i posted a thread awhile ago about my rack and pinion supposedly leaking...well to finally figure out my problem after 10 different shops and countless hours of driving around town...a shop finally actually told me and showed me wut my problem is....my rubber rack bushings are shot to hell....lol does anyone know how hard of a replacement this is??? can i do it myself with your regular home mechanic tools or should i just let the shop do it...it doesnt matter to me cuz its just an $80 labor fee seeing as i already have the rubber bushings myself.

 

take a look...if you can get your hands in there then you should be able to do it.
probably will need an alignment afterward.

 

Hey, why not replace them with Moog polyurethane onetime and call it done? There is a torque sequence to prevent distorting the rack! I believe it's 5 bolts you shouldn't have any problem...it's easiest with the ypipe removed! If you're interested in the poly check out O'reilly...They carry Moog extensively!GL...

 

I'm replacing my steering rack right now because I have the engine out, but you may want to check that passenger side bottom cap screw on the bracket. From what I remember the rear engine mount might be blocking it, but then again you don't have a VG. To make it easy I just removed the engine cross member, as I didn't want to fiddle without air tools.

 

seeing as how i'm the person who installed his new motor i'd have to say he does have a VG..... in his sig it even says it's an 89.

now, i will admit having the trans off makes it a LOT easier to get the driver-side bracket bolts off... but a socket of JUST the right depth (ie just a tiny bit taller than the distance that the rack sticks out from the firewall) should still do the job with everything else installed. i had a thread about this in 2007 i believe.. greeny posted some pics of the tools he used.

 

i just used those long Snap-On wrenches and a breaker bar, i can't remember if i undid the cross member or the y-pipe but i remember that it wasn't that hard for me to get to the bolts to swap the bushings. but if you say its $80 in just labor and you feel that you are not confident on doing it yourself then just pay the $80 and be done with it, but if you want to do it on your own then go for it just make sure that the car is secured once you are under it if you are doing it on the ground. it be nice if you had access to a lift.

 

I forgot to mention one thing you may want to check also is if the boots are still in tact. If they are ripped open or cracking in the ridges, you'll probably want to replace the rack while your paying for the labor already...so you don't need to open those brackets up twice.

 

unless moog changed something they are just rubber.
Moog uses blue when it is non-rubber

 

I didnt know Moog made em Polyurethane.... can this be confirmed ?.. my rack bushings seen better days too and was trying to use s13-14 bushings

 

Who makes the cheapest Poly ones guys? I'm thinking I better pay the extra now, or else when I start rust proofing again, those new rubber ones could dissolve away.

 

So what are the symptoms of bad rack bushings anyway?

 

Poor steering response and tire squeal when turning is a hands down symptom

 

I'm wrong guys...Moog's insulation bushings are rubber p/n (MOK9900) I got them mixed up with another one of my vehicles...Napa also carries them as well p/n(NCP2749231)...sorry for the wrong info.....

 

well seein as my struts and strut towers are pretty bad all i can can is i sway like crazy when i brake and the steering wont hold an alignment for crap plus a small bump takes control of my steering and takes the car where the bump i hit feels it should go lol

yeah i have Moog bushings and my boots are in great shape for actual mileage on car...mustve been replaced before.

 

WHAT?

the rack bushing has nothing to do w/ the rack boots.
the bushings are....unbolt brackets swap in rubber pieces and tighten.
for the boots you'll need to unbolt/disconnect the outer tie rod from the spindle and then unscrew the outer tie rod off the inner and then yank the boots off and reinstall. you don't touch the mounts when you replace the boots.

that's like saying you go for a brake job you expect the tech to replace the strut w/o additional labor.

 

Interesting point. In my opinion though it's not worth putting any money (labour) into the steering system (boots wise) as the replacement doesn't cost that much itself. Those rebuilt racks are like 120.00 around here.

So putting money into boots itself (if they were ripped in the first place) would kind of be a waste at 16 yr old car, better to just do the whole rack.

 

the rack slides back and forth first THEN the wheels start to turn. i used to have to do a 90degree turn of the steering wheel to make a lane change.

 

ok...... that's fine.... but the OP was asking about the rack mount bushings, not saying he had torn boots.....

but if there are no leaks then it's just as well to replace the boots instead of buying a rack. you need an alignment either way, but boots are $20 for the pair and a rack is $150+....

 

The labor from replacing the boots alone is most likely a fraction of the labor cost for an entire rack & pinion replacement. It all depends on the condition of your rack really, but you can always just replace the boots while your inner and outer tierods are getting replaced, THEN there should probably be no extra charge.

 

the rack on my car is perfectly fine. the boots were worn/cracked so i replaced the boots. from your thinking if the boots are cracked then might as well get a new rack? that makes no sense. did you forget that replacing the rack you need to disconnect the steering shaft, undo all the lines, pop off tie rods at spindle...this is on top of taking the rack mounts off.

 

if you do take the whole rack off, patience with this line - it was frozen on my car, i had to WD40/PB Blaster/Propane torch it several times to break the nut free from the line

 

HATE these lines

 

I hate seeing ppl use the wrong tools when working on fluid/hydraulic lines! This is the cause of your PITA situation... Flare nut wrenches (good brands) prevent rounding off the b-nuts. Regular combination wrenches tend the flex more than they grip and 90% of the time will strip your b-nut!
You don't need to remove the entire rack to change the bushings! Loosen both clamps but remove one then after installing a new bushing on one side loosely remove the last worn bushing!

 

nice wrench...wrong tool.

 

how bout this?

 

Agreed! My motor is out currently so the new rack is going in today. It would be a PITA if the bay was filled with the engine

 

actually i'm doing the same thing to my z pretty soon too... it's hemmoraging fluid and the engine doesn't even run!

 

better get that rash/skin condition looked at.

right tools but not as nice wrenches

 

Maximaman - when you replaced that rack, did you replace that hose in your photo? Is it regular AT Oil Cooler Hose?

Also Kringle - i'm curious if you replaced anything else when putting in the new rack, besides the bushings.

 

I actually changed my with the engine in the car when I first got my 3rd Gen. It wasn't that hard! If your gonna install a new/rebuilt unit inspect your fluid line change all your Japanese clamps to the US SS worn clamps, replace or cut back any funky hoses that could bite you in the rectum later....I chose to place my hoses inside thermal sleeves since I'm running headers.

 

lol that's not my hand... found that pic on google.

 

just a little food for thought...
the standard worm drive clamps are not superior to the wire clamp that came on the car.

 

well then you should tell the guy to get his hand looked at

 

i actually did wind up using a flare wrench, and vice grips too to rock the nut back and forth as i torched/PB-blasted it... i just threw that wrench on the nut to take the picture

which hose? the hard line with the wrench on it i managed to break free (thank god)

 

gotta love when its the wrong tool being used. i went to SEARS and bought the correct line wrench that i needed. not bad of a job to do. i also went to NISSAN and bought new tie rod ends. did this about 2-3 years ago.

 

I replaced one of the boots on My Rack and pinion on the drivers side, and I also replaced both tie rod ends thinking that that would eliminate the shaking on the driver side of the car, SOOoo annoying above 60mph! I could not get my steering wheel straight after that for nothing, and now it is crooked!

 

take it to the alignment shop

 

Could the shaking be one of your drive axles?