Hunner Sleeve question/problem

[TXH3T]

So after going to my dealer for an oil change we got on the topic of the steering rack after my last replacement. I brought up hunners mod and he was interested and said he could install it for me. I was skeptical about if theyd install it right but said they could. So I pick the truck up today an hour before close and check what they did. They installed it underneath the new rubber bushing..... ok? Didnt think it would fit that way. I did the moving wheel back and forth test seemed solid but could this damage anything? Im not driving her anymore until I know for sure and Ill take it out and do it myself if need be. Heres a shot of it. Sorry for all the dirt on it, its been raining and muddy for the last week here.

 

[Hunner]

Wow that had to have been tough to do!! I will go try that on my test rack.
It may move the rack away from the cross member the added thickness of the sleeve but then it would also compress the rubber some. If it is tight that could work.
Have you had a chance to have someone turn the steering while you watch it?
You just need to check it often for awhile and make sure the rubber is not squirming out.

 

[Bigunit]

That's got to be a REALLY tight fit!

Hunner, let us know what results you come up with in your lab/test rack - I'd be really interested to know how much that puts the rack "out of alignment" or even if it does at all. In esence, this fix "thickens" the diameter of the rack to further compress and take up any slack on the OEM bushing.

 

[Hunner]

I may copy this over to the thread in sponsors on the sleeve so it can be found there also.
The oem rubber bushing going over the added circumference of the sleeve will not come completely together but may still work when the clamp is tightened.

It does conform around the rack tube but like even without it if the bracket is not squeezed at the top and bottom will not touch the sleeve. The clamp will though contact the outer side of the sleeve and press it inward.

I used the c-clamps to compress the bracket ends like it would be on the frame. If it is tightened down equally at the top and the bottom it will get tight before the ends with the holes contact the frame. But it is really tight. I ran out of hands trying to tighten them evenly but cannot exert enough force on the little handles on the c-clamp to squeeze the against my stand in frame.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to go wheeling and then report back.
I don't want to rule out any combination different than my method of just using the sleeve for people that want to try other ways to get it tight on their specific vehicle.
It will move it out the thickness of the sleeve but the two bushings at the other end will compensate for some of that.
I can't say for sure that will be out of alignment enough to do any harm.
It will be less than the rack moving all around in that old oem rubber!

 

[TXH3T]

Hey thanks for the respone yall! I did have my friend do the wheel turn while I was underneath before leaving the dealer and it didnt budge at all. Drove it home and it felt nice and tight. I can wheel it as is tomorrow if need be and let yall know but my main concern is breaking something and getting stuck or worse hurting others or myself in an accident. If this seems ok to yall even with the added thickness Ill try it. Bigunit and I spoke a little earlier though and wouldnt this technically eliminate the purpose of the sleeve? Because technically youre still on the rubbber part and all you have done is make the shaft thicker. Or is that almost the whole purpose as long as it doesnt budge? My plan B is to get some of that rubber material alrock used and reinstall using that.

 

[08H3]

You just did by accident what I was going to try on purpose when I do the next oil change. Let me know if anything negative happens with this setup. Unless I hear otherwise I'll probably do the same thing.

 

[TXH3T]

I'll keep you updated on how it goes wheeling tomorrow. Hopefully well

 

[Hunner]

I have been thinking that oem soft rubber is going to squish around like it did before when pressure is applied, but of course not near as bad as it was.
I think the neoprene would be better if you just have to use something.
I don't think it is dangerous, it's not going to just fall out, it will just maybe get loose at some point over time.
The important thing is to check it from time to time and see what is going on.
Since you made no other adjustments to the bracket or sleeve you may want to carry some thin rubber material of some sort in case you have to make a field repair. If that rubber gets distorted somehow and the sleeve is loose the tie rod boot will stop it on one side and the hydraulic fitting on the other.
It will just be loose in there.

 

[Mr_Rich]

I'm looking at that pic and judging by all the scars on that bracket I'll be darned if I let that dealer grease-monkey anywhere near any vehicle of mine. To me, that's just sloppy careless work. I've yet to install my sleeves, but I'm sure I'm not going mar the parts like shown with that first pic.

 

[TXH3T]

Haha although it looks bad I believe it's where the dirt got scraped off. With all the rain I've been in excessive amounts of mud and water. The under carriage is coated with gunk

 

[TXH3T]

And hunner I think I'd rather run just your sleeve but if I must run something I want to try Alrocks solution. I will wheel this tomorrow for the sake of testing for other interested parties but this is certainly temporary for me. The idea of a rubber bushing that thick WITH the metal sleeve makes me a little uneasy

 

[Hunner]

Ha ha some of those are just marks in his protective coating of mud. The marks I see on the back side are probably from a BFH trying to cram that thing on or pry marks.
I used a dead blow plastic coated hammer to do the test install in the vice. It took some work out in the open. I'm betting it was tough up in there on the vehicle.

edit I see TXH3T must have been posting the same answer while I was.
great minds, , ya know.....

