edals
Well-Known Member
Hi guys.
This is a how to on replacing your steering rack in your VT2- VY, may be similar to other models.
I am not responsible for anything you try yourself, you have been warned. Steering it turns out is super important! If you're not confident, please leave it to a professional.
So your steering rack is old, leaking, ripped boots etc, its replacement time !
Jump on eBay and find power steering rack replacements. I purchase mine with tie rod ends for $300 delivered no exchange. Also purchase 2L of Dex III fluid. Totalling around $320. Local shop wanted $600 for this job. I didn't feel like handing over that much cash.
Tools required.
Torque wrench 1/2 & 1/4 inch.
Rattle gun or arms of steel.
Sockets, breaker bars.
Jacks and stands. Safety please !
Power steering fluid Dex III.
Hammer
Line/pipe spanners 16 & 19mm. Trust me this will make things easier, the 12 point kind works best as you have about 30 degrees of turning space.
Blue loctit.
Spanish nut lathe. (Big shifter)
Rags for general cleaning.
Pry bars.
Drain pan.
Steering rack replacement.
Outer tie rod ends. Don't cheap out just do it all at once !
Pressure line o rings. Should come with a replacement rack.
Wheel alignment afterwards ASAP.
Ok, here we go.
Ensure the car is on a flat and level surface, car in park and hand brake on, chock the rear wheels, engage the steering lock, if you have no steering lock, move the seat all the way forward and loop the seatbelt through it and lock it in place. If you don't, when the rack is removed you may turn it with out even knowing, this will create too many turns one way and will damage the clock spring.
Loosen front wheel nuts.
Raise the car with jack and place on safety stands. This is where I stick my stands right under the frame.
Remove wheel nuts, remove both front tyres, place them under the car sills as a extra safety precaution !
Place drain pan under the pressure lines, Even a towel also under the pan to avoid drips on the driveway.
First, let's disconnect the 2 pressure lines, this after all is the hardest part of the entire job, can't do this then no point continuing on.
Start by undoing the 16mm high pressure line via the driver side wheel well here. Fluid will poor out ! You may require to use the 2 spanner method to undo the line
Now pull it out of the rack, then towards you and un hook it from the low pressure line, tuck it up out of the way.
Now undo the 19mm low pressure line here, you may require to use the 2 spanner method, now move to the front of the car and undo this screw, this will give you more freedom moving the low pressure line as its a metal line and has no movement. Now Pull it out of the rack and allow fluid to drain.
Next we need to disconnect the tie rod ends found here. Straighten out the split pin, and pull it out, or just keep bending them up and down till they break then pull it out.
Undo the nut from the tie rod.
Remove the tie rod from the steering knuckle, I am replacing the outer tie rods also. You can either bash the top of the tie rod through the hole if you are replacing them, or bash the side of the steering knuckle to get the tie rod out if you want to save them, be sure to undo the locking nut first. If you don't want to bash the knuckle you may purchase a tie rod puller but these generally damage the rubber boots anyway and need to replace the tie rod end.
The steering should be free from the steering knuckles on both sides.
Next step is to undo the steering shaft, undo the nut and pull out the bolt. You will see it's a special butterfly locking type of bolt.
Time to remove the 2 big bolts holding the rack in, using a 19mm for the bolt and 18mm for the nut. Undo and pull out the bolts showed here on both sides. These can be tight, I used my rattle gun cause I have no strength. On the driver side, you will need a 18mm spanner as a socket will not fit due to the steering input of the rack is over the nut.
Finally, we can pull the rack backwards from the frame mounts, as you pull it backwards it should basically fall out of the frame mounts and pull out of the steering shaft. Use a pry bar if it seems a bit stuck in there like so.
Congratulations, you have successfully removed the steering rack.
Now just reverse the order in what you did.
Joking, I'm not that cruel.
Clean up the nuts and bolts with some brake clean to be oil free. A wire wheel would be a good idea also.
