Steering rack removal

[HoldenFan09]

Hey fella's

Im looking to rebuild the steering rack on my seriesII 2000 model VT as it dropped its guts in the past few days. Has any body been through this and could give me any advise? (removal and replacing it on the car)

I have the seal kit for it, just unsure how to go about removing the rack itself.

cheers matt

[VRSS]

it pretty easy, first take the split pins out of the tie rod ends, undo the nuts till they're only on there a couple of threads, smash with a hammer till the tie rod end comes loose, and take the nut off, repeat on other side, undo the nut on the bolt going through the steering collumn and pull the collumn off the rack, undo the 2 power steering lines, the 2 19mm bolts going through the crossmember and pull the rack out

[jazza15]

A lot of special tools are required when rebuilding the rack. With basic tools I couldn't even open it up to have a look inside (in my old rack). I got a new one for $200, but have a look on eBay because you can get a reco one for $250 ish which I'm sure you have seen.
As for the removal, it is a pretty straight forward job. It helps if you have the wheels off I guess and plenty of room to move around (on a garage crawler even).
Flare nut spanners are a good idea when working with hydraulics. There are two high pressure hoses that you will have to undo and do up tighten again (AFTER REPLACING THE O RINGS, WHICH I DIDN'T DO AND SURE ENOUGH A FEW WEEKS LATER IT WAS SUDDENLY GUSHING OUT PS FLUID EVERYWHERE AND I WAS BACK UNDER THERE REPLACING THOSE O RINGS THAT I GOT IN A PACK OF LIKE 20 FOR $3)
d/c the rack from the steering shaft is a bit tricky as it is high up, but not that hard to do s you will be sweet with that as well as unbolting the rack.
I don't know if you have dealt with tie rod ends before, but they sometime need a lot of persuasion to get out, a rubber mellet will come in handy for this. There are a few techniques out there for getting them out (ie. hitting the side, the top etc.) but as long as you get them out without damaging them, I guess that's sweet.
Make sure that you take the time to bleed the PS system properly once you are done, as well as check for any leaks while you are at it.
I got mine done in less than a day with a mate, so it shouldn't be too much of an epic job.
good luck with it