Rack & Pinion Question

I had the common "creaking" noise coming from the R&P on the driver's side. I replaced the bushings with ES black pieces and the noise went a way, for four days. Now, it seems like it's making a comeback. I rechecked my work and it's all still solid and in order.

My question is, the metal tube that goes through the center of the bushings, is that thing supposed to move? I ask because the driver's side moved a lot and I was able to pull it out, the passenger side was rock solid and would not move at all. There appeared to be a wear mark on the driver's side tube, like it has been moving around inside the k-member.

I'm already thinking tubular k-member is the way to go, but maybe a quick spot welding would keep that damn thing from moving around inside the bushings.

Any ideas appreciated.

No one? What if I pack the hell out of those two tubes with grease? Those things are slotted, so I don't know how long that would last.

One thing I can say, this is the stupidest design for attaching an R&P I have ever seen. I thought my turbo Dodge's were bad (they would self-loosen).

soctty7676 said:

I wish I could help you, but I have a question. How hard was it to remove the bushings? I am getting ready to replace mine and would like to know the best tool/method to get the old ones out.

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It's not difficult. On my 03 GT, I needed an 18mm socket, 16mm box wrench and a small pry bar (a stout screwdriver would do). The car was half way in a garage, so my drop light came in handy. This is how I did mine, no guarantee it's the same for everyone.

1. Raise, support, and block the car.
2. Box wrench on bolt (back of k-member) and ratchet the nut off the front of the k-member. With little effort, the bolt will come out. Repeat for other side.
3. Use a flathead screw driver to pull the front bushings out. Easy.
4. GENTLY, use pry bar to pull the rack out a bit from both mount points.
5. Using a flathead screw driver, I poked at the rear bushing a bit to loosen it up and push it out some.
6. The rack has to clear the mounting posts/tubes in order for the rear bushing to come off. I gently pry one side of the rack out farther than the other and teased the rear bushing to come out and clear the mounting. Repeat for the other side.

Now, here's where I seemed to have screwed up. I put a light coat of multipurpose grease on the new bushings, the mounting point and the inside of the rack's housing. Apparently, the thing to do is to spray the hell out of all those parts with lithium white grease.

7. After lubing it all up, pry driver's side of the rack out JUST enough to finagle the bushing around the mounting point and in the back side of the rack housing. Repeat for passenger side.
8. Gently push rack toward k-member, put lubed up front bushings in the rack housing.
9. Bolt everything back up and put her back down.

It seems to me you got to slather the whole bushing area with lube. I didn't have to disconnect tie rods, take off wheels, disconnect power steering lines or disconnect the steering rod. It goes without saying you should inspect everything while you're down there. Should take less than an hour.

In my case, the driver's side rack mount (cheap tube) came right out and looked like it had wear marks. This made putting the rear bushing on that side easy. The passenger side didn't budge, not a bit.

Hope this helps.