Steering play on the wheels

[Petrolheadsa]

Hi Guys. I hope somebody can give me some advice. I found I have play on the wheels coming from the steering rack of my 81 Turbo Esprit. The play is coming from the inner joints near to the centre. Can I get these repaired or replace the joints or do I need to replace the entire steering rack? Heard somewhere that the rack is the same as Triumph TR7? Not sure. Can get one of those. Appreciate any advice. Cheers Kevin

[cbclotus]

Hi Kevin .i think it's ford based .but other people will know more than me ...Good luck .Mike

[lotus-62]

Kevin, just google for a picture from a capri rack and a tr7 rack.     don't think it is a tr7 rack, I used inner ball joint parts from a capri to repair my '85 esprit rack (nylon cup's and springs)  

is it a  burman steering rack?  

 

Edited February 20, 2018 by lotus-62

[drdoom]

It's a Burman.

[Petrolheadsa]

A friend with a Capri just told me the steering rack is the same as Escorts mk1

[Steve4012]

Would be grateful if you would confirm Kevin when you find out as this will probably be on the list for my '81 Turbo also. I've just got some other stuff to do before I get to that though! Cheers, Steve.

[eeyoreish]

When I did the rack on my '90 Stevens I did some research and it seemed that certainly for my car it's based on a Capri rack but with some internal differences. What I don't know is whether the G and Stevens racks are the same...

I went down the refurb route with Lotusbits for mine. Good service and now it's like new, no play at all.

Edited February 20, 2018 by eeyoreish

[Petrolheadsa]

Thanks guys. I will get the rack out and head for spares shop and let you know the results.

[C43]

I am fitting a Lotusbits rack to mine, good price and service.

C43

[lotus-62]

On 20-2-2018 at 19:57, Petrolheadsa said:

A friend with a Capri just told me the steering rack is the same as Escorts mk1

no it is not,  even on the capri there are different one's, apparently capri v6 rack's are beafier.   if you look at the pinion shaft lenght you see they are different in lenght.  (escort very short. capri very long, esprit somewhere in between)  AND the escort rack is smaller /shorter 

[Petrolheadsa]

I got the rack out but haven't had any luck yet with finding replacement tie rod which are worn. Do anybody know what other car this may have come from.

 

 

 

[andydclements]

I think it's Ford, but with even the modified (shortened) so don't bother trying to match based on length.

[Vulcan Grey]

It looks similar to my 89SE steering rack.  I rebuilt mine years ago using a kit from JAE in California.  Maybe they have the parts to rebuild yours?

[greentengu]

Lotus Marques in Australia—I can’t recommend them highly enough—sell full S1-S3 steering rack rebuild kits for the Burman steering racks and, if I recall correctly, they may sell fully rebuilt racks as well. They also sell an apparently new Burman rack for the 88+ Esprit.

If you go to their website to find full write ups on these, you’ll have to find the “Product news” page in the drop-down menu and start scrolling down. 

Cheers,

Scott