How to prevent my steering rack from shifting?

I'm having a recurring problem on my 1996 Infiniti I30 (Nissan Maxima) where my steering rack shifts to one side while racing on track with my sticky tires, and I need some help brainstorming ideas of how I can stop this.

Things I've though of so far:

-Install fresh OEM rubber bushings

-Make poly bushings from some other car fit my application

-Get some custom aluminum bushings made

-Fabricate some sort of bracket or additional mount to prevent movement

Here's how it's mounted:

https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/resources/encry/diagram/npd/medium/74d163e0adf049260013e439159f87bf/079709e0a10d87fd78b65aa7e3a884c7.png

This pic shows what I believe is evidence of it shifting side to side.  Note the clean/smooth section right next to the mount.

And here's a pic of the other mount:

Not surprisingly, space around the rack is pretty limited, so I have a feeling adding an additional mount/bushing will be difficult.  I know I'm not the first person to deal with this problem, has anyone ever come up with a permanent solution?

The bushing in the second picture is the one that is locating the rack side to side.  I've  gone with delrin is cases like this but I bet you can find a urethane set that is close enough and sand it to fit.

I'd try new OEM bushings first. As mentioned, the "other" mount is the locator and you can see the bushing is worn and locating groove is wider than the metal strap/clamp. (Probably by an identical width as the clean spot on the other side.)

Worth noting though. Most rubber mounts/bushings are not compatible with oil/grease, and some combination seems present on the rack and likely contributed to their failure. It would be worth remediating any potential leaks first to preserve the life of the new bushings. 

Had this issue in my 240z and it was solved by poly rack bushings

Patrick said:

Had this issue in my 240z and it was solved by poly rack bushings

I've heard of people taking the nuclear option and welding tabs to the rack so it could hard-mount to the chassis, too.

If you do it right, it can even look stock.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Patrick said:

Had this issue in my 240z and it was solved by poly rack bushings

I've heard of people taking the nuclear option and welding tabs to the rack so it could hard-mount to the chassis, too.

If you do it right, it can even look stock.

Aren't these things cast aluminum?  Seems sketchy.  Wouldn't aluminum bushings be a slightly safer option?

Looks like at least one of those bushings has seen better days so assuming they're not wildly expensive I'd probably start with new stock parts. Clean up the rack and maybe attempt to stop whatever's leaking there. I'd also look at putting some thin sheet metal either between the rack and the chassis or under the mount strap - something to add thickness to increase clamp load.

95maxrider said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Patrick said:

Had this issue in my 240z and it was solved by poly rack bushings

I've heard of people taking the nuclear option and welding tabs to the rack so it could hard-mount to the chassis, too.

If you do it right, it can even look stock.

Aren't these things cast aluminum?  Seems sketchy.  Wouldn't aluminum bushings be a slightly safer option?

An aluminum bushing would work, but I am pretty sure that those rack mounts are as-cast and not a precisely defined spec, so you'd have to do a lot of fiddling to get it to mount securely without being loose, or crushing it.  Polyurethane bushings are a nice compromise and as a bonus they are something you can buy and then install and move on with your life.

As for welding cast aluminum... welding any kind of aluminum, especially aluminum that had been soaking in oil and grease, is voodoo to me.  But it's been done, including on the other side which is steel (and also a sealing bore on the inside).

The rubber bushing gets carved to clear the welded-on strap and then bolted on over it.

I am old enough to have contributed the "240Z/long time Nissan" problem link, but I see there's other seniors here already.

I think those bushings are just a consumable.

dps214 said:

Looks like at least one of those bushings has seen better days so assuming they're not wildly expensive I'd probably start with new stock parts. Clean up the rack and maybe attempt to stop whatever's leaking there. I'd also look at putting some thin sheet metal either between the rack and the chassis or under the mount strap - something to add thickness to increase clamp load.

I was wondering about increasing the clamping load, glad to see someone else mentioned it.  Chris Nonack mentioned wrapping the rack in self-fusing silicone tape to make it grippier and less likely to slip within the bushings.  I suppose if I wrap it enough times it could also help increase the clamping load.

I guess I'll start by trying to see if I can get those poly bushings to fit.  Is poly more or less sensitive to oil than rubber?  I do plan on getting the rack rebuilt to stop the leak there, but I also have a decent oil leak from the engine.