Steering rack bushes - play?

[oVerboost.]

What would be an acceptable amount of movement in the bushes when rocking the steering from side to side? The ones on my 172 move about an inch either side when the steering is being turned - is this normal?

Reason I ask is the front of the car feels vague and the steering doesnt feel as responsive, I have checked everything else (ball joints, arms, track rod ends etc) but all of those items are tight and with no movement/play.

Any help appreciated...

 

[Henry]

the rack's moving an inch in the bushes?
there shouldn't be any movement at all

have you tried tightening the clamps? new bushes are expensive for some reason

 

[davebem]

There shouldnt be that much, only a tiny amount of movement. Tightening the bolts on the clamps is an easy fix, 3 are easily accessible and the 4th is with the right sized socket piece. The bolts on mine were not that tight at all.

 

[oVerboost.]

Did yours give the same symptons as that of what I described? I wasn't sure how they were able to be tightened, they just looked fixed in line with the steering/rack.

Thanks for the info...

 

[oVerboost.]

Also, can the bushes be bought seperately? And if so, does anyone know a part number? Thanks.

 

[Henry]

for the SMI rack, i used 7701470760, but i'd check that against your reg as there's more than one rack

they were £20 each and you need 2

 

[oVerboost.]

Its a x reg 2001 172 phase1 if that helps determine the rack fitted?

 

[Henry]

don't think it does - random parts assignment! it'll be a hydraulic rack, of which there are four different. they may well all have the same mounting bushes though - just check with Renault on their parts computer when you go in

ed. if it's still there, the sticker on the bottom of the rack will tell you what make it is

 

[BRUN]

yup as above, 4 diff racks and the only way to tell is by looking at the one on the car, not sure if the bushes are the same though on all of them, they well could be

 

[oVerboost.]

Well today was quite eventful, double checked all the suspension and everything seemed fine apart from the drivers rear shock was leaking, so took it off and got a new one (I'd only replaced it last week!) and also had the wheels re-balanced and the fronts must have balanced before by a blind man as the difference is quite noticable, car also feels much more stable on the road. Still has a small sense of vagueness but no where near as bad as it was. thanks to everyone who replied, and to anyone else experiencing similar problems then don't rule out stuff that's recently been replaced, as it could be that at fault....