HELP! Steering Rack Assembly Replacement

[nessanater]

Here's the Tie rod. Will either of these gear oils be good?

[rer233]

just pull the tie rod down, start the nut on the joint end a couple threads (to protect them) and tap the nut gently with a hammer till the angle on the tie rod end corresponds with that of the steering knuckle, take the nut off, and attatch the end to the knuckle. new outer end joints can be a little stiff but will wear in. also, if it has a grease fitting, grease it after assembly. good luck (don't think you'll need it tho!)

[TURTCEL]

I would not recommend banging the tie rod in with the nut on it...damage can occur. There is definitely something off as far as matching up goes. Everything should bolt right up, less a little tie rod adjustment.

Did you set both parts next to eachother before installing the new rack to confirm they were the same? The tie rod ends look new, are they the same design as the stock tie rods?

I would suggest disconnecting the tie rod that is bolted up and turn the steering wheel back and forth a couple of times to align the rack evenly to both sides and see where you are at. Maybe the passenger tie rod is turned in too far not allowing the driver's side tie rod to not have enough adjustment to reach the knuckle. Both tie rods should be just about even on adjustment.

Take the old rack and lay it under the car to do a match up inspection. Also measure both racks from end to end to confirm same length. This seems like a small looked over issue that is causing the problem, I would imagine that you should be able to figure it out by taking the steps listed.

What is the gear oil for? The P.S. system should only take regular trans fluid. If the gear oil is for your P.S. it will be too thick and won't pump through the system easiy enough and can cause a lack of lubrication...causing damage to your components.

Did you refer to the FSM for the rack install procedure? Is the rack a reman or junk yard?

Good luck, keep us posted.

Peace

[rer233]

been working on cars professionally for 41 years now- i KNOW what i'm talking about! this is a no brainer. you shouldnt have to bang on the nut, just tap on it. check with your local front end/alignment shop to verify if you like.

[TURTCEL]

been working on cars professionally for 41 years now- i KNOW what i'm talking about! this is a no brainer. you shouldnt have to bang on the nut, just tap on it. check with your local front end/alignment shop to verify if you like.

No reason to take offense rer233, I never implied that you didn't know what you were talking about. I misunderstood what you were implying about tapping the tie rod end with the nut on it. I don't think that the tie rod thread alignment is off from the postings in refernce to the problem. Based off of the pics it looks like the total angle is off from the tie rod. Not sure if straightening the tie rod would get it in. I could be wrong though, and it is definitely worth trying if he hasn't already.

This website is full of opinionated and factual repair information...we are all able to take what we want and discard what we don't want. Whenever more than one member makes a post there is a chance that someone might take it as underminding their suggestion. Not meant to be the case.

I have also worked on cars for most of my life,my Dad is a mechanic and we have always done our own work since I was a little kid. Now I am an adult and still do mostly all my own work. So I would say that your suggestions as well as mine and everyones else's are viable to helping people out.

Good luck on fixing your steering problem man...everyone on this website that is posting replies to your question are only trying to help based off of what they know and understand about your situation via pics and explanation from your postings. If we were next to the car it would obviously be easier.

Peace

[xirdneh]

just a note
there is a right and left hand tie rod
if they are backwards they will not work?

[TURTCEL]

just a note
there is a right and left hand tie rod
if they are backwards they will not work?

They are definitely different from left to right so double check that for sure.

Another possibility is that there are manual steering tie rods that were installed and they are different from the power steering tie rods as well as different left to right. If you bought the tie rods from a parts store it is possible that they gave you the wrong ones. If the tie rods on your old rack are good and look different I would just switch them out so you can get the car aligned and on the road. You can deal with the wrong parts later if that is what you find happened.

Peace

[rer233]

Turtcel- no offense taken. maybe i should have been more clear in my description. on an outer tie rod end, the vertical part of the end moves with respect to the horizontal part- like a balljoint. in a well-used end the vertical part will more or less flop around easily, while in a new joint, the movement is much stiffer, sometimes requiring some gentle "persuasion" to get it to move to the proper angle for assembly. hope this helps!

[nessanater]

Hi All,
I appreciate all the input and variety of views and advice. I wish I could explain better what the problem is, but I'm just going to try a little of everything. The rack is new. The tie rid ends are from the old rack. I've tried turning the steering wheel to center, to far right and to far left, and it still won't line up. So maybe it is the new rack being a little tight?

The gear oil is for the transmission. Or whatever part of the car it is that the new CV axle I put in it connected to. I may have not mentioned that I put a new CV on the passenger side. There was a bunch of oil that leaked out of that hole. It just got new fluid a couple thousand mikes ago, but I don't know what kind the shop put in. It's not completely empty, but I'm not sure about mixing oils since I don't know, so I figure I should just put new fluid in.

[nessanater]

Oh, and I did lay the old and new rack next to each other and checked carefully that they were the same in every way.

[TURTCEL]

I'm stumped. Good luck.

You can't use a full-synth oil in the trans because of a few reasons listed by members in a few posts. I know it has something to do with the syncros and needing a thicker oil to all work smoothly. I am sure a member will post the link soon or check out the tranny posts under the 4wd repair questions. That is where you wil find it.

Peace

[nessanater]

So I tried wiggling stuff, checked that things were level, and then remembered... When I had taken the other tie rod end to the parts store they showed me how to check if it was still good or not. When they did that, the tapered bolt was only able to move when he used a tool to move it with great difficulty just a little. So, I went ahead and put the but on the end and hit it with a hammer to get it in line with the hole on the knuckle. It worked perfectly and slid right in once I got it lined up. Thank you re233 for the advice! I was not quite understanding what you and Turtcel were talking about before, but once I got it it totally made perfect sense. Yay!

[rer233]

good for you! glad to see it all worked out.

[TURTCEL]

It can be the smallest, most obvious, right in front of you things sometimes that can just stump you for a while. I have had plenty of Doh! moments on many a projects.

Glad you got your baby put back together. Off to the alignment shop,

Peace

[Petros]

any gear oil that has the minimum rating (or better) of the original can be used in the transmission, or any blend of any two types. No harm will come from mixing different brands of gear oil, and even mixing synthetic and non-synthetic is acceptable. My brand of gear oil are blends of mineral gear oil and synthetic, you can also mix it yourself and not create any issues, and save some costs too.

I would not recommend full synthetic oil in the trans, it is a very slippery oil and the trans was not designed for it, when I tried in mine it made the syncros act worn out (which work by friction), and it leaked out the seals. I have found a 50/50 blend, or less, of synthetic to regular gear oil works well.