[s-cars] wheelwell cracked at steering rack

[ron kirkham]

An old topic which hasn't surfaced in a while.

Patient is a '93 S4.  I experienced this cracking problem about six+ years
ago, and had a small 1/8" steel plate welded to the wheel side of the
wheelwell that the power steering rack then bolted through.  The plate was
not welded around it's full perimeter, and has now cracked again.

The car is making some significant groaning, popping when steering at slow
speeds and the cracking is visible in two locations.  Before I do this fix
again, I'm  wondering what others have done to remedy this weak design
point?  The plate worked pretty well, and I'm tempted to make a bigger, more
contoured plate, and have it fully welded. (I can't weld unfortunately)  I'm
not terribly interested in grafting-in the later S6 solution which looks
considerably stronger.  That's way more work than I'd like to get into on my
"beater" S4.  But then again, it's kind of a critical steering component so
if that's the fix, I'll consider it.

The steering rack is original, and has 247k on it, so it's probably not in
it's top form.  I'd rather not replace it, since it doesn't leak, and seems
to be working fine other than the sloppy end attachment.  BTW, when the
cracks appeared the first time, I plugged the Servotronic back in, and have
left it that way since.  I don't think this makes any real difference on the
forces applied to the fender end of rack, but I thought it might help?

Any thoughts folks?  TIA

Ron Kirkham
'93 S4 aka sloppy beater
'95.5 S6A