Rack and Pinion GURU's help school me!!

[big blue]

Alright guys need some help with Rack and Pinion. It is loose and I am looking at replacing it and the outer tie rods. When i called the part store to get a rack they said I needed to know whether or not it was a TRW equipped car or not and whether or not I have 1 or 2 piece bushings. I have no idea. I have heard of a GT rack being have a sportier ratio and would like to have that if at all possible. Please help sort me out.

CAR:
1993 LX 5.0 w/PS.

And anybody that has done this what else will I need?

 

[HISSIN50]

The part number on your rack is listed below where the steering shaft meshes with the rack (on the rear of the driver side of the rack).

It seems to me that about all the racks are Ford units. I have a GT (it had the Ford QR rack) so I dont know the particulars on swapping a QR rack in. Others certainly will).

One interesting aside - on a recent thread it was mentioned that a 94-95 GT rack could be used on a fox. The steering feel in my 94 is SO much better than in the 88. If this swap can be done, and the feel is the same as on the 5N95, IMHO it would be WELL worth it (note that I dont like the easy steering on the GT. The 5N95 steering is much firmer and feels more like manual steering).

Random thoughts. Good luck.

 

[big blue]

thanks for the info I will degrease and check the #. ANy chance on knowing the amount of bushings (1 or 2 piece)?

 

[HISSIN50]

Ya know, I cant remember how many there were. I know people have posted it before (it might have been rd who posted the info - it's one of the old timers). I do know that my rack didnt have the right bushings. I would get poly's anyhow (I didnt know to do this on the fox, but do have a new set of polys for the 94 for when I do it's rack).

When you look for a part number, take a peak at the bushings at the K. That is a good way to know for sure.

Good luck.

 

[jrichker]

Use 2 piece poly bushings. That way you don't have to struggle to get thr rack on.

The two inner tie rod ends are usually what wears out, and at $45 each, it's better to get a replacement rack assembly since they are part of the package. The rack is about $100 + a $40 refundable core charge, which you get back when you return the old rack. Be sure to ask for the GT or high performance rack, it has fewer turns lock to lock than the standard rack.

The flex coupling for the steering shaft needs to be disconnected before you can get the rack out. You should disassemble the coupling by undoing the 2 bolts that hold it together. The lower part of the coupling will then come out with the rack, and can easily be removed.

The tie rod ends can be removed with a tool that looks like a giant "pickle fork", it's less than $8, or some stores will rent/loan one. Remove the cotter pin & nut on the tie end, stick the tool between the rod end and the arm it connects and hammer away. The bigger the hammer, the easier it comes apart.

Remove the two bolts that bolt the rack assembly to the frame and then pull the rack down. Get a catch pan to dump the fluid in when you disconnect the hydraulic lines. I replaced the rack mount bushings with some Energy Suspension urethane ones. When you re-install the rack assembly, put the rear bushings in the rack assembly and lift it into place. Then install the front bushings & washers and tighten down the nuts. Doing it this way makes room for the hydraulic lines without having them bind against the frame.

To change the tie rod ends, do them one at a time. Loosen the jam nut 1/4 turn, then unscrew the tie rod end from the rack. Turn the jam nut back 1/4 turn to return it to its original position. With the tie rod end removed, use a machinist square to measure the distance between the end of the threaded rod and the jam nut. Sit the bottom of the square against the end of the threaded rod, and the end of the blade of the square against the jam nut. Duplicate the measurement on the new rack and then install the tie rod end and tighten the jam nut. Then do the other side: the front end will need aligning, but the toe in will be close enough to the setting of the original rack to drive.

Buy several extra quarts of fluid to run through the system to flush it when you change the rack. The car needs to be up on jackstands for the next step. Fill the pump up, start the car, and turn the wheels lock to lock to bleed the air out. Then stop the engine, disconnect the low pressure hose (the one that is secured with a hose clamp) and drain the pump. Re-connect, refill and do it several more times or until the fluid looks clear and not burnt or black.

 

[MrKwik]

I researched this awhile back and I think I had come up with that the TRW rack was used on SVO's or 93 Cobras or something. I have replaced 3 or 4 and they have always had Ford racks. What I did was have the parts place order in all options and then spun the steering shaft from lock to lock and bought the one that had the least number of turns. I think either bushing will work fine but the high ratio rach had the one piece bushings so they let me swap them from the other rack. They will both mount the same way but as has already been said, the one piece make it more of a challenge to get the rack clear of the oil pan and onto the studs.

