Anyone else have a problem with the steering rack?

Actually the mounting – the bushings – eventually have the rubber coating flake out and go away – leaving the rack not so well mounted. Steering wanders even with everything aligned.

The V6 folks seem to have it worse (oil filter is just above and spilled oil helps the rubber breakdown)

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47634
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=45830&highlight=

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f196/steering-rack-bushing-replacement-50363/
http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/how-steering-rack-replacement-48537/

in order to change the bushings – you have to pull the steering rack – the V6 folks seem to be able to pull it out sideways – but I tried for a couple of hours and couldn’t make that work – ended up back at the Maintenance manual – drop lower arms, and the front axle…

not fun

I put in a NAPA rebuilt rack – the old rack didn’t seem bad just the bushings– but if I had to pull it apart- I wasn’t going to put the old unit back.

Re-aligned the front end (glad I got the Firestone lifetime alignment – bet they didn’t expect me to keep it this long.)

Steering is much better now.

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2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

Hi ATXKJ, I have just replaced the bushes on my steering rack. It can be done with the rack in position. Disconnect the steering linkage and you can twist and lift the rack just enough to pull the bushes out. Space is small but I managed it. Worth trying first?

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2005 KJ RENAGADE 2.8 CRD 6 SPEED NP242 FULLTIME 4X4

Another simple fix that will get you down the road without having to remove the rack is to install some heavy duty hard rubber washers or bushings on top of the existing mounting bushings of the rack and pinion under the two mounting bolts.
There is enough room and movement to R&R the mounting bolts with the rack in place and install some pads on top that will stop the side to side movement when the steering wheel is turned. This tightened mine up completely! Been running like that for well over a year now...
I believe I read about this trick on this forum a few years ago and it works??? Better than having to pull the whole R&P out just to replace two little old bushings!!!

Note: If you take the front apart for any reason, timing belt, etc... you can replace the bushings while you have everything apart and out of the way as they can then be accessed from the top side...

I used some real hard rubber KC Daylighter fog light mounting pads that I had in stock, part no. KC-3024
like this:

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lacabrera
I tried - on Jayme's how-to posting - there was a 'rotate forward' and I could not get enough space to move that
maybe 3/4-1" max.

Since you were able to accomplish that - I must have missed something - probably a little out of position - kept bumping into hard lines.


WW - that was phxtoad's writeup - and I seriously looked at it - however at the end of his thread - he ended up changing out the entire rack a few months later. I figured I only wanted to do this once.

although your KC mounting pads may be a lot more solid than his rubber washers from Lowe's

if I could have changed the entire bushing - I think it would last longer. The flat spacer would cushion the vertical movement - which is probably 80-90% of the problem - but the shaft of the bushing also has ~ 1/8" rubber that cushions the horizontal movement - on mine that was totally gone on one side and 1/2 gone on the other.

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2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

Maybe because mine is RHD there is more room to turn the rack? I will say it was very difficult and I used wooden wedges to hold the rack away from the cross member and pull down on the steering box part to gain enough room to push out the bushes. I did google it before, and I did come across a youtube clip from a guy in the US that also done the same.

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2005 KJ RENAGADE 2.8 CRD 6 SPEED NP242 FULLTIME 4X4