Patent ID: 8205515

Claim:
A bushing for use in a hollow tube housing of a rack and pinion steering system, wherein said housing has an inner thread portion at one end thereof for engaging an outer thread portion of said bushing and allowing an extension of a rack gear located within said housing to extend outwardly from said housing and through said bushing for longitudinal relative movement; said bushing being formed as a generally cylindrical body having a central aperture for surrounding said rack extension, a circular cantilevered flange extending radially outward from the body of said bushing and containing a leading surface on said circular cantilevered flange for compression contacting a corresponding interfering surface on the hollow interior of said housing, the circular cantilevered flange being formed by the distance remaining between a pair of longitudinally spaced annular grooves formed into the bushing body; and said circular cantilevered flange disposed to continuously compress a portion of its leading surface against a portion of said interfering surface on the hollow interior of said housing over a predetermined range of temperatures when said bushing is installed in said housing.