New steering rack bushing products which one to go with? Outfitterdesign or Ultimate?

[FOXedupONE]

So my H3T failed annual state inspection due to loose steering. They put it up on the rack and showed how the wheel and rack could be moved and how the rack moves in it's mounts. So this is a known problem of course but there seem to be some newly available products to address this without having to use oem parts or a whole new rack just to get the ineffective stock bushings.
So I'm torn between which of the two options to try out.

The ultimate steering bushing kit from Australia have beefed up bushings come with drivers side and passenger side purple delrin bushings. I like that it comes with both sides. But it still includes the possibly weak stock bushing mount. They also have rack ends.
http://www.ultimatepowersteering.com.au/hummer-h3-8-07-4-10/

The outfitter design that just became available, sold by synergy comes with a bushing as well as a reinforced aluminum mount said to eliminate movement but only comes with the one bushing.
http://www.outfitterdesign.com/steering-rack-reinforcement-kit.html
http://www.shop.synergyoffroad.com/Hummer-H3-Steering-Rack-Reinforcement-Kit-H3SteeringKit.htm

Maybe ordering both kits would be best, I could use the outfitter design bushing and mount on the one side and the ultimate steering bushing on the other side. Perhaps the ultimate bushing on the other side will even fit into the upgraded synergy mount.

What do you all think would be the best solution to cure this problem?

Also does bulletproof suspension have their beefed up H3 tierods ready to go, I did not see it on their website. Is each one custom made or can they just make the same one they made for Hunner and perhaps others? I don't have any lift and dont really plan to unless it's minor adjustments with the torsion key.

I'd like to get all the work to beef up the parts on the front end done together. I figure with any work like this an alignment will be needed so once I'm in there I want to just have it all apart once.

 

[ArtHummer]

I would say you have to go with both kits. but the week point and where the issue starts from is the mount. It is week and bends easily. If it bended, getting new bushing on it will not fix anything.
Check out our sponsors Preferred Chassis Fabrication design for their mount.

http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/for...LUSIVE-Scorpworks-Steering-Rack-Mount-Bracket!

 

[freeze]

The Outfitter Design Kit comes with 2 bushings for the driver side of the rack. The clamp is for the passenger side of the rack. It is a complete kit and addresses all the problems with the rack. If you decide to go with the Outfitter Design Kit you should not combine it with other kits. Unfortunately, I am not a sponser on this forum yet, so I do not want to advertise for the kit here, but I will be happy to answer any questions you have if you PM me. I don't want to step on any toes, just provide acurate information.

 

[justin94tt]

The Outfitter Design Kit comes with 2 bushings for the driver side of the rack. The clamp is for the passenger side of the rack. It is a complete kit and addresses all the problems with the rack. If you decide to go with the Outfitter Design Kit you should not combine it with other kits. Unfortunately, I am not a sponser on this forum yet, so I do not want to advertise for the kit here, but I will be happy to answer any questions you have if you PM me. I don't want to step on any toes, just provide acurate information.

This above information is correct, This is taken from their site "

This Outfitter Design Kit includes two Delrin Bushings and a two piece bracket milled from 6061 Aluminum."

I'm also not affiliated with this company nor have seen any reviews on their products.​

 

[kflips]

freeze, the downside of exclusives.... that said, the products from sponsors on this site are great also

 

[bebe]

We just cut some bicycle inner tube and used it in place of the stock bushing. It lasted about as long as the old bushing.

 

[06 H3]

New steering rack bushing products which one to go with? Outfitterdesign or Ult

That's ridiculously funny yet said. Bicycle tubing having the longevity of a steering rack bushing

 

[ArtHummer]

That is exactly what I thought after reading bebe's comment. Good job GM...:no:

 

[FOXedupONE]

I see now the scorpion and outfitter designs are similar and they both no longer use any bushing inside a weak rack mount, rather they solidly clamp the circumference of the rack with CNC'd billet mounts to eliminate movement. Incorporated with better material bushings for the other side to replace the mushy stock ones that deteriorate under this use I'm guessing this combination takes care of this problem.

