALBRAD is supposed to be getting some more made but I don't know when.

[DougM]

I had a piece of 1" PVC in the garage, but it will not work - too sloppy. My next option was to go to the basement and locate another rack. I found an early style and two later ones. I removed the boots and attempted to remove the bushing, but it seemed more than likely I would destroy it. Only viable option left is to clean this one up and use it - I have three to make one. Rusty looking grease in the gears, so this one might have to come all the way apart.

[DeLorean]

My next option was to go to the basement and locate another rack. I found an early style and two later ones.

Exactly what I found in my basement when I went looking for a good rack for the 99-t. All mine were bad too in one way or another...

[saabfan9]

not sure if this helps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAAB-99-900-9 ... 3cc9566b61

[DougM]

I actually found a two year old can of POR15 that wasn't hard as a rock.