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Cracked RV8 steering rack mounts
A notice was posted on the website a week or two back that followed finding cracked steering rack mounts on John Dutton's RV8. Here John provides a fuller report. Unfortunately no photos were taken of the mounts before repair but earlier photos of a fractured mount on Chris Hunt Cooke's V8 Roadster in RV8NOTE241 illustrate the problem. (Mar 06)


Looking back down the car you can see the steering rack bolted to the mounts, reinforced by the new gussets. (Photo: John Dutton)

I had asked Brown & Gammons to check for play in the steering rack reported at my last MOT. They found the nearside mount had failed at the welds to the crossmember and then the offside mount had bent with the extra strain taken by it. The movement of the rack had caused the steering mast to foul against the body, which in turn had damaged the mast. Had both mounts broken right through, the steering mast would have prevented the rack losing all control, though it is hard to say what would have happened if the remaining mount had had fractured while turning
Gussets are welded either side of the mount. (Photo: John Dutton)

hard, such as through a roundabout.

Apart from a knocking through the steering, the car had felt normal before the cracks were found. B&G welded gussets either side of the mounts to give additional sideways resistance - the original design relies entirely on the mount welds giving this protection, which is clearly inadequate. As my RV8 has covered only 18,000 miles and has not been driven hard, it can happen to YOU! It may well be worth having the gussets welded on even if the problem has not appeared on your car. B&G managed to repair the mast as well as welding on the gussets. The car feels just the same now as before, minus the slight knock, which was in fact coming from the damaged mast.
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