Saab 900 steering racks

[DeLorean]

So do I have to rebuild one of these myself? I can't seem to buy a good one anyplace. Rack number 5 seems to have failed. It's filling up the passenger side steering rack boot with P/S fluid... This rack seemed to be working fine, it's been in the car the whole hill climb season, and it's got about 9000 miles of "normal" driving on it, but yesterday all of a sudden it ran the P/S tank dry, I re-filled, it ran out, and I re-filled it again, then noticed the passenger side boot oozing fluid out, all over the exhaust. Nice.

So... Anyone that actually puts miles on their car have any suggestions for a rack that won't fail a year after it's installed? Some of these sub-standard parts are really starting to get to me. I would pay what ever the cost for an actual NEW rack that would last me a solid 5-10 years, but I think I'd have to go back in time for that? Is this a problem with the cores, the rebuild process, or just crap rubber seals?

[jdwertz]

So do I have to rebuild one of these myself? I can't seem to buy a good one anyplace. Rack number 5 seems to have failed. It's filling up the passenger side steering rack boot with P/S fluid... This rack seemed to be working fine, it's been in the car the whole hill climb season, and it's got about 9000 miles of "normal" driving on it, but yesterday all of a sudden it ran the P/S tank dry, I re-filled, it ran out, and I re-filled it again, then noticed the passenger side boot oozing fluid out, all over the exhaust. Nice.

So... Anyone that actually puts miles on their car have any suggestions for a rack that won't fail a year after it's installed? Some of these sub-standard parts are really starting to get to me. I would pay what ever the cost for an actual NEW rack that would last me a solid 5-10 years, but I think I'd have to go back in time for that? Is this a problem with the cores, the rebuild process, or just crap rubber seals?

Check out JAC Rack. Racks are rebuilt in house, and they are very helpful on the phone.

http://www.jorgenauto.com/

[Jordan]

Where did you get this last rack from? I know the ones sold through eeuro are warrantied for at least a year as rebuilds and are done here in the states.

[DeLorean]

this one was a rockauto "GM remanufactured" wholesaler closeout, so I owned it when it went into the car...

[RadioFlyer]

Delorean, were you using this rack for normal driving, or was it a competition car? I'm seriously in need of one for my 1980 900 and also wondering where to buy to avoid repeating the procedure any less than EVER.

[Crazyswede]

I have been looking at the possibility of using a mitsubishi steering rack in a saab. Still working on getting the dimensions to see if its a possibility. The drive behind the idea is that they look fairly similar and you there were several different reduced ratio racks available for various mitsubishi cars.

[Jordan]

Just to post what I told Sam over PM:

Well, part of it is luck of the draw, if you get something rebuilt from a marginal core or re-builder, there is no first time guaranty (we do have a 1 year warranty however).

I looked up the inventory stats on that item and last year we sold 30 c900 racks and zero came back as defective so far. The important thing is that they re-sleeve the racks and use quality seals. I also think they pressure test them before they go out. I know that some of the more complicated newer Mercedes racks we've had a few returns because something wasn't put together right, but a c900 rack is pretty simple and we have our private supply of cores and returns that are dedicated to us.