How-to: Steering rack service Removal/Repair/Reinstallation

[NathanSobieralski]

As part of my crusade of preventative maintenance I decided that it would be prudent to replace the torn boots and change the oil in my steering rack. Driving for prolonged periods of time with cracked boots (broke boots = no oil in rack) can cause your steering rack to wear out quickly. New boots and tie rod ends are about $90 from DMCH; a new rack is $400.

First, determine that your rack is serviceable by checking for "slop" in the steering wheel. If your steering wheel turns a little before the front wheels respond then your rack is probably worn out . It will need to be replaced.

Non standard tool needed: Tie rod end separator. $10 AutoZone or $4 at Harbor Freight.

Removal of the rack is fairly straightforward. Jack up the front of the car and support it with jack stands (under the frame). Remove the front wheels. Loosen the nut on the tie rod end that connects it to the steering spindle. Use the tie rod separator like a wedge to force the tie rod out of the steering spindle by banging on the non wedge side of the tool with a hammer. Be careful that you do not apply shear force to the steering spindle. The tie rod ends should pop free of the spindle with a few good hammer blows.

Next, loosen the bolts that attach the lower steering U joint to the rack. You will need to completely remove the bolt that attaches to the steering rack in order to free the U joint. The other bolt only need to be loosened enough so that the U joint can be slid up and away from the rack.

There are 4 bolts that physically attach the rack to the frame. Start with the passenger side, remove the bolts and pull the bracket up and away from the rack by reaching above the rack behind the radiator. Also remove the lower bracket plate. The lower plate is extremely important because it physically holds the rack from moving side-side, don’t forget to reinstall it! Now remove the driver side bracket, there is no lower plate on the driver’s side. The two bushings can be removed by rotating them and pulling them out from above the rack. Note the location of the slit in the bushings; you will want those facing down after you have rotated the busing so they can be pulled off. The driver’s side is the most difficult.

Now the rack can be pulled out from the driver’s side.

The rest is easy. Remove the tie rod ends by loosening the lock nut on each side. Pull off the old boots. Install the passenger side boot first and fill the rack with .3 pints (4.8 Ounces) of 90w gear oil. Now install the driver’s side boot. Add your shiny new tie rod ends and you are ready to re-install. Installation is roughly the reverse of removal. Torque the 4 bracket bolts to 18fp, the U joint bolts to 16fp, and the tie rod nuts to 26fp. Adjust the front wheels by turning the tie rod with a wrench (with the lock nut loose). Get it close, and the get your a$$ to an alignment shop. Then you are done.

!

[mark v]

Originally Posted by NathanSobieralski

Non standard tool needed: Tie rod end separator. $10 AutoZone or $4 at Harbor Freight.

Hammer works fine as long as you bring the nut up to the top of the threads so you dont damage them.

Also nice write-up.

[Sean]

It is not necessary to remove the rack to replace the boots, tie rod ends and oil. Overkill actually.

[Morpheus]

OK, how do you add oil to the rack while in the car?

[Sean]

There is an, for lack of a better term, access cover at the pinion housing near where the steering shaft enters the rack. If you remove the access cover for the brake master cylinder you will see it. It is held in by 2 10mm bolts. If remove the top bolt and loosen the bottom bolt you can swing the cover out of the way. Once you do this you will see a spring and plastic bushing. You can fill’er up from there, just make sure the new boots are on first.

[NathanSobieralski]

Originally Posted by lostprophet

It is not necessary to remove the rack to replace the boots, tie rod ends and oil. Overkill actually.

I wanted to clean and paint my rack so it would look nice and shiny! Its not really that difficult to remove the rack and if someone needs to replace theirs outright I thought it would be helpful to describe my experience.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by NathanSobieralski

I wanted to clean and paint my rack so it would look nice and shiny! Its not really that difficult to remove the rack and if someone needs to replace theirs outright I thought it would be helpful to describe my experience.

Absolutely! You did a fine write up on removing the rack, I just didn’t want people assuming they had to remove the rack to complete the services you detailed above.

[NathanSobieralski]

Originally Posted by lostprophet

Absolutely! You did a fine write up on removing the rack, I just didn’t want people assuming they had to remove the rack to complete the services you detailed above.

Thanks for the heads up about the access cover. I thought about trying to remove it but I assumed that a bunch of springs and bushings would come flying out if I did!

Nathan

[mark v]

Do you have any photos to include?

[NathanSobieralski]

Sadly, no. I forgot the digital camera at the office that weekend.

Nathan