Help with steering rack packing shims?

[tony g]

Tony

[Richard the old one]

Based on my 1500HL which I have had from new in 1977, there is only one shim (The official workshop manual calls it a "locating plate") and this is fitted on the near side with its chamfered edge inboard and its purpose to enable the U bracket to be forced outward to ensure the rubber (or now poly mountings) are compressed. If you look carefully at the sub-frame you will see that the nearside holes through which the U bolt fit are not round but slots which allow this to happen. One side of the locating plate rests against a fixed piece of metal (called "stop" in the official handbook) on the sub-frame and if you study the locating plate you can see that the slotted holes in it are not parallel to the fixed stop. This means that by moving the plate forward or aft (It is dependent on which way up you fit the locating plate) you can move the U clamp sideways and compress the rubber or poly mount. I like to fit the plate so that as I push it towards the rear of the car it compresses the mounts sideways as this is easier to achieve.

I started to type this up but was called away to have dinner and some additional comments have been added while I was having dinner. I agree there is only one free shim /plate as the other is welded to the off side of the subframe.

If you look carefully you can see in Mad Mart's photo's the fixed stop and that the near side holes in the subframe are slots.