Bad steering rack vs. bad rack bushings? (1 Viewer)

[oakback]

What are the symptoms of one or the other?

 

[TheForger]

One involves a fluid leak. They can both cause sloppiness/looseness in the steering, torque steer, and many negative symptoms. Just depends on if you see leaking fluid or shot bushings when you crawl under the truck.

 

[willbt]

Be sure to check your TREs too. If they are bad, Cruiser Outfitters sells replacements.

I actually just ordered some Super Pro Poly rack bushings two days ago... I know what I'm doing this weekend!

 

[Ayune]

I just went through the same question. I have a dead 'notch' in the center (straight ahead) of my steering wheel movement where I can move it back & forth a few degrees with no resistance. On either side of the notch there is resistance like there should normally be. The front wheels move when the steering wheel moves through the notch so I know the rack isn't sloppy, but it moves too easily while in that notch zone... hard to explain.

Anyways, to test this I had a friend move the steering wheel back and forth within the notch while I watched the rack body for physical movement. I was hoping to see the rack move left & right in a worn bushing or something, but no luck. There was no movement, so I concluded that my play is within the rack itself.

 

[JMan5000]

Happy Friday! The hits keep coming. Just dropped $2,700 in baseline maintenance on my 02' LC w/ 158K - stock. Everything was done...except for a new rack. The rack boots are wet on the bottom and I just had Valvoline MaxLife ATF put in to help condition the seals and hopefully prolong the rack's life. It's slated to get done next summer. However, this morning I'm driving into work and I notice a 'floating' feeling in the steering wheel when it was rolling straight. Nothing major, just a tiny bit of slack. Granted, I was going on a rather bumpy stretch of highway, but the steering wheel felt weird in that position. There are no leaks, no hard steering, no abnormal sounds, and the rack is still really responsive. I had the mechanic check over the rack bushings and he said they were OK, but again, he didn't clip my fuel hose onto my new fuel filter properly...so I've got reservations about his opinion right now. Maybe I'm being OCD and the rack is fine (until next summer), but then again, I'm heading out on a 2500+ mile trip in October and a steering rack failure is not high on my list of things I want to deal with. Thanks as always guys - you're all awesome.

 

[diego355]

Front end issues can be confusing and most of the times people can do bad diagnosis.
Take it to a shop to do a front end check, any good tech should be able to put it up on a drive on hoist and inspect all components. (ball joints, tie rods, control arm bushings, steering rack, wheel bearings)

I had a bushing type squeak while turning hard left pulling into a parking spot that turned into sloppy steering and over correcting while driving straight. I assumed it was steering rack bushings but turned out to be one inner tie rod end.
The shop recommended doing the one that was bad but I decided to do boh inners at the same time and keep the old one as a spare.

Purchased 555's tie rods, problem solved.

 

[Ayune]

After replacing my rack & TREs I still had a dead spot in the center of my steering. This fix cured it and now I'm wondering if I needed the new rack at all: How To: Replace your own Upper Steering Column Shaft

You can check if there's play in the shaft just by reaching under your dash and holding the shaft while wiggling the steering wheel. If there's any play between the two it's a $200, 3-hour non-messy fix.

 

[abuck99]

Happy Friday! The hits keep coming. Just dropped $2,700 in baseline maintenance on my 02' LC w/ 158K - stock. Everything was done...except for a new rack. The rack boots are wet on the bottom and I just had Valvoline MaxLife ATF put in to help condition the seals and hopefully prolong the rack's life. It's slated to get done next summer. However, this morning I'm driving into work and I notice a 'floating' feeling in the steering wheel when it was rolling straight. Nothing major, just a tiny bit of slack. Granted, I was going on a rather bumpy stretch of highway, but the steering wheel felt weird in that position. There are no leaks, no hard steering, no abnormal sounds, and the rack is still really responsive. I had the mechanic check over the rack bushings and he said they were OK, but again, he didn't clip my fuel hose onto my new fuel filter properly...so I've got reservations about his opinion right now. Maybe I'm being OCD and the rack is fine (until next summer), but then again, I'm heading out on a 2500+ mile trip in October and a steering rack failure is not high on my list of things I want to deal with. Thanks as always guys - you're all awesome.

Keep an eye on the reservoir and make a note of the level and how quickly it drops. If its not dropping from the high mark to the low weekly youre probably ok to driven and keep topping off until you are prepared to replace.

An option that wont hurt to try is the AT-205 Re-seal which comes with good recommendations. You might give that a try for the seals. I doubt the max-life atf will have enough additive to make a difference to seals in your steering rack.
ATP Automotive AT-205 Re-Seal

Good luck and try not to obsess over it- just keep an eye on the reservior.

 

[JMan5000]

After replacing my rack & TREs I still had a dead spot in the center of my steering. This fix cured it and now I'm wondering if I needed the new rack at all: How To: Replace your own Upper Steering Column Shaft

You can check if there's play in the shaft just by reaching under your dash and holding the shaft while wiggling the steering wheel. If there's any play between the two it's a $200, 3-hour non-messy fix.

I gave it a look this afternoon and it's solid. Awesome write-up though...I printed that out and putting it my shop manual for future reference.

Thanks!!

 

[JMan5000]

Keep an eye on the reservoir and make a note of the level and how quickly it drops. If its not dropping from the high mark to the low weekly youre probably ok to driven and keep topping off until you are prepared to replace.

An option that wont hurt to try is the AT-205 Re-seal which comes with good recommendations. You might give that a try for the seals. I doubt the max-life atf will have enough additive to make a difference to seals in your steering rack.
ATP Automotive AT-205 Re-Seal

Good luck and try not to obsess over it- just keep an eye on the reservior.

Interesting - what's the difference between Lucas Oil PS Stop Leak and the AT-205 Re-Seal? I heard the Stop Leak will eat up the PS pump after a while...I'm concerned this will too? Right now, knock on wood, the PS reservoir hasn't changed a bit. I check it every couple days right now.

 

[abuck99]

AT-205 is not a stop leak. It wont hurt your steering system, pump, or related components. It has plasticizers to help fortify the seals. Its very concentrated read the instructions I think for the steering system its just a few ounces.

@2001LC (and others) have used this with positive results. Do a search with his name and AT-209 to check his threads on the product.

 

[JMan5000]

AT-205 is not a stop leak. It wont hurt your steering system, pump, or related components. It has plasticizers to help fortify the seals. Its very concentrated read the instructions I think for the steering system its just a few ounces.

@2001LC (and others) have used this with positive results. Do a search with his name and AT-209 to check his threads on the product.

Well tickle me pink - that's awesome. I'll check it out - thanks man!!

 

[Rolocado]

After replacing my rack & TREs I still had a dead spot in the center of my steering. This fix cured it and now I'm wondering if I needed the new rack at all: How To: Replace your own Upper Steering Column Shaft

You can check if there's play in the shaft just by reaching under your dash and holding the shaft while wiggling the steering wheel. If there's any play between the two it's a $200, 3-hour non-messy fix.

X2 on this exact