Clean up the steering rack mounts, this is important as you will no doubt find rocks etc.
Compare the new steering rack, ensure they are the same ! For some reason my new rack had a plastic spacer in the high pressure line, the old one did not so I removed it as the pressure line would not screw in.
Depending on your new steering rack, it may not have the same length inner tie rods as your GM rack. Thankfully mine did, we need to install the new tie rod ends. Count the threads on the old rack to where the locking nut is.
On the new rack, install the new locking nut on the new rack the same amount of threads like so. Perform this step the same way on the other side.
If your rack appears to have different length inner tie rods. Measure the length to get it close enough, use the edge of a table or similar, Close enough will do for now, this will be good enough to get to the closest wheel alignment shop, if you're more than 50km away take more time to get it close as possible.
Thread on your new tie rod ends like so.
Have the racks side by side like so, try to line them up together, position the flat spot of the steering input shaft to the same position as the old rack, check the distance at both ends to ensure its the same. We don't want it a turn out, or when you install into the car, your steering wheel will be a full turn out, so when you turn with the wheel you will shred the internal clock spring to bits !
Now, time to get this back into the car, here comes another hard part. May be easier if you have better upper body strength.
While under the car, on your back, steering rack on your chest, lift into position, but at the same time you have to try to keep the steering shaft up and out of the way, it loves to try to get stuck between the body. Now we can slide the steering shaft onto the input shaft. You may experience different and may have to slide the shaft onto the input shaft before fully seating the rack into the mounts. I had to do that on my VY but not my VX.
Now the rack is resting in place. Let's mount this beauty in !
Line up the mounting holes to the rack, if you find its out, wiggle the passenger side rack mount in or out to line up.
Insert the 2 mounting bolts.
Apply blue loctite to the threads on the bolts.
Attach the nuts. Tighten to 70-85nm. I went the full 85nm.
Install the steering shaft locking bolt. Apply loctite to thread, reinstall the nut. Tighten to 23-30nm, I went 28nm.
Yes Same image i forgot to take another photo.
Now we can get out from under the car.
Clean the pressure lines with some brake clean or similar.
Install new o rings onto the pressure lines, lube them up with some new fluid.
Install the far 19mm pressure line, these only need to be snug, do not over tighten them ! Let the o ring do the work !
Install the 16mm pressure line, ensure to re hook it onto the other pressure line like so.
Again, only snug it up.
Now we can install the rack back onto the steering knuckles. Double check your thread count again, they may have moved while mounting the rack into place. Line up the hole and push the tie rod end back up into it. Being new tie rod ends they will be stiff, so may need to move it around to line up with the hole. Move the steering knuckle also to help line and wiggle it in.
You could also install the tie rods at this point rather than before, but I liked having both racks side by side to measure the lengths.
Install the new nut, tighten to 50-85nm. I went with 65nm as I thought these would likely round off or snap at 85nm. Tighten a bit more if the hole does not quite line up for the split pin. These tie rods seem to have the hole higher then where the nut sits, but after all it's only to stop the nut completely undoing its self, you will notice loose steering if it's undone.
Install new split pin, bent it around the new nut.
Now tighten the lock nut against the tie rod ends here, don't go nuts, the wheel alignment guys will undo this again. I used a big shifter for this.
Reinstall the wheels onto the car. Don't lower the car yet.
Time to refill the power steering, fill up the reserve tank all the way full. There's going to be lots of air in the system. Let it sit for a while and see if it will gravity bleed for a bit, top up as required.
Let's now unlock the steering wheel, turn the wheel slowly side to side a few times to try to purge out some more air. Mine didn't want too, that's ok though.
Install the cap, trust me. If you leave it off, once air ruptures out of the system, fluid will spray out of the tank and onto everything !
Start the car and turn it straight off again, the fluid will have been sucked all through almost instantly. Top up and repeat until the fluid remains steady after a few starts. Please note you will hear a grinding sound from the power steering pump due to air in the system, don't worry. The fluid will appear foamy as well.
