Daniel,
The steering rack in Spridgets (early cars) came from the factory with 90 wt
gear oil in them. These days 140 wt gear oil is recommended. The reason is;
the two dampers that remove the backlash at both ends of the rack, one for
pressure against the pinion and the one at the other end of the rack will only
wipe off the chassis grease where they push against the back of the rack. With
no lubrication at these points, the damper cups will wear out very quickly and
you have the unwanted backlash again causing eneven wear on the teeth of the
pinion and the rack. If you look at most of our racks when you take them apart,
you will find the damper cups removed completely or worn out. The felt seal at
the top of the rack where the pinion shaft exits has to be a very tight fit.
After years of use and no replacement, the seal is usually dried out and
shrunk. Naturally the oil will leak out if you fill it. All these problems
seemed to go away if you just use grease. If you keep pumping too much grease
in, it will end up in the boot and you can rupture the boot this way. The oil
was originally used because everything was lubricated in the rack and the rack
could move with little resistance.
Mike MacLean-60 Sprite
Daniel1312@aol.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have to confess that I have no idea what is my rack because in the last 10
> or maybe more years I have never once checked it.
>
> I can't understand why the rack would need oil - I can't think of any other
> rack that uses oil instead of grease.
>
> Daniel 1312
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