HOW TO: Replace Steering rack without dropping the subframe

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ScubaSteve

Active member
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
3,749
Steering Rack replacement

Ford TIS and Haynes etc tell you you need to drop the subframe to replace the rack, whilst it would make it a lot easier, its not necessary and you wont have to worry about aligning your subframe.

What you need:
Sockets 10-17mm
Spanners 10-18mm
Allen keys/allen key bits
Trolley Jack
Stands
PAS Fluid for when you replace

First up remove the knuckle joint, 10mm bolt remove here

P1090012.JPG


Followed by this 13mm

P1090013.JPG


Withdraw

P1090014.JPG


Next up jack the car up and place on stands, remove both front wheels

Remove the track rod end nut, both sides and tap out the hub knuckle, you may find it just spins the ball joint in that case you need to use an allen key in the center of the thread

P1090009.JPG


Next is the tricky bit, you need to place a 15mm spanner along the inside of the steering rack and slot it over the nut that holds the rack on, when that is in place then get under the car and undo the 13mm nut on the other side, you may find it helpful to get someone to hold the spanner

P1090010.JPG


P1090011.JPG


Then onto the gearbox side, same principle but when the nut is off thanks to ford they make the bolt not possible to slide out by like 5mm

P1090018.JPG


so to over come this just jack the box up on a bit of wood with the jack, you should then be able to get the bolt out with a bit of wiggling

P1090020.JPG


Next drain the contents of the PAS resevoir, i found it easiest to do this

P1090023.JPG


Remove the white plastic housing where the rack joins the column, 2 philips screws here

P1090015.JPG


pull it off

P1090016.JPG


Next up undo the two lines going into the rack using an 18mm spanner, better put cloths down as it will drain some fluid

P1090026.JPG


When those are off you can almost remove it, but typical again it just catches on the ARB and you cant quite wiggle it out

P1090028.JPG


easiest thing is to free the ARB, undo the 10mm front bolt holding the bracket for the bush, then bend up the metal bracket using a large screwdriver and pull the ARB free, do this both sides

P1090030.JPG


Now you can wiggle the rack out, has to come out the passengar side

P1090029.JPG


Replacement is reverse of removal, when you refill the PAS fluid tank, you can bleed the system by turning the steering lock to lock a few times, make sure car is running.
 
I'm wondering if it's my steering knuckle/joint assembly thats the issue... can't feel any play in the rods at all.. :?

either that, or maybe one of the fixings that hold the rack down has broken.. :eek:

Chasing a BM round a roundabout is all good in an FRP untill you hit a bloody pothole just as your cornering hard... :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

chris
 
to test knuckle turn steering left and right in short sharp directions side to side listen for knocking and the wheels not reacting to small movements, if you need a knuckle you can have my one i took off for a tenner which is working with no play
 
well, the wheels are definantly not reacting very precisly, especially noticable when cruising on the motorway...you can Jiggle the steering wheel a small amount and the car just carries on in a straight line.. :?

Thanks Steve, i'm gona get a new one anyway..iv'e got a thing about fitting used parts to fix a problem, ie, i generally don't do it.. especially if it's somthing mechanical thats a bit of faf to fit.. :lol: don't mind if it's something like a heater panel PCB, as the new ones are stupid money..... how much you reckon a new one is..?? :eek:

Chris
 
according to ecat about £103

p/n 1033995

ps: will take you about 10mins to fit ;)
 
Hi Steve.

I tried this method but got stuck getting the rack-mounting bolt past the gearbox. Jacking the gearbox seemed to have no effect. I hack-sawed the bolt out in the hope that I might have more room to fit a replacement in the opposite direction (i.e. nut in front of the rack) but there isn't enough room.

Any ideas short of dropping the subframe? Anybody? :?
 
Just takes a bit of wiggling try undoing the gearbox mount aswell as the torque link
 
mikeandthat said:
Hi Steve.

I tried this method but got stuck getting the rack-mounting bolt past the gearbox. Jacking the gearbox seemed to have no effect. I hack-sawed the bolt out in the hope that I might have more room to fit a replacement in the opposite direction (i.e. nut in front of the rack) but there isn't enough room.

Any ideas short of dropping the subframe? Anybody? :?

if you undo the bracket from the gearbox that the linkage bolts onto then i think you've got the room you need...

i had the exact same issue... pain in the arse design... it wasn't an issue of up or down either...it was side to side..... i tried loosening the mount and all sorts, didn't make a blind bit of difference...

Chris
 
Hello,

I've just doing this at the moment to fit a manual rack, it was a right pain in the arse to get that bolt out! It didn't matter what way I lifted/dropped the engine it just didn't work. Ended up smacking it out as far as I could and then cutting though it until it bent, here's a picture of end result...

http://www.projectpuma.com/gallery/image.php?album_id=359&image_id=3987

Also, heres a handy hint to save removing the anti-roll bar...once you have the bolts out and the steering knuckle removed, you can slide the steering rack as far to the passanger side as you can and then lift it out up past the manifold, although mine has is a 4-2-1 and no heat shield, so not sure about the standard manifold.

My plan is to put a new bolt in reverse, but sounds like thats going to be a pain too! :x

Cheers,
Neil.
 
Quick update...

The new bolt does fit back in the other way around. The trick is to leave the anti-roll bar loose and then replace the rack and bolts, its pretty easy. The difficult bit for me was trying to bend the anti-roll bar brackets back over the anti-roll bar and fit the bolts back in, this took a bit of time!
 
Hi was wondering if anyone knows iv snapled my stearing rack arm just were it bolts to the trackrod end on the drivers side was wondering if any one knows if I can change just the end instead of the hole rack
 

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