Once fluid is more stable, give the car 15 mins to help trapped air settle and rise to the top.
Top up the fluid again and start the car while watching the fluid level, repeat this process giving it 15 min breaks in between starts. This takes the longest amount of time.
Now let's turn the wheels side to side with car running a few times to purge even more air out of the system. Again watching the fluid level. Once fluid level is stable once again, allow some more time for air and all the bubbles in the fluid to disappear.
Top up again of required. You may notice a bit of shudder through the system due to air !
Try not to leave the car running too long or it will over flow with foam.
Jack up the car and remove the safety stands, lower the car back down.
Tighten the wheel nuts ! torqued down to 110nm in a triangle pattern for even pressure. I like to use a torque wrench so if my wife gets a flat tyre she may have a chance of undoing them.
Check fluid on a level surface. Top up if required.
Finally, once the fluid has settled down and correct, don't worry if it's a bit over the lines. You have triple checked everything ! Seriously it's steering, triple check everything !
Time for a drive. Start the car, while on your drive way, move around a bit small turns etc, once you're happy, time for a test drive. I strongly suggest a slow start and increase your speed, and don't go too far from home, suggest to also carry some fluid in the car. Also a abs lock up would be a good idea to test every is tight ! Be sure the street is quiet and no one is behind you !
Word of warning, the steering will at first feel rough as hell. This is due to the very stiff ball joints, so for around 10-20kms it will be rough through the steering until the ball joints free up a bit.
Finally, once your happy with the job, straight to a tyre place ASAP, or risk chewing out the front tyres extremely fast ! Also ask them to check over the rack, they should be able to spot things, thankfully they said mine was perfect and drove excellent. One side was out by 6mm and the other side out 16mm.
Also over the next few days, check the fluid level and check for leaks ! All dry here.
I hope you find this how to helpful, if I may say again, I hold no responsibility to anything you do ! If you don't feel confident, please leave it to a professional.
Feed back and tips are welcome.
Thanks.
Torque Specs.
This is a how to on replacing your steering rack in your VT2- VY, may be similar to other models.
I am not responsible for anything you try yourself, you have been warned. Steering it turns out is super important! If you're not confident, please leave it to a professional.
So your steering rack is old, leaking, ripped boots etc, its replacement time !
Jump on eBay and find power steering rack replacements. I purchase mine with tie rod ends for $300 delivered no exchange. Also purchase 2L of Dex III fluid. Totalling around $320. Local shop wanted $600 for this job. I didn't feel like handing over that much cash.
Tools required.
Torque wrench 1/2 & 1/4 inch.
Rattle gun or arms of steel.
Sockets, breaker bars.
Jacks and stands. Safety please !
Power steering fluid Dex III.
Hammer
Line/pipe spanners 16 & 19mm. Trust me this will make things easier, the 12 point kind works best as you have about 30 degrees of turning space.
Blue loctit.
Spanish nut lathe. (Big shifter)
Rags for general cleaning.
Pry bars.
Drain pan.
Steering rack replacement.
Outer tie rod ends. Don't cheap out just do it all at once !
Pressure line o rings. Should come with a replacement rack.
Wheel alignment afterwards ASAP.
Ok, here we go.
Ensure the car is on a flat and level surface, car in park and hand brake on, chock the rear wheels, engage the steering lock, if you have no steering lock, move the seat all the way forward and loop the seatbelt through it and lock it in place. If you don't, when the rack is removed you may turn it with out even knowing, this will create too many turns one way and will damage the clock spring.
Loosen front wheel nuts.
Raise the car with jack and place on safety stands. This is where I stick my stands right under the frame.
Remove wheel nuts, remove both front tyres, place them under the car sills as a extra safety precaution !
Place drain pan under the pressure lines, Even a towel also under the pan to avoid drips on the driveway.
First, let's disconnect the 2 pressure lines, this after all is the hardest part of the entire job, can't do this then no point continuing on.
