hi im new to this forum and to volvos, bought myself a volvo 360 yesterday for a bit of fun this winter, checked it over today and theirs serious amounts of play in the steering rack so requires replacing. rang GSF today about a replacement and they said they list 2 types long t piece and short t piece but they had no way of me telling what one mine was or any mesurements to take. the question i have is how can i tell what rack i have? any help appriecated thanks

Look for where the column UJ meets the rack. See how long the section is protruding from the rack. I think the longer type is around 4". AFAIK, only very early cars have the shorter type. Mine's an '84 and it runs the longer variant.

Have fun this winter! That's why I initially bought mine.

Before you go to all that trouble, make sure that the rubber connector that connects the steering column to the rack is in good condition. The rubber rots and the metal rusts, and the result is very sloppy steering. They used to be available from Volvo, but of course are no longer, so dunno where you'd get one from, but that would be my guess rather than the whole rack.

The other thing I have seen is the welds fatigue in the subframe so the rack isn't fixed properly causing play.

L14MNP wrote:Look for where the column UJ meets the rack. See how long the section is protruding from the rack. I think the longer type is around 4". AFAIK, only very early cars have the shorter type. Mine's an '84 and it runs the longer variant.

Bugger, just noticed that the NOS rack I've just got my hands on is the shorter type (correct of the Mk1) but probably no good for the B230 engine I intend using. I'm assuming that the change was to allow the B19 & B200 exhaust down pipe change? Any idea if the shaft can be swapped over as I have the old longer version from the spares car but was wanting to put in the NOS one? Or will the short one fit with the B230 (looks like no clearance though and there's a heat guard in the way).

I have a mk1 rack in my '89 with no issues... I thought the only difference was PAS column vs non PAS column?

'89 360? Yes there's two steering column section lengths for sure, I've just compared them.

Just out of interest (not that I'd want to do it) has anyone ever done away with the steering vibration damper? I'd imagine it's a vibration white finger ride without it but there might be even more feedback through the steering

GSF could only get the shorter type so i ordered it and took my rack off today to compare. found the rack is completely different it had a splined shaft on the rack and the colom UJ slides over this and has a pinch bolt through it!! completely different. also noticed for some reason its a power steering rack fitted to a non power steering car as theirs no pump (think someone fitted this for less turns lock to lock) so im assumbing this is the power steering colum fitted and i would have to change this aswell if i wanted to put it back to a proper manual rack which i do as its stupidly hard to turn (alot worse than normal manual steering cars) anybody know if i can get round this somehow or will i have to change the colum too? cheers

You need the lower part of the column indeed, the PAS setup has a completely different end as you have found. All can be got to from engine bay side of the car.

ah cheers for that thats not too bad then i thought i would be havin to take dashboard out to change the whole colum!so it can all be done from underneath.. just need to find one now lol. cheers

Hell Driver wrote:'89 360? Yes there's two steering column section lengths for sure, I've just compared them.

Just out of interest (not that I'd want to do it) has anyone ever done away with the steering vibration damper? I'd imagine it's a vibration white finger ride without it but there might be even more feedback through the steering

No need to do away with it, GSF do replacements, should be fine with a good one unless the rack is really shitty.

Normally the rack goes clunky with the weight on the wheels (not jacked up) as it wears in the middle and you can't adjust the preload properly anymore. Also could be bushes, bottom ball joints, top bush/ bearing spring mount etc. The 360 front suspensions gets a hard time, needs maintenance.

If you loop the pipes or fit a breather to one end and add a little PAs fluid then they can be (in other cars, unsure on 300's) lighter to steer than with PAS, but obviously avoiding all of the pump/belt/resevoir malarky.