I had the quick ratio rack fail also. it was 2009 at cal speedway. I was
turning left off the oval and i heard a noise and then I had no steering.
Really scary. Here is some in car video that shows it happening.
http://vimeo.com/3591635 . Fast forward to the end if the video to see it
happen .The tube separated from the housing. I machined in a pin on my current
rack which Should hopefully prevent this from happening again.
> On Nov 7, 2013, at 4:59 AM, TR4 Tony <tr4.tony@virgin.net> wrote:
>
> All
>
> I thought I'd give you all a heads up on my position with reproduction TR4
> steering racks made in Argentina and supplied by MOSS or via others.
>
> I have had another near lethal failure this weekend on the Rally of the
Tests,
> costing me a high placing and a class win as well as the car or worse.
People
> could have been hurt very badly. This is the second time.
>
> The issues are threefold in my experience, the first two are serious safety
> matters hence my email to this group.
>
> 1. The main steel rack tube is pressed without any notching or machined
> scoring into the alloy pinion housing, meaning that on left hand lock the
rack
> tube parts from the housing and control is lost. This is because the rack
has
> nothing to bear against and therefore the wheels end up pointing in
opposite
> directions. The alloy housing appears to be made from a material of
> insufficiently high quality in my opinion and the press fit is poor.
>
> I am aware of 7 failures now, 6 on competition cars, one of which was mine
and
> which I was lucky to walk away from.
>
> 2. The nut and spring on the top of the pinion housing (which allows the
rack
> preload / play to be adjusted) unwinds and falls off, causing loss of
control
> and excessive play in the rack, as well as ingress of material as it's open
to
> the atmosphere. This is another potentially lethal failure mode and caused
> because the peening of the pinion housing / nut fails and the nut just
spins
> itself off. Again my opinion is that this is due to poor material, design
and
> manufacturing.
>
> I am aware if two such failures now, one on my car again which we were
lucky
> to survive unscathed.
>
> The cast alloy pinion housings also appear to be poorly cast, with blow
holes
> evident in the assembly indicating poor material, process and quality
> control.
>
> 3. There is a third problem in that the threads on ends of the rack are not
> cut properly, so track rod ends will not fit. Theses need to recut and
again
> is evidence of poor manufacturing and dimensional control.
>
> I am working with TR Enterprises in the UK to develop a short term fix
(which
> we have done) and ultimately have some racks made that are fit for purpose,
> however meantime my opinion is that anyone who has one of these 'Made in
> Argentina' steering racks should talk to their supplier and satisfy
themselves
> of their safety in use.
>
> I for one will not be using such a rack in an unmodified form and will
replace
> it as soon as is possible with a product that is designed to be safe in
use.
>
> Needless to say I wish to discuss this with MOSS and I am awaiting their
> response.
>
> Regards
>
> Tony
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