+2 Spyder Zetec Steering Rack (Mini?)

[gavk]

Afternoon,

Since the acquisition of my +2 back in June I have been using it as my daily drive (as intended) and racking up in the region of 1000miles per month. All is going well, I'm loving the car and working my way through my To-Do list.

Next up is a new steering rack, I have noticed a bit of play in the rack and identified that it is coming from the inner steering rod end (the ball joint at the rack end).

While I have considered an overhaul of the rack, I have also noticed that I can pick up a replacement LHD Mini Rack for under ?60.

http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... 0to%20shop

Or

http://www.minisport.com/nam5059-steering-rack-lhd.html

Being a Spyder Zetec conversion am I correct in thinking these are the racks I need? I have called Spyder and asked the question and they stated that they supply a LHD Leyland rack for approx ?100 but wouldn't say which one, Leyland have various configurations of rack to my knowledge.

I'm wondering if the rack Spyder supply can be worth the extra ?40.

I have sierra uprights so would I be correct in thinking that I need sierra track rod ends or Spyder supplied ones?

Is there anything else I need to consider replacing when doing this job, I assume if the rack is positioned by shims then they will be re-useable, as will the U-Clamps?

Also does anyone know the correct toe settings for when I take it for alignment?

Many Thanks,

Gavin

[Panda]

HI Gavin,
I would be tempted to adjust the inner ball joints first. They are fitted with shims under the big lock nuts to allow for wear. you may only need to remove 1 shim to solve the problem. That said, the new rack looks pretty nice, and if it can be easily fitted without major modifications, possibly thats the way to go.
I use 4mm toe in overall measured at the edge of the front rims and it works well on my road car.
Alan P.

[john1180]

Can anyone tell me where to find more info on the "Mini LHD mounted upside down swap" I've done a search and cant find any complete info. Thanks

[Spyder fan]

Can anyone tell me where to find more info on the "Mini LHD mounted upside down swap" I've done a search and cant find any complete info. Thanks

It's a sort of Spyder Cars trade secret, in that you won't get information from them in what parts are needed. Just give them your card details and they will post worldwide.

For those wondering why you would mount a steering rack upside down its that the steering arms are trailing on a classic Mini and forward on an ?lan or more correctly on a Ford Sierra in this instance as the Sierra hubs and uprights are used on a Zetec conversion.

I'm pretty sure the track rod ends are Ford items, I don't know for sure in that I haven't needed to swap them out in 7 years of hard use, so they must be non original equipment

With something like this I prefer to blame somebody if things don't work, so maybe an email to Spyder asking for a price for what you need is safer and cheaper in the long run?

[gavk]

Thanks to all for the replies.

I have identified that the play was not at the inner steering arm ball joints but was actually caused by the inner rack moving vertically up and down within the outer tube casing. I have looked at various websites which talk about servicing triumph racks by replacing worn parts, for example the bush marked 22 and plug marked 66 on the following diagram both aim to eliminate such play.

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... ID=7983#22

I have removed my rack and I don't believe mine is a model with the nylon anti rattle plug (66 above), that would've been the easier fix, I don't fancy dismantling the rack to replace any other parts when I cant even identify the exact model i have (and therefore the exact components required).

While Spyder call the rack a Leyland model they do not state it is a mini part and now mine is out of the car the shape of the casing looks slightly different to the mini ones I posted above. I have bitten the bullet and ordered the replacement rack from Spyder (?144 inc VAT + Delivery), here is hoping that it won't arrive looking exactly like the mini ones and I have thrown an extra ?84 down the pan!

While I appreciate having Spyder as a one stop shop for all my parts, I would feel much more comfortable being able to identify the parts used in the build of my car incase one day, heaven forbid, Spyder shut up shop and I am left with a number of unidentified components!

[gavk]

Incase it helps anyone else with identification, here is a pic of my current rack, I'll try to remember to put up a pic of the Spyder replacement when it arrives.

[gavk]

Evening all,

Just an update to say I received my replacement rack from Spyder and fitted it yesterday, all is good.

In my earlier post I placed a link to a rack sold, very cheaply, by minispares. The rack I received from spyder looks absolutely identical to my eyes, judge for yourselves. I guess there is always the possibility that they are by the same manufacturer but different dimensions however since there were previous reports of it being a mini part I would say the minispares rack would be worth a punt for anyone else who is looking.

Hope this helps