Does the scorpion mount come with the 2 bushings for the other side? Where do you see the description and order the scorpion mount, is it shipping yet?

I'm glad people have stepped up to address this issue with made in USA ingenuity and products.

 

[f5moab]

I had my first bushing replaced at 50K by the dealer; under warranty. And then it was just starting to go.

 

[alrock]

The PCF design is unlike any of the others, even though at first glance they appear similar. As it is still in testing stages (Moab will be a good test of this product) all of the photos have not been released yet that show the design differences.

PCF is not shipping driver's side bushings as the movement issue is a passenger side issue and if that side is properly addressed, the driver's side bushings are a non-issue. That is the intent with his product.

I went through two or three OEM bushings, though I admit my first one's problems were compounded by cranking up the torsion bars too far (24"). The other issue with the OEM design is the thin steel used at the passenger side mount, which can distort and move the OEM bracket out of proper alignment, thus moving the rack out of alignment.

 

[06 H3]

New steering rack bushing products which one to go with? Outfitterdesign or Ult

Does Dwaine think its possible to see the bushings becoming a weak point when the passenger side mount is done?

 

[FOXedupONE]

Will look forward to these mounts becoming available. In the meantime I will try to slip Hunners sleeve I've had lying around,( maybe some bike inner tube as well? lol) into the stock mount and see if I can pass inspection like that for now.

 

[freeze]

Here is a picture of the factory driver side bushing. It is kind of hard to tell from this picture, but there are slots in the rubber. These bushings do not provide a lot of support. I was even able to press out the brand new bushings from a re-manufactured steering rack using my thumb.

 

[FOXedupONE]

Thanks, I'll check for any damage. Yes I'm of the thinking to that if one side is being clamped down then the drivers side should also be located and held in place with better bushings.

 

[Chook]

When I got the Ultimatepowersteering bushes fitted to mine I asked him what about the bracket on the passenger side. He said that the design of the rack is such that the passenger side bracket is just a holder. The driverside mounts take up all the torque (lateral & vertical) it is only when the drivers side mounts wear that the passenger side holder bush starts to wear. With the better bushes on the drivers side, the passenger side should never be stressed.

 

[justin94tt]

^ how do these hold up after time?

 

[Bigunit]

Re: New steering rack bushing products which one to go with? Preferred Chassis

In all honesty, know one knows.

You have to take a leap of faith if you have a desire to keep your rig running. The key is making the right , educated guess on the products you are considering buying - before you spend your hard-earned money. So let's have the designers/manufacturers of these products explain what they considered/why the came up with their designs - that will separate the men (with proven, documented track records, from the boys). Time will tell and the best design will rise to top.


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[am4x4]

In all honesty, know one knows.

You have to take a leap of faith if you have a desire to keep your rig running. The key is making the right , educated guess on the products you are considering buying - before you spend your hard-earned money. So let's have the designers/manufacturers of these products explain what they considered/why the came up with their designs - that will separate the men (with proven, documented track records, from the boys). Time will tell and the best design will rise to top.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapataint

I will take that challenge

Some of you know me and some don't so first a little about my self. I have a little shop called Mayhem Metal Works. I do custom fab work, everything from small welding jobs to roll cages to full tube chassis to motor swaps. My current big project is classic mini cooper on a full tube chassis with a lancer evo drivetrain. I also build some production parts like weld on beadlock kits and link suspension kits for Toyotas. I have a buddy (silverzuk77) that is into H3's and last year he made me aware of the steering rack issues you guys were having. It looked like something I could come up with a fix for so I sat down with solidworks and started designing. I have a working prototype that was installed on forum member "06 H3"s rig yesterday. He is headed to moab in a week so it will be getting a good on-road/off-road shake down in short order. If all goes well in testing these will go into production in the next 3-4 weeks. The pics in this post are of the prototype, the production pieces will look better but the design will not change unless a problem surfaces in testing.

