The steering rack replacement job is complete, and wow what a difference. The steering feel is so much better now. It's clear the original rack had developed a slight binding that I had just gotten use to. It never leaked, but one symptom that pointed to a problem was the fluid would turn dark and smell bad pretty quickly after a fluid flush. The trigger to go ahead and swap the rack began with a wheel shimmy. True to form, a forum search revealed the most likely cause, inner tie rod ends. I took the front wheels off and held the brake disk and 9 and 3 o'clock to do a wiggle test. There was obvious play in the left side inner rod end; and it doesn't take much play here to cause a problem. One way to proceed was to just change out the inner rod ends. Parts prices for those vary from under $10 each for the lower end like Raybestos Service Grade up to around $26 each for Raybestos Pro Grade or Motorcraft. I'd also have needed to buy the Lisle inner Tie Rod Tool for around $55. Adding those dollars up made plan B seem like a better option...replace the whole rack. All of the remanufactured racks that I found come with new inner tie rod ends and boots. I went with a TRW remanufactured rack from Rock Auto. It's currently on Wholesaler closeout for $69.99, TRW PN 15780R, and it requires no core charge. That's great because core return shipping something like that would otherwise eat up any savings from dealing with Rockauto. This is a deal imho.
The rack looked great when received, and it is an exact match with the Ford PN cast into my original rack. I suppose this is a SLO rack, the description says "exc SHO", but you can ignore that. I did not bother checking for the little turn limit bumpers that are installed on the original SHO racks, but said to be missing from the SLO racks. I have not noticed any wheel well rubbing.
The FSM procedure was right on for the removal and installation. Despite some posts here to the contrary, the FSM is correct and there is no need to lower the subframe to swap the rack, at least on the MTX. It does take some manipulation. You have to push the input shaft piece up into vehicle to lift the mounting bolts out of the holes. then you need to lower and rotate the rack so the input shaft will pass between brake booster and the floorpan. Then you wiggle it out of the LH fender apron opening. The messy part of the job was flushing out the lines, which is important. I changed the rubber hose on the return line, reusing the factory metal end piece. There is a double ridge formed into the line that secures the factory crimp; be careful not to mess that up when cutting off the old crimp. It's difficult, but I pushed the rubber line up onto that double ridge enough so I could get a clamp there. there is nothing else to hold the rubber hose onto the metal tubing, except friction. I added a second clamp on the smooth part. The pressure line was new from when I replaced the PS pump, so only a new teflon seal was needed. New teflon seals come with the rack. They need to be stretched out to fit per the instructions, a pain. You'll see from my earlier post there is a little flow regulator in the pressure side of the original rack that is not included with the new rack. Area91 said he moves them over, so I followed his lead and did the same. The mounting bolts also need to be moved over. They are splined into the casting, so don't try to turn them out. I pressed them out with my vise, but I suppose a hammer would work too. Grease them well before inserting into the new rack to prevent steel to aluminum corrosion.
The heat shield needed some repair. Aluminum tape fixed it up like new. I used plastic license plate bolts to reattach it to the subframe instead of those PITA push pins. The new rack slides in pretty much the same way the old one slides out. You might want to tape the ends of the bolts if your subframe is nicely painted and you don't want it scratched up. Inside the car, one thing I noticed when removing the old rack was the upper intermediate shaft bolt was torqued to the lower end of the spec., and it seemed like there was some play there. When I put it back, I did something I rarely do. I actually torqued it 5 lb-ft over the spec.; it's a big bolt and it can take it. No play there now.
One mod I did was to add a 3/8" Magnefine filter in the PS return line to catch any crap that might otherwise circulate. I located it just above the PS cooler; there is plenty of open space for it. I refilled the system with the specified Type F ATX fluid, I selected Castrol. Since I had counted the turns when removing the outer tie rod ends, it was easy to get them back on the same as they were. Alignment felt pretty good on the test drive, but of course I'll have it checked. All in all, a very worthwhile project.
The rack looked great when received, and it is an exact match with the Ford PN cast into my original rack. I suppose this is a SLO rack, the description says "exc SHO", but you can ignore that. I did not bother checking for the little turn limit bumpers that are installed on the original SHO racks, but said to be missing from the SLO racks. I have not noticed any wheel well rubbing.
The FSM procedure was right on for the removal and installation. Despite some posts here to the contrary, the FSM is correct and there is no need to lower the subframe to swap the rack, at least on the MTX. It does take some manipulation. You have to push the input shaft piece up into vehicle to lift the mounting bolts out of the holes. then you need to lower and rotate the rack so the input shaft will pass between brake booster and the floorpan. Then you wiggle it out of the LH fender apron opening. The messy part of the job was flushing out the lines, which is important. I changed the rubber hose on the return line, reusing the factory metal end piece. There is a double ridge formed into the line that secures the factory crimp; be careful not to mess that up when cutting off the old crimp. It's difficult, but I pushed the rubber line up onto that double ridge enough so I could get a clamp there. there is nothing else to hold the rubber hose onto the metal tubing, except friction. I added a second clamp on the smooth part. The pressure line was new from when I replaced the PS pump, so only a new teflon seal was needed. New teflon seals come with the rack. They need to be stretched out to fit per the instructions, a pain. You'll see from my earlier post there is a little flow regulator in the pressure side of the original rack that is not included with the new rack. Area91 said he moves them over, so I followed his lead and did the same. The mounting bolts also need to be moved over. They are splined into the casting, so don't try to turn them out. I pressed them out with my vise, but I suppose a hammer would work too. Grease them well before inserting into the new rack to prevent steel to aluminum corrosion.
The heat shield needed some repair. Aluminum tape fixed it up like new. I used plastic license plate bolts to reattach it to the subframe instead of those PITA push pins. The new rack slides in pretty much the same way the old one slides out. You might want to tape the ends of the bolts if your subframe is nicely painted and you don't want it scratched up. Inside the car, one thing I noticed when removing the old rack was the upper intermediate shaft bolt was torqued to the lower end of the spec., and it seemed like there was some play there. When I put it back, I did something I rarely do. I actually torqued it 5 lb-ft over the spec.; it's a big bolt and it can take it. No play there now.
One mod I did was to add a 3/8" Magnefine filter in the PS return line to catch any crap that might otherwise circulate. I located it just above the PS cooler; there is plenty of open space for it. I refilled the system with the specified Type F ATX fluid, I selected Castrol. Since I had counted the turns when removing the outer tie rod ends, it was easy to get them back on the same as they were. Alignment felt pretty good on the test drive, but of course I'll have it checked. All in all, a very worthwhile project.
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