I'll add one more possible difference between racks -- but I don't remember which is which. One type gets bolted to the crossmember directly -- the other uses cast aluminum supports under the rack with large U-bolts holding it all together. - Dave

Thank you all for great comments! There is no label inside trunk or under the hood, that says anything about "gear". I will keep looking.

Hi,

As I remember you can tell by the end openings of the rubber boots.

Look over to FCP Euro at their steering products and you will see what I mean by different..

The CAMs boots have a smaller end opening.
The ZFs will have a larger open end with a rubber disc that fastens to the inner rod
The plug goes under the boot end with cable ties.
The racks themselves are about the same size of either housing diameters so it’s the outer ends that tell.

It’s best to trust the vehicle year listing on the parts sites. The newer 240s got more ZF what I have or seen. My 1978 has a CAM setup.
The customer service personnel will ultimately make the adjustment and get you the right ones if there are difficulties.

You might save money on buying both sides as a bundle if you feel the need to do both and have new boots on there. The alignment takes care of both sides each time you have to do it.
Maybe the car’s previous owners did this to it before.
You might swap and have a spare in good condition if you are keeping the vehicle for the long term with the struts being changed.
Boots can get torn from ice chunks and stones. Debris kills the joints that never see maintenance lubrications any more.

As far as I’m aware there is not a quality issue with getting new steering parts from any European manufacturers. Steering components are held up to the safety concerns like brakes.
Our countries have agreements and like constituents setting and maintaining standards.

The India and Asian side of the world is a mixed bag of worms because they are selling to everyone to gain market name recognition with vehicular manufacturing within the whole global community.
But the aftermarket’s world can get into some inferior tooling areas due to a black market infrastructure that has existed for so long.

I’m seeing turn 240 turn signal lenses coming out of Taiwan missing those DOT certification markings molded on the inside of a lens. Otherwise they look and fits are identical so what’s left is the plastics quality and resistance to UV exposure being different.

Lenses do not appear to be held up to a standards of let’s say tires.
The three mandatory ratings used today by DOT are helping to keep it up.

Hella, Cibie and even the SKF Corporate have fiercely fought against counterfeiters for the past several years.


Phil

Phil,

Following your advice, I did take a look at the shape of the boot end from the bottom of the car. I was able to determine that mine was cam rack (small boot end).

Thanks!

There should be a nameplate with the info you want on the rack.