And so it begins... Steering Rack Bushing Replacement

I have my urethane bushings from MM and I am about to start the replacement procedure.

I am wondering what the stock bushings will look like when I remove them.

I am also hoping that this corrects the groans, squeaks, and such coming from the front end.

I will add pics to the thread as the task progresses...

What a f'n hassle

Stupid brass thing that holds the steering shaft

Got the new ones in though

Just took it for a test drive, it seems tighter now. No sounds so far either.

However, the stock bushings I took out looked pretty good. I am not sure if I fixed the problem. I will know after I drive it for a few days.

I took a bunch of pics, I will post them later.

I did not use any type of grease at all. I just sprayed a little silicone on the bushing to assist with installation. This is what the instructions I had said to do. No grease came with the bushings.

Yes, it just took basic hand tools but it was a little harder than I expected due to problems with steering linkage and also the difficulty of seating those bushings since they are a very tight fit.

Here is the breaker bar and 18mm deep well socket I got for this task:
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Here is my floor jack, it is one year old now and makes a squeak/groan when I pump it so if anyone knows what kind of rountine maintenance floor jacks require please let me know:
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Check out my ghetto grill delete waiting on the three piece grill delete but I could not wait to see what it would look like so right now I have no grill whatsoever
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Here are the new urethane bushings from MM, this is one of those things that you pay about $25 for with shipping but once you receive it you know for a fact that the part cost to manufacture is around 2 cents each
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Jacking the car:
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Whoah! Always have the windows on a vert down when twisting the chassis like this, I forgot to roll them down:
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See that paint can opener in the pic? It is the perfect tool for removing the center inserts on these rims
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It is a good idea to put the tires under the car when it is on jackstands to prevent the car from falling all the way to the ground if the jackstands fail:
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It is also a good idea to give the car a good shake to make sure the jackstands are secure before getting under the car to work on it:
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The breaker bar made short work of the 18mm nuts on the bolts that hold the steering rack to the front of the K-member. The steering rack bolts are probably a foot long!
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Here is a pic of a couple friends of mine that assisted with the job
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The old bushings next to the new:
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After this my hands got pretty greasy and things started going less than smoothly so I did not take any more pics.

Here are the instructions I used for the install, they clearly state that no grease is to be used on the new bushings.

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/Detailed/52.shtml

Well I test drove it again today and if def feels tighter in the steering and there is no groaning or creaking so I think it is fixed

I def recommend the urethane rack bushings from MM.

I think now I will endeavor to replace all rubber bushings on the entire car with urethane... Next up front sway bar end links and bushings.