On to my design and why I think it is a step above the rest.

Obviously the pass side clamp is a huge problem. The basic concept that most of us are taking, which is a large solid mounting block, has been in use for decades in the car world and has been proven to work. The rack clamps of this design for cars rely on the two stock bolts to clamp AND locate the rack which is fine on a car but I felt could be improved upon for off road use. I wanted more clamping force and more evenly distributed clamping force, my solution was to add two more 1/2" grade 8 bolts that thread into the inner half of the clamp and provide extra clamping force.



The other half of the equation is the drivers side bushings. In my opinion, solidly clamping the pass side without addressing the drivers side bushings is a huge mistake and will likely lead to faster separation of the two rack halves. There is some debate about the best material for this bushing, what we need is a bushing that is hard to prevent movement yet resilient to deformation under impact. I spent a lot of time researching the different plastics available and decided that the material with the best balance of these requirements was ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW). The other issue with replacement bushings is the design of the bushing it self. The easy way to make a bushing for this application is one big bushing with a flange at one end, the problem with that design is that there is no flange on the outer end and therefore nothing to prevent the rack from moving out. The fact that the mounting bolts are arranged at 90 degrees to each other will minimize movement but any movement at all will result in premature wear of the bushings. To prevent this wear I went with a press fit two piece bushing with a flange on both ends. My design solidly locks in the drivers side of the rack and prevents ALL movement.


When you purchase my rack mount kit you get everything you need to instal it including the pass side clamp, drivers side bushings, four grade 8 bolts/washers, and even a tool to press the old drivers side bushings out and the new ones in.

 

[jakesz28]

I would be a little concerned with the passenger side held tight and nothing done to the drivers side. I think if the bushings are to soft on the drivers side the rack may still be able to split. I was going to go with ultimate power steering mount. I do like the new options on clamping the passenger side. Just have to have some firm bushings on the other side.

 

[justin94tt]

^ Are the bushing that you are using Delrin? Also it appears there is some type of rubber sleeve that you put on the passenger side prior to clamping. Can you specify.

 

[justin94tt]

This is clearly my opinion, I like where all of these solutions are heading and that we will have options. Until all of them have been tried by multiple people on different types of terrain we clearly won't know which one is the best and you will have to just choose one like stated above. Also correct me if Im wrong. With the mounts completely rigid, the steering rack won't have any type of flex, in return this will cause the next weakest link to break (most likely a tie rod). Is it possible to have polyurthane bushings for drivers side and passenger side like energy suspension produces and ultimatepowersteer from the above link and a billet clamp that holds a stock formed passenger side bushing (made of polyurthane). Simply a question.

 

[am4x4]

^ Are the bushing that you are using Delrin? Also it appears there is some type of rubber sleeve that you put on the passenger side prior to clamping. Can you specify.

If your question was for me....The bushings are not Delrin, they are UHMW, it is almost as hard as delrin but is more resilient to deformation and cracking during impacts. There is not a rubber sleeve on the pass side clamp, it is an aluminum clamp directly on the rack. The part you may have thought was a rubber ring (top left of the last pic) is the tool for pressing the drivers side bushings in and out.

 

[justin94tt]

If your question was for me....The bushings are not Delrin, they are UHMW, it is almost as hard as delrin but is more resilient to deformation and cracking during impacts. There is not a rubber sleeve on the pass side clamp, it is an aluminum clamp directly on the rack. The part you may have thought was a rubber ring (top left of the last pic) is the tool for pressing the drivers side bushings in and out.

Thankyou for clarifying, that was the picture I was looking at. What do you think the price point will be set at.

 

[chaos254]

Re: New steering rack bushing products which one to go with?

How easily are these mounts and bushings installed?

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