[s-cars] Steering Rack bracket woes.....again.

[Jim Fleischer]

Hey guys,

Last year I found that the bracket holding the steering rack in the drivers side fender well had cracked and there was movement of the rack while turning.  I sourced the factory correct bracket from my local dealer (who sourced it from Germany) and had the new piece welded in by a local reputable body shop.  It lasted only a year, and I now have the same issue, only now the supporting area in the fender well is cracked and compromised.  I also noticed there is movement of the rack on the passenger side as well, as if the bar on the rack that the bolt goes through is “hollowed” out or something, as it moves in it’s perch, even after tightening the bolt.  This seems to effect the position of the steering wheel at center depending on where this is in it’s perch.

So, after a look with my mechanic (he is a VW/Audi specialist, but more familiar with post 90’s german cars including BMW and Porsche) we found that there is a piece of frame rail that is directly under the steering rack on the drivers side that we can maybe fit a piece of angled steel to weld in and attach the rack to and secure it properly, bypassing the existing bracket and the cracked fender well completely.  Does this sound feasible?

Also, curious as to the issue on the passenger side….is the rack bar supposed to offer adjustment within a certain range to center the steering wheel, and I don’t have this bolt tight enough, or are there issues with that area being hollowed out and I have more work to do?  The bracket on the passenger side is fine, the issue is with the bar on the rack that secures to the bracket.

Sorry if my descriptions/names might not be the proper technical terms, but hopefully you get the gist of it.  Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Jim Fleischer
’95 urS6 avant
196K