Rack and Pinion replacement, or check your right side boot

[Mike W.]

Pulling into Elko Nevada last summer on vacation I heard the distinctive sound of grrrrrnnaaagggee, or something like that. The sound of a power steering pump sucking air and trying to compress it instead of fluid. Easy short term fix, buy a quart of ATF and put some in, but not a good sign. Got home, jacked it up, inspected and found a torn rack boot and nice and wet in the vicinity. Dripping wet. Since I tend to procrastinate and it's mostly the vacationmobile, I didn't do much for a while. Looked at the local Pick and Pull and they had 3 compatible trucks. Each with a torn boot on the passenger side, same as mine, and each not quite wet like mine, but definitely damp. Ended up buying a Chinesium one, new, off Amazon for a bit over $200. There was one rebuilt one from a outfit that doesn't seem to have the best reputation for almost a hundred more, and everyplace else I looked was double or more. I made sure this was supposed to be shipped from the US and sure enough it arrived, I think it was, a day before it was due to be shipped. Poorly packaged, but the threads on the tierod sticking out didn't bind the nut, so I declared it ok.

Installation. There are marks on the original unit where you are supposed to center it. Not so on aftermarket replacement. I spent hours screwing around with that. Finally went full right, full left, split the difference and crossed my fingers. Counted the turns on the tierods and matched it on the new. I had massive toe out. I adjusted everything as close as I could, both sides evenly, and I couldn't believe it, the steering wheel is perfectly straight. Well, maybe an eighth or a quarter of an inch off center, or maybe not, it's really close if not perfect. There is a hydraulic hard line that isn't bent right and prevents installation of the oil filter drain shield. I spent a good amount of time ***** with that thing too before deciding to go with slightly messier oil changes.

Overall it was actually much easier than I feared. The lack of a center point and poorly bent line took too much time, but other than that it went quite smoothly, to my surprise. Reused the rack mounts as they still seemed ok and weren't oil soaked and mushy. No issues with that bizarre 90 degree steering column angle changer, I was able to slip things apart without touching it. I did mark everything, just in case, but it didn't really matter.

Took a 2K mile trip to Death Valley and more last week. I think I might have a slight amount of friction with new seals and guides, but not a problem. And my wife actually noticed first, while there wasn't a problem with excessive play in the steering before, it does seem tighter now. It steers better, more precisely. Subtle, very subtle, nothing much. And, drumroll please, no leaks! Time will tell how it holds up and I'll update if there are any problems.

[VStar650CL]

There are marks on the original unit where you are supposed to center it. Not so on aftermarket replacement. I spent hours screwing around with that. Finally went full right, full left, split the difference and crossed my fingers. Counted the turns on the tierods and matched it on the new. I had massive toe out. I adjusted everything as close as I could, both sides evenly, and I couldn't believe it, the steering wheel is perfectly straight. Well, maybe an eighth or a quarter of an inch off center, or maybe not, it's really close if not perfect.

Good job, thanks for posting the details!

Just a hint for anyone performing the same job: When you remove the old rack, get out your tape measure and record the distance between the tips of the outer tie-rod ends before you remove them. Then install them on the new rack at exactly the same distance tip-to-tip. This will exactly duplicate the existing toe, and the only thing that will be off is the steering wheel center. Then, moving the sleeves equally in opposite directions will adjust the wheel position without affecting the toe setting. Just tinker them until the wheel is straight and you're done. Or you can just pop the steering wheel and relocate it, because you'll already know the toe is fine.

[Mike W.]

I'm sure a tooth or two on the steering wheel would be ok, but the FSM, which really wasn't any help and in fact made it sound harder than it was, made a big deal about keeping the wheel and everything else in original position to avoid tearing the clock spring cable snaking thru the steering column.

To try to mimic alignment, I used an expandable locking rod, like for extending a paint roller, to measure between the tires. Not perfect, but close. I found it difficult to duplicate measurements measuring tie rod to tie rod off the car.

[VStar650CL]

The clockspring is only an issue if you rotate a half turn or more, that's about the amount of slack inside a typical spiral. You're right that the FSM is goofy about it, simply putting a bungee from the wheel to the brake pedal while you do the work is sufficient to prevent anything untoward. Measuring tip-to-tip with the rack off the car may require a little shimming and supporting with rags or cardboard, but I always found it a lot easier than setting up the alignment rack (or in your case measuring and adjusting the tire deflection) after the job.