Steering Rack

Topic: Steering Rack (Read 1051 times) previous topic - next topic

Steering Rack

August 31, 2007, 05:51:56 PM

Greetings and salutations fellow Fox owners.

I changed oil and rotated the tires on my old duck the other day, and finally identified a clunking noise I've been chasing for a long time. I can't believe I haven't found it before now.

Turns out, the left side of the steering rack has a lot of play in it. No, it ain't the ball joints, it's definitely the rack. This car has ALWAYS been hard on the front tires, but I've always attributed that to limited camber and caster creating a push problem driving in city traffic. Neither is really adjustable other than moving the camber by moving the strut mounts in or out. Caster is what it is. The car drives like a dream on the highway, and doesn't really hurt the tires on the highway. But, it'll chew the outside edges off pretty quickly in the city.

So, looks like I get to swap out the rack. I've already found the parts (rebuilt) but am curious as to how much time I'm looking at for the swap. Any guestimates? I'm going to go ahead and replace the pump and the hoses while I'm at it, because there's no sense in putting old dirty fluid through a fresh rack. The pump ain't all that bad to remove (after 3 water pumps and a timing cover gasket replacment, I should know). Just looking at it, looks like things are fairly accessible, and shouldn't be too big an issue other than ball joint removal. Even that looks fairly easy if I have the right puller.

Does anyone have a goof-proof method for bleeding after installation, or do I need to bench bleed the rack? Do I need to bleed at all, other than running the steering stop-to-stop several times before I put it back on the road? The pump's leaking around the seal slightly anyway, so I don't have an issue replacing it.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Steering Rack

Reply #1 – August 31, 2007, 06:18:43 PM

Are you sure its not just an inner tie rod end? Loosen the boot and slide it towards the outer tie rod end and check the inner for play.

Steering Rack

Reply #2 – August 31, 2007, 07:31:12 PM

I just removed the rack & would have had the new one back in place in 2 hours except the return line on the old unit is stuck and I can't get it out.

I am so angry right now as I had to quit for the night because I just don't feel like fighting with the ed greasy monster this late :(

Steering Rack

Reply #3 – September 02, 2007, 01:58:58 AM

Quote from: CougarSE;173711

Are you sure its not just an inner tie rod end? Loosen the boot and slide it towards the outer tie rod end and check the inner for play.

Definitely play on the inner end. I can see it, and have been hearing a really nasty sounding clunking noise for a long time. As heavy as these cars are in the front, it's almost impossible to move the tire/wheel side to side with the front end on the ground. I rotated the tires last week, and that's when I noticed it, and checked a bit closer. It's got a LOT of wear in it. I thought it was the strut mounts, and have since replaced those, but clunking was still there.

I didn't even know there was a tie rod end on the inner, but I guess there would have to be. I've noticed for some time a lot of contamination in the fluid, though, and thought maybe it was a worn rack. I do know that there's a good bit of slack in the steering because of this, which is something I really didn't notice since it isn't my daily driver. (Mrs. Paint's) She doesn't complain about the car, so I don't know if something's wrong. I have an '07 Chevy Impala (sorry for the language) company car that is my daily ride.

Is that inner tie rod end something that's easily replaceable? I'm looking at a new pump anyway 'cause this one's leaking at the shaft behind the pulley, and I ain't up for rebuild on that pump. Guess it wouldn't be all that bad with the right puller, etc., but the parts for rebuild are nearly as much as a reman pump. Same goes for the rack. If I'm gonna have to deal with draining that pump, there isn't much point if I don't purge the rack too, and clean all the old fluid out. All that considered, that's why I was thinking about just replacing the rack, pump, and all tie rod ends, then go get the front end aligned again. It's gonna have to have tires again, probably within the next 6 months, and I'd rather have this done before I do the tires.

Looks like a good step-by-step in the Haynes manual, but I've found that manual to be a bit lacking on a lot of other things on these cars, so I'm not sure I trust it. E.G. it says the oil pan MUST come off for T/C gaskets. No, it doesn't. I've done two now, my 86 last Xmas and a 90 just this weekend.

I thought my 86 had lots of sharp corners. GEEZ, they had 4 years of practice making them sharper on the 90.