Start by undoing the 16mm high pressure line via the driver side wheel well here. Fluid will poor out ! You may require to use the 2 spanner method to undo the line
Now pull it out of the rack, then towards you and un hook it from the low pressure line, tuck it up out of the way.
Now undo the 19mm low pressure line here, you may require to use the 2 spanner method, now move to the front of the car and undo this screw, this will give you more freedom moving the low pressure line as its a metal line and has no movement. Now Pull it out of the rack and allow fluid to drain.
Next we need to disconnect the tie rod ends found here. Straighten out the split pin, and pull it out, or just keep bending them up and down till they break then pull it out.
Undo the nut from the tie rod.
Remove the tie rod from the steering knuckle, I am replacing the outer tie rods also. You can either bash the top of the tie rod through the hole if you are replacing them, or bash the side of the steering knuckle to get the tie rod out if you want to save them, be sure to undo the locking nut first. If you don't want to bash the knuckle you may purchase a tie rod puller but these generally damage the rubber boots anyway and need to replace the tie rod end.
The steering should be free from the steering knuckles on both sides.
Next step is to undo the steering shaft, undo the nut and pull out the bolt. You will see it's a special butterfly locking type of bolt.
Time to remove the 2 big bolts holding the rack in, using a 19mm for the bolt and 18mm for the nut. Undo and pull out the bolts showed here on both sides. These can be tight, I used my rattle gun cause I have no strength. On the driver side, you will need a 18mm spanner as a socket will not fit due to the steering input of the rack is over the nut.
Finally, we can pull the rack backwards from the frame mounts, as you pull it backwards it should basically fall out of the frame mounts and pull out of the steering shaft. Use a pry bar if it seems a bit stuck in there like so.
Congratulations, you have successfully removed the steering rack.
Now just reverse the order in what you did.
Joking, I'm not that cruel.
Clean up the nuts and bolts with some brake clean to be oil free. A wire wheel would be a good idea also.
Clean up the steering rack mounts, this is important as you will no doubt find rocks etc.
Compare the new steering rack, ensure they are the same ! For some reason my new rack had a plastic spacer in the high pressure line, the old one did not so I removed it as the pressure line would not screw in.
Depending on your new steering rack, it may not have the same length inner tie rods as your GM rack. Thankfully mine did, we need to install the new tie rod ends. Count the threads on the old rack to where the locking nut is.
On the new rack, install the new locking nut on the new rack the same amount of threads like so. Perform this step the same way on the other side.
If your rack appears to have different length inner tie rods. Measure the length to get it close enough, use the edge of a table or similar, Close enough will do for now, this will be good enough to get to the closest wheel alignment shop, if you're more than 50km away take more time to get it close as possible.
Thread on your new tie rod ends like so.
Have the racks side by side like so, try to line them up together, position the flat spot of the steering input shaft to the same position as the old rack, check the distance at both ends to ensure its the same. We don't want it a turn out, or when you install into the car, your steering wheel will be a full turn out, so when you turn with the wheel you will shred the internal clock spring to bits !
Now, time to get this back into the car, here comes another hard part. May be easier if you have better upper body strength.
While under the car, on your back, steering rack on your chest, lift into position, but at the same time you have to try to keep the steering shaft up and out of the way, it loves to try to get stuck between the body. Now we can slide the steering shaft onto the input shaft. You may experience different and may have to slide the shaft onto the input shaft before fully seating the rack into the mounts. I had to do that on my VY but not my VX.
Now the rack is resting in place. Let's mount this beauty in !
Line up the mounting holes to the rack, if you find its out, wiggle the passenger side rack mount in or out to line up.
Insert the 2 mounting bolts.
Apply blue loctite to the threads on the bolts.
Attach the nuts. Tighten to 70-85nm. I went the full 85nm.
Install the steering shaft locking bolt. Apply loctite to thread, reinstall the nut. Tighten to 23-30nm, I went 28nm.
Yes Same image i forgot to take another photo.
Now we can get out from under the car.