 

[onefstsnake]

I just replaced my rack yesterday...
Took me about 5 hours... Getting the lines hooked up was the hard part.

Both inner tie rods were bad on my old rack. A friend of mine just went to a manual rack so he gave me the rack out of his 90 coupe.
Only 77K on the car.

If your car is lowered go ahead and get the offset bushings for the rack. that will get rid of some bumpsteer.

 

[wazazzle]

Did mine last year. On a side note it's well worth to just replace the entire rack with a new one. I made the mistake of purch a used one and when I finally installed & filled... I checked the resvr supply and it looked like muddy water. The insides where dirty from sitting outside or something, dang ebay. So I ended up having to get it flushed which cost me another $70. Spent $140 total for used, when could bought new for $100.

 

[big blue]

THanks for the reply guys. I want to replace my rack soon because I have a 6month free alignment from date of original service in effect. And when I went to talk to the parts guys he spun my head around with all of the different types. So to sum up, get the quickest ratio with 2 piece bushings an plan a day around it.

 

[MrKwik]

I just replaced my rack yesterday...
Took me about 5 hours...

Wow! Did you pause for pizza, beer and hookers there in the middle somewhere? Takes me about 1.5 hours in the driveway with handtools.

 

[skrowdilos]

Any truth to the sn95 rack swap?

 

[onefstsnake]

Wow! Did you pause for pizza, beer and hookers there in the middle somewhere? Takes me about 1.5 hours in the driveway with handtools.

I wish.

Unbolting the steering shaft was difficult b/c all the bolts were rusted tight.
Also we had to hook up all the lines while the new rack was connected to the car. Then a hose was leaking so we had to run out and replace that.

Its all together, just have to align it all tomorrow.

Next time ill let you do it.

 

[Kerpal]

Speaking of putting an SN95 rack into a Fox, I was checking out maximum motorsports' site the other day and noticed they're now selling steering shafts designed specifically for this swap.

I don't know if other shafts besides theirs will work, or what else needs to be done to install the SN95 rack. I just heard about this the other day as well, but I will definately be looking into it further...

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http://www.maximummotorsports.com/steering.asp

Upgrading to an SN95 Steering Rack
New! MM now has a Hybrid Steering Shaft Assembly that allows the installation of an SN95 (1994-2004) power steering rack into a Fox (1979-93) chassis Mustang. The SN95 steering racks are a good upgrade to a Fox Mustang because they provide improved steering feel, with slightly higher effort and more linearity than the Fox steering rack.

With the new MM Hybrid Steering Shaft Assembly the SN95 steering racks can now be easily installed in a Fox chassis Mustang. The MM hybrid shaft assembly has the correct lower U-joint to connect to the unique triangular-shaped input shaft of the SN95 steering racks. This MM hybrid assembly also features a splined joint to allow correcting the orientation of the steering wheel clocking. This feature is required to properly center the steering wheel with the SN95 steering rack. The stock steering wheel and airbag (if so equipped) are not disturbed.

Other Required Parts- A few other items are needed to install an SN95 steering rack into a Fox chassis Mustang. Fox chassis tie-rods are required because the SN95 tie-rods are too long for the Fox chassis front control arms. The correct length tie-rods can be easily swapped into place because the inner threaded connection, where the tie-rod attaches to the steering rack, is the same. Note that the threads on the tie-rods, for attaching the outer tie-rod ends, are different between the SN95 tie-rods and the Fox tie-rods. This will dictate which outer tie-rod ends must be used.

For those using the longer SN95 front control arms on their Fox Mustang, and who will be using an adjustable outer tie-rod end bumpsteer kit, there are two options to choose among for tie-rods and outer tie-rod ends. The longer SN95 tie-rods can be used, which will require an SN95 adjustable outer tie-rod end kit. Or the shorter Fox tie-rods can be used, along with our MMTR-6 tie-rod end kit. This kit has a longer aluminum adapter sleeve that allows the shorter Fox tie-rod to work with the longer SN95 front control arms.
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[HISSIN50]

On a thread last week or so, someone in here was the one who said they had the SN95 rack in their fox. They sounded ho-hum (I figured that would fit in with the hooker reference. ) about the install - as if it was nearly plug and play.

I couldnt tell ya though. Maybe that member will chime in here.