 

[TXH3T]

Well as promised when wheeling today and overall it felt great. It doesnt seem to have shifted too much as this is what it looked like afterwards

There was one thing that really bothered me which I think some others had problems with. Could be unrelated but it just happened after the install. My steering wheel is centering tilted to one side. Heres a picture of center now

 

[Hunner]

Assuming you were on a flat stretch of road and not one with a crown,
If the rack is moving in the bracket laterally it could have put enough force on the two bushing mounts on the drivers side and shift slightly causing your wheel to be cocked over a bit. I would have thought that would be rare since the drivers side is more secure. With the pass side being sort of tight it could have moved one way but would not go back to where it was originally without more force from the other side.
Did you check those two bolts on the driver's side. They may have been loosened from before this over time and need to be snugged up.
Now to do that and center the rack you will have to loosen the pass side.
If you just adjust the tie rods, if it moves again you have to chase it back.
I do recall on the stock tie rod boots that even though the band clamp is tight you can rotate and slightly move the boot. So maybe it slid the boot over some if the rack somehow moved even though it does not appear there is much more sleeve showing.
Check the tie rods if you think you may have pushed hard on something and those two bolts.
With all my stuff stock at one point after rock crawling my steering wheel shifted and I not find anything that moved, no bent tie rods and had to adjust them to correct the steering wheel. I think that is rather common.
In this case we need to know why.
This shows the two drivers side mounting points.

It's going have to be checked in steps to see if something is obvious over on the drivers side, if that is not messed up and the rack has not separated then adjusting the tie rods is next to center the wheel.
At that point there is a way you can set the toe fairly close and run it awhile before having to get an alignment to fine tune it after you find out what shifted.
Not knowing what was done when it was installed and how hard you wheeled it makes it hard to diagnose.
Check back and let us know what you find.
I have some ideas you can try before you go nuts about what to do next.
One thing would be to loosen the bracket and the drives side, set the steering straight and check to see if the wheels are straight and then tighten it all backup. It would have to be loose enough to allow the pass side to move. The drivers side cannot move much because of the two angles the bolts are place, unless, the bushings got wallowed out over time and when your pass side was loose.
Did you just roll over 88000 miles? I have about 55,000 but have not seen excessive wear on the drivers side but then I put in a sleeve at about 10,000 miles as soon as I saw the rubber bushing on the pass side bulging out.
I did alot of rock crawling during that first 10,000 miles.

 

[Hunner]

Anymore progress or thoughts on this and what you plan to do?

 

[TXH3T]

Sorry for not updating sooner. I ran bloody basin road with this set up on saturday and then was getting ready for school to start so havent been on th forums. I feel that this setup could work but in my mind isn't what I'm looking for. There is no visual sign of wear to the sleeve however last night I did hear a creaking slipping noise that I've never heard before while turning the parking lot. Sounded like something shifting. This setup may work Fine its just notideal in my mind. I'm going to try Alrocks setup with thinner rubber on the inside and see if I like that better. My concern with my current setup is that there's just too much shoved under that bracket. I worry that it could break or the bolts could back out after extended use of rough and washboarded roads. 08H3 if you still try this method please post results I'll be interested to see what you find with yours.

 

[TXH3T]

Sorry for the spelling errors :/ touch screens and big fingers don't mix

 

[alrock]

Chris, PM me your address and I'll send you some of the neoprene rubber for your steering rack.

 

[TXH3T]

Thanks For the offer Alex! Luis actually just sent me some yesterday or I would gladly accept haha

 

[reaper]

Alex, do you have enough for 2 more racks? Backcountryislife and I are both going that route... we both have new racks ready to drop in. (I have the rubber in my Amazon cart right now actually, was about to click "place your order"!)

 

[alrock]

Yah, pm me your address.

 

[reaper]

Done-- thanks!

 

[08H3]

I'll keep you posted. I've almost come to the conclusion that it frankly doesn't matter what you stuff in there. I fully expect everyone and their brother to jump on me for saying so, but under normal (even "normal" wheeling) conditions, I don't think you can really break the rack just from the play on the PS bushing. I just don't think you can push it that far outside of alignment, even with a worn bushing, without hitting something extremely hard to break it.

 

[alrock]

I agree that you might not break the rack but the noise from it banging around when the bushing is gone sucks. That movement might not break the rack but I think it can break the static power steering fluid supply lines.

 

[TXH3T]

If your rig sounds like its falling apart when doing anything it half ruins the fun. I also don't think the rack would break from shifting however not optimizing the sleeves efficiency would drive me insane. If it can work better why not? I guess its those pre-airline flight classes ramming that thought into my head. "EFFICIENCY EFFICIENCY EFFICIENCY"