Clean the pressure lines with some brake clean or similar.
Install new o rings onto the pressure lines, lube them up with some new fluid.
Install the far 19mm pressure line, these only need to be snug, do not over tighten them ! Let the o ring do the work !
Install the 16mm pressure line, ensure to re hook it onto the other pressure line like so.
Again, only snug it up.
Now we can install the rack back onto the steering knuckles. Double check your thread count again, they may have moved while mounting the rack into place. Line up the hole and push the tie rod end back up into it. Being new tie rod ends they will be stiff, so may need to move it around to line up with the hole. Move the steering knuckle also to help line and wiggle it in.
You could also install the tie rods at this point rather than before, but I liked having both racks side by side to measure the lengths.
Install the new nut, tighten to 50-85nm. I went with 65nm as I thought these would likely round off or snap at 85nm. Tighten a bit more if the hole does not quite line up for the split pin. These tie rods seem to have the hole higher then where the nut sits, but after all it's only to stop the nut completely undoing its self, you will notice loose steering if it's undone.
Install new split pin, bent it around the new nut.
Now tighten the lock nut against the tie rod ends here, don't go nuts, the wheel alignment guys will undo this again. I used a big shifter for this.
Reinstall the wheels onto the car. Don't lower the car yet.
Time to refill the power steering, fill up the reserve tank all the way full. There's going to be lots of air in the system. Let it sit for a while and see if it will gravity bleed for a bit, top up as required.
Let's now unlock the steering wheel, turn the wheel slowly side to side a few times to try to purge out some more air. Mine didn't want too, that's ok though.
Install the cap, trust me. If you leave it off, once air ruptures out of the system, fluid will spray out of the tank and onto everything !
Start the car and turn it straight off again, the fluid will have been sucked all through almost instantly. Top up and repeat until the fluid remains steady after a few starts. Please note you will hear a grinding sound from the power steering pump due to air in the system, don't worry. The fluid will appear foamy as well.
Once fluid is more stable, give the car 15 mins to help trapped air settle and rise to the top.
Top up the fluid again and start the car while watching the fluid level, repeat this process giving it 15 min breaks in between starts. This takes the longest amount of time.
Now let's turn the wheels side to side with car running a few times to purge even more air out of the system. Again watching the fluid level. Once fluid level is stable once again, allow some more time for air and all the bubbles in the fluid to disappear.
Top up again of required. You may notice a bit of shudder through the system due to air !
Try not to leave the car running too long or it will over flow with foam.
Jack up the car and remove the safety stands, lower the car back down.
Tighten the wheel nuts ! torqued down to 110nm in a triangle pattern for even pressure. I like to use a torque wrench so if my wife gets a flat tyre she may have a chance of undoing them.
Check fluid on a level surface. Top up if required.
Finally, once the fluid has settled down and correct, don't worry if it's a bit over the lines. You have triple checked everything ! Seriously it's steering, triple check everything !
Time for a drive. Start the car, while on your drive way, move around a bit small turns etc, once you're happy, time for a test drive. I strongly suggest a slow start and increase your speed, and don't go too far from home, suggest to also carry some fluid in the car. Also a abs lock up would be a good idea to test every is tight ! Be sure the street is quiet and no one is behind you !
Word of warning, the steering will at first feel rough as hell. This is due to the very stiff ball joints, so for around 10-20kms it will be rough through the steering until the ball joints free up a bit.
Finally, once your happy with the job, straight to a tyre place ASAP, or risk chewing out the front tyres extremely fast ! Also ask them to check over the rack, they should be able to spot things, thankfully they said mine was perfect and drove excellent. One side was out by 6mm and the other side out 16mm.
Also over the next few days, check the fluid level and check for leaks ! All dry here.
I hope you find this how to helpful, if I may say again, I hold no responsibility to anything you do ! If you don't feel confident, please leave it to a professional.
Feed back and tips are welcome.
Thanks.
Torque Specs.
Last edited:
