Steering rack leak

[martinclan]

I have been meaning to ask this question a while - eversince I found oil on my chassis coming from the steering rack.....

I rebuilt my rack some months ago with a new bush and new gaiters from a "reputable" source. But it seems oil is leaking from where the gaiter is fitted to the rack body. The gaiters only came with the usual tie wraps to secure then which doesn't seem very satisfactory and is, I suspect, the cause of the leak.

Has anyone else had this problem, and how did you solve it?

Cheers, Robin

[MarinaCoupe]

I have built quite a few racks now. I have had two that leaked. On both occasions it was because the width of the tie-wraps was too wide, so I couldn’t get the gaiter to seat properly. On the first one some narrower tie wraps did the job. I have since bought a pair of safety wire-twist pliers. You can get a much tighter gaiter seal with them.

BL specified 200ml (7 fl/oz) of SAE 80-90W oil for the racks.

[martinclan]

Thanks. Good advice.
I was thinking the opposite - tie wraps too narrow - and perhaps replacing them with some narrow (9mm) jubilee clips. But it sounds like your solution is much better. And I always wanted a pair of wire lock pliers anyway

Cheers, Robin