Skip to main content

Reply to "Ferrari 308 steering rack - but which one?"

A few thoughts: "308" designates a whole series of Ferraris that encompass several models over a significant period of time. They also come in left- & right- hand styles to accommodate England, Australia/New Zealand and Japan-style driving positions. Not sure if Ferrari includes a power assist version- which usually use a different rack & pinion gear ratio. Without a power boost, such racks will result in heavy steering beyond what our needed extra caster adds.  

Next, 'some' 308-style racks look identical to OEMs used in Panteras except where they bolt down. The  left side clamp area (between two cast ridges about 3/4" apart) in the housing is flat-bottomed in Panteras and radiused in some 308-style racks. Sharp-edged steel Pantera clamps that install in that area will ride on those cast housing radii (if present) while being bolted down, unless one files the bottom of the clamp space flat all the way around. You can also bolt the steel clamp halves together and cut or grind a large chamfer into the steel parts to fit. If too much filing is done, rack looseness is not unknown, requiring shim-strips or a cut down stock clamp.

NOT doing mods there (if needed) will cause the attach bolts on such a left rack clamp area to not go in full-depth, so loosening later is a real possibility when the steel Pantera clamps dig into soft cast aluminum and the bolts loosen. Cracking may also occur, and I'm not a fan of cheap far-east castings, as it's well known they ignore world alloy specs and heat treating on their parts unless they are specifically ordered at extra cost. You'll get a feel for the alloy strength if you file the clamp recess to fit. Easy, gummy filing  = a low strength alloy.

At the price mentioned, I'd expect the castings to be made of recycled aluminum to produce a totally unknown 'alloy'. If you try to alleviate steering stiffness by using the original 90-wt gear oil, you may find casting pinholes cause lube leaks. All this happens regularly in 'bargain' cast aluminum cylinder heads and other low cost aluminum parts from the far east. They can be made to work and save a buck, but may not all be 'bolt-ins'. CAVEAT EMPTOR applies!

×
×
×
×