Date:         Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:42:13 -0400
Reply-To:     Mike Collum <collum@VERIZON.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike Collum <collum@VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Re: Lubing a stiff steering rack (manual) with the wrong grease??
Comments: To: jbclem1 <jbclem1@CHARTER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <014701c5872c$0e092bc0$6400a8c0@daadaa1>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

I had the same symptoms in my '84 back in 1999.  I also packed it with
wheel bearing grease (red).  The WB grease is still there and my
steering is fine.

I too, read the Bentley warning (after), and wondered, but so far so good.

Mike
Houlton, Maine
'84 GL 7 pass manual steering
'85 GL Westy power steering


jbclem1 wrote:
> My 1983 Westphalia steering became stiff yesterday with some real sticky sections.  Today, to
> isolate the problem, I unhooked the tie rods.  Since the problem was coming from the steering rack,
> I pushed a bunch of grease into the steering rack tube on the rack shaft side.  After working the
> steering  back and forth for a while it seems to have freed it up, at least temporarily.  I drive
> through a creek everyday so it makes sense that the mechanism has acquired some rust or some dirt.
>
> But then I looked in the Bentley manual and spotted this: "Caution.  Only use special steering gear
> grease part # AOF 063 000 04 to lubricate steering gear"  I used regular wheel bearing grease and
> I'm wondering what it would be incompatible with...the rubber boot, seals?  Would CV grease (moly)
> be a better choice.  What I want to do is pack some grease in the rubber boot so that it will work
> itself into the unit over time, hopefully extending it's life.  I could also wire brush the rack
> slots but they didn't look too bad, just had a red-orange coloring.
>
> Any ideas about this?
>
> John
>