$H!T!! What did I break?

[Chocflip201]

Of course, I was trying to do a poser flex shot and I had a good bit of steering wheel pressure, and I tried to turn the wheel and I heard a couple quick pops and so I got back on flat ground. The tie rods and everything look straight, but as I drive down the road my steering wheel is not sitting straight any more.

think I broke something in the rack and pinion?

 

[Chocflip201]

Everything still seems to drive fine. No pulls or anything, just a crooked wheel

 

[Chocflip201]

I am headed to the alignment shop now

 

[06 H3]

get a steering rack kit. The OEM ones are piles of **** and allow movement which throws off your steering.

 

[Chocflip201]

Elaborate on the steering rack kit?

 

[3Hummers]

Preferred Chassis and others have brackets that are much better than the ZoEM steering rack bracket that GM uses. It keeps the steering rack in place so it doesn't brek, leak, etc.

 

[alrock]

I'm guessing you did what some alignment shops do to put steering wheels back on center - park the tires against the curb and put a hard yank on the wheel. I think it makes the steering skip in its gears. (Newbie on the steering parts, I could be off base).

 

[Chocflip201]

I do think that I did skip a couple gear teeth. At first I was scared I broke off gear teeth, but everything seems to be driving fine except for the steering wheel not being straight.

I didn't make it into the alignment shop before they closed but I'm not having any pulling or tire wear issues. I am not sure what I want to do to fix it. I think the "best bang for the buck" option would be to pull off the steering column link from the actual rack assembly itself, and then rotate the column shaft a couple splines to have the steering wheel back where it should be pointing, (as long as I can do that) and then go have my alignment checked again. Everything looks to be "in place" as far as the steering rack goes.

If I'm not having performance issues I don't really want to replace the steering rack, and I don't want to "yank" the steering wheel back into place for fear of breaking the steering rack internals, or at least weakening them as making it more prone to skipping gear teeth on its own.

 

[alrock]

I agree, and didn't mean to suggest the yank method was the way to go. Zach would probably go that route (his high school nickname was supposedly "Yanky my wanky")

 

[ABNTROOP]

LOL & yanky my wanky

 

[Chocflip201]

Ha yeah I definitely feel I need to research some steering upgrades. And just high school? I didn't know it was a habit to drop ha.

 

[Zach]

I agree, and didn't mean to suggest the yank method was the way to go. Zach would probably go that route (his high school nickname was supposedly "Yanky my wanky")

****er! That was Long Duck Dong from 16 candles. You are now officially cut off for parts and favors, knew I should have told them to nail you on the cat. Loyalty....... Non existent.

 

[4speedfunk]

Broken rack housing. Check to see if there is a 1/4" gap where the cast portion meets the black tube portion. Here's a pic of where to look....


The parting line between the two pieces should be tight like this photo shows (green arrow). If you see a gap here...the rack housing is broken and needs replaced. This is very common and once the housing breaks these two pieces will separate and essentially the rack housing grows longer, and that's why your wheel is crooked. When they break like this, the rigid lines that connect the two pieces will eventually crack and start leaking. This photo shows a flexible hose that has been added as insurance, if the break should occur. Yours hoses will be rigid.

Several sources are making steering rack mount kits. There is a clamp on the passengers-side that is a notoriously bad design, and all of the kits address this problem. However, not all kits address the other problem which is movement at the bushings on the drivers-side, (circled in red). Both of these areas are problematic, and IMO the bushing replacement is also a great idea. If you replace the rack...go ahead and spend the money for a mount-kit and do it all at once. This will give you a dramatic improvement in strength and steering preciseness...and it will make your alignment guy's job much easier.

 

[Chocflip201]

Nope, no gap. Everything is still tight.

 

[4speedfunk]

Okay...then check for a bent tie-rod. That's another source of crooked wheels. If those look okay, then it could be that the entire rack has shifted from its intended location on the crossmember. You can't really inspect the rack situation by just crawling under...you need to have someone cycle the wheel back & forth with the truck running. Look closely at the clamp on the passenger-side and also at the bushings on the driver-side. Here's a great video that shows the obvious problem and why better bushings and clamp are needed...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4jpHf-WMVU

Also Outfitter Design has a great chassis video on Youtube of the rack & axle after installation of their kits. You can really see how new bushings hold these components in their proper locations. Unfortunately...they did not include a "before" video to show you how bad the stock bushings are. You would be startled at how much movement there is with stock bushings...completely worthless for off-roading, and its no wonder H3 guys tend to break a lot of front end parts.

Lastly, I suppose it could be the "skipped tooth" situation but, I have no idea how that could happen. For a pinion gear to skip on a rack...something has to be seriously ganked. I find it hard to believe that this could happen, and simply return to normal operation. If it skipped a tooth...something is very wrong inside the rack.

 

[Chocflip201]

Tie rods are straight. Nothing looks out of normal with them, and I've had bent tie rods before on my Duramax, and I know how bent tie rods make the truck handle, and that's not the case here.

This is is my first vehicle I have owned with a steering rack rather than a box, so I have never been inside of one. I assume that as long as there is not a load bearing on the end of the pinion shaft (like the ford 9" and GM 14 bolt axles have) then deflection of the pinion could be possible. Plus with the quick "pops" of sound that it made when it happened, sounds like it could be that.

Yeah I watched a couple YouTube videos, and one did show how much the steering rack moves with stock bushings, looks to be about .25". However that would indicate play in the steering wheel with a loose rack, and that is not what I am experiencing. I don't have any steering wheel play, just offset a couple of °'s.

I am looking into steering rack brace kits, and upgraded tie rods, and also something else that's confidential and pimpin :weld:

 

[4speedfunk]

That's all I got. I've broken two racks myself, and both resulted in a crooked steering wheel. I've also replaced a couple racks on other H3s, and I'm to the point where I won't even touch em unless the owner is willing to upgrade to the Outfitter Design kit. It makes that big of a difference.

 

[Bigunit]

I feel exactly the same way about the Preferred Chassis steering rack bracket. I have the original OEM rack with the OEM bushings with the PCF bracket and the driver side rack mount bushing does not need to be replaced yet and since the PCF bracket was installed, that mount bushing no longer moves and shows no signs of additional wear and doesn't look like it will need to be replaced anytime soon. When it does, it will be time for a new rack anyway.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapataint

 

[Chocflip201]

I have a 3 year/36k mile warranty from when I bought it, I'm going to see tomorrow if it would cover a new steering rack. If not, I will probably just keep my same steering rack, either way I plan on mount upgrade and HD tie rods though.

 

[silvrzuki77]

Mayhem metal works has good rack kit also i have ran on both my dads and my T for awhile now.

 

[Chocflip201]

Mayhem metal works has good rack kit also i have ran on both my dads and my T for awhile now.

Yeah I read your thread this morning and PMed him about the kit. Good price.

 

[Chocflip201]

I saw a thread on someone looking into a Silverado 1500 steering rack as a possible upgrade. I can get a reman'ed Silverado 1500 rack from napa through my work account for ~$130. I can't find any more info on whether or not it would actually be an upgrade or not. Any ideas?

 

[silvrzuki77]

You will be super happy about the kit.

 

[Chocflip201]

My extended warranty will cover it. Had to get a quote from a shop, $965 for a new rack, install and alignment. I'll keep the old one as a spare.

 

[silvrzuki77]

Add the brace kit on the steering rack anyways just for insurance. Oh silverado rack wont work btw.