rack is fun

put car on jack stands, remove both wheels

pop both tie rods off. and the sway bar end links.

on the driver side you have the the steering box area where the steering column connects to the rack, its a 11 mm bolt, you need about 12 inches worth of extensions to get to it. lift the boot up and you will see it.

next you want to put a jack under the back part of the sub frame, loosen the 2 frame bolts about 2 inches, then lower the jack slowly till your almost at the bolts, don't let it hang on the bolts. let the jack hold it.

now remove the sway bar bushing bolts on both sides, you can remove the bar or slide it up out of the way.

there are 2 power steering pump lines that bolt into the rack on the driver side/side of the steering box part. 2, 18 mm nuts. remove them. you can get to them from under the driver side of the car. have a small pail or something to catch the small amount of fluid that will come out of the lines and rack when you take these lines off.

you now have the 2 nuts and bolts that hold the rack to the sub frame to get out.

and now is the fun part, you want to take it out the driver side wheel well, twisting action helps some, i think it was clock wise.

with your wheels straight the bolt for the steering gear is facing the driver side, so just lock you steering wheel and leave it locked, if you turn it round and round you WILL break the clock spring in the steering wheel.

match up the steering gear on the new rack to the one you took out as best as you can, that way when you try to get the steering shaft back on the rack it will be close to where it was when you locked the wheel. best to have a friend twist the wheel a bit side to side as you try to get it back on the new rack, this can be about the hardest part for some people. i had no problem at all, matched the new one up and it slid on the rack.


the thing that makes this job suck is, it's just working in tight places. it took me about 4 hours to do start to finish, like tools cleaned and put away type done.

im sure i could do it faster should a second time happen.