DIY steering rack replacement

[frustrated]

G'day,

Having just replaced the steering rack in my VT series 1, I thought I would give some words of advice to anyone contemplating the job.

I bought a reconditioned rack, and followed the instructions in the Gregory's manual.

It is worth spending some time carefully supporting the front of the car off the ground with chassis stands so you have plenty of safe access.

Although you only have to undo 7 nuts to get the rack out, it is a real bastard of a job to get to at least two of them: these are the ones that join the power steering hydraulic lines to the steering gear. These two nuts are different sizes, the bottom one is 16mm (not sure about the top, but it is bigger). Undo the top one first and push it back along the hydraulic line, that improves the access to the bottom nut. It took me about 2 hours and a lot of swearing to remove both nuts! I could only find two positions where I could get an open-ended spanner onto the lower nut, and each position only allowed me to turn the nut about 1/32nd of a turn if that. The steering racks for other model Commodores are a bit different, so you may have more luck.

The only other problem was removing the tie rods from the steering knuckles. I used a fork type "puller", and while it worked, it destroyed the rubber boots and one of the nylon spacers. In any case, I couldn't remove one of the tie rod ends from the tie rod (it was seized on), so I just decided to install two new tie rod ends ($27 each from Auto One). The new tie rod ends didn't have the nylon spacer - it doesn't appear to be necessary.

Reinstalling was straightforward. Do up the bottom nut on the hydraulic lines first, then the top.

All in all, about 6 hours of hard work to save maybe $350. Next time I could probably halve the time, but a lot depends on how easily those nuts come off.

After having the wheels aligned, the car is steering like new and the various "clunks" from the front end have vanished.

 

[jazza15]

Great write up mate, its good to see people telling us these things that they don't tell us in workshop manuals, it really helps.
I heard that you have to depressurise the power steering and then re-pressurise the power steering. Is this true? or is it just a bolt off bolt in job (and then re-align)?
The hieght of my experience with steering racks is that i replaced my tie rod end - woo what an arvo!

 

[Swordsy]

I bought a tie rod end puller for about $30, makes them a heap easier to get off and doesn't damage the rubber.

 

[greenacc]

Jazza , I Never heard of de-pressurising the steering ... haven't done it myself yet tho. I guess you will find out when you undo the first pressure line ey !!:thumbsup:

Frustrated , Good job, I simple write up like that would give me the confidence to do this myself when the time comes ... which i think will be pretty soon.

 

[frustrated]

I heard that you have to depressurise the power steering and then re-pressurise the power steering. Is this true?

Well, the power steering isn't pressurised unless the engine is running to turn the power steering pump. With the engine off, you can undo the hydraulic lines and the fluid just drips out (into a container you carefully put underneath the car ). In fact, it may be worth siphoning the power steering fluid out of the filling reservoir before you start, since it is all going to drop out of the open lines anyway.

With the new unit installed, and the hydraulic lines tightened up, you simply fill the reservoir and move the steering wheel from lock to lock for a while until the bubbles stop coming up. It is explained in the Gregory's manual. It is much easier than bleeding brakes.

Incidentally, I have previously disassembled and replaced the seals on the power steering pump. This is something that Gregory's says is not a "worthwhile repair proposition for the home mechanic", but it is actually fairly straightforward. The only difficulty is getting the snap ring out, and putting it back in properly when you have finished.

 

[frustrated]

Oh, a bit of advice that the chap that sold me the rack gave me: don't try to bend the hydraulic lines out of the way. Just push them gently straight back away from the steering gear once you have the nuts off. And when you install the new rack, gently put the lines in (with a new o-ring on each), and the nuts will then do up without any forcing. This is definitely an operation where force is not required (unlike the tie rod ends!).

And don't undo the wrong lines: there are another couple that are attached to the rack. These have easily accessible nuts, just leave them alone. The ones that you want are the inaccessible bastards!

 

[Morton]

For anyone who's struggling to get a tie rod end out of the steering knuckle, bash the knuckle left and right and back and forth with a large mallet for a while. Then one hard knock from the top should send it on its way

 

[greenacc]

I'm replacing my rack tomorrow, got a reco rack ready to go in.
Do u need any other spares than 2 new o rings ? And what type of spanner do you need for the hydraulic lines ? Is it just a regular one or a pipe spanner ... those ones that look like a ring spanner with a slot cut out ?

 

[frustrated]

Greenacc - no other spares needed, unless you damage something. A pipe spanner could be quite helpful, since it gives you more options in starting position. I just used a regular open-ended spanner. It could be that the VS has different positioning of the hydraulic lines, so it might be easier or harder than my VT.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!

 

[greenacc]

Ah well, I fitted a reco steering rack and power steer pump today. They both fitted up OK but there is a problem. The steering is not self centreing any more, it's completely aimless. The wheel alignment is also out, but does this sound like there's a problem with my clock spring ?
Also, how do they adjust Toe in and out when you get a wheel alignment ? Do they have to knock the tie rod end out of the knuckle and turn it, or can they just crack the lock nut and turn the tie rod ?