I just wrote up this long how to for member who PMed me so i figured I may as well share it with the masses.
98 LC 200k seemingly well cared for miles, but this is def its first rack. Its now strictly for off road use.
This is not a 1 banana job. But anyone can do it with a day, maybe a friend, and some 4 letter words.
My dad was there as well as a friend that owed me from a couple weekends of working on his Disco, if he wasnt a good friend and didn't owe me some time he surely would have left half way through.
Tools:
metric wrenches
2ft of extensions
univesal joint(s)
good socket set
creativity
a friend
beer
Supplies:
-New Rack-Got mine from Toyota through a friend for $530 brand spankin new. Retail was $700+
-I also went ahead and did the poly bushings
-1 gallon of coolant
-1/2 quart of oil
-2 quarts of power steering fluid
I also did my ball joints while i was in there, and after all the challenges and cursing i got a little over taking pictures. I will post what i have but as other people do this job, please take pictures.
I did the ball joints WITHOUT a press, it is possible to do without messing anything up as long as you have a good sized hammer, sacrificial nut and a good pry bar set.
Alright, from memory here is the order of operations that worked for me strictly for the rack.
1 car in the air, tires off skidplates off(duh)
2 stare at it a long time and get the lay of the land in there.
3 remove the oil filter and housing. Be ready to catch about a half quart of oil, and half gallon of coolant. It will get everywhere, and it sucks.- there is a 14mm bolt 2 12mm bolts and 1 12mm nut that hold this adapter bracket to the block. These are accessed through the frame hole that the steering rack threads through on the drivers side. I used extensions, shallow sockets and a universal joint to get these off. Be creative, these are not fun bolts but by going from outside the frame rail they seemed easier. Carefully remove from the area and be sure to preserve the rubber gasket in there. If it removes easily and is still pliable reuse it. [UPDATE: after a long road trip and 2 days of wheeling this gasket is seeping oil, i tightened the bolts and it had no effect so put some thought in getting a new gasket!]I did and it sealed great(at first). There is a coolant inlet and outlet on the housing there are simple compression clams that just get slid down, and the rubber line gets pulled off, check to make sure these aren’t cracked.
4 remove the 10mm bolt that connects the rack to the steering column. May need to put the key in the ignition and rotate the wheel for easy access from below.
5 using a 17mm(I think) socket and 3/8 drive ratchet remove the forward hard line from the rack. Be ready for some fluid.
6 using a 10mm and ¼ drive ratchet remove the little bracket that holds stationary the 2 lines as they run across the front of the rack. You will know what I’m talking about when you get there.
7 guide the line that you had just removed down so the remaining fluid can drain. At this point you should have some nice open space to get to the rear line. Don’t attempt to remove it yet.
8 remove the 2 bolts that thread vertical on the rack. There are nuts and they will need to be held to remove these bolts. Easy money
9 there is a u bracket that holds the other side of the rack. The front one should be relatively easy. Use the tools you have to back this long bolt out. The back one is…not strait forward. I had the best luck with about 2 foot of extensions and a universal joint to get it off. Im including a link to the few pictures I did take and you will see what I’m talking about. Once broken loose, it becomes an easy job of bolt removal
look close and you can see where the socket is connected, and the top left of the photo you can see an extension. Also isllistrated here is the frame hole that i accessed the oil filter housing bolts from on the other side.
9a -remove the rear line with an open end wrench, this will take time, once it is broken loose it will be 1/4 turns
10 WITHOUT removing the tie rods from the upright, break the nut loose on the rack and twist the rack ends until it is no longer connected to the tie rod. Do this on both sides. With the rack still connected but loose from the steering wheel, turn the wheel all the way until it stops RIGHT. This will make the short end of the rack be on the drivers side.
11 Fenagle and disconnect the column from the rack, FORCE it passenger side with extreme prejudice until the end of the rack is out of its frame hole and the hard stuff is done.
12 go back in with the new rack again with it pushed all the way passenger to fit. Be sure to attach the old had line bracket to the new rack.
13 With the steering wheel strait, measure the rack from boot end to tip of the threaded end, make sure both ends are the same length and connect the steering column making sure the steering wheel is strait.
14 connect the rear line with the rack still loose. This will be a 17mm wrench doing 1/8 turns. With the rack loose, it makes things easier.
15 connect the front line
16 install the oil filter housing being sure not to pinch the gasket
17 bolt the rack down using the 4 bolts
18 connect the rack to the tie rods and make sure the flanged end of the nut is installed correctly that is used to tighten up the tie rods. Using your eyeball, make sure the toe is as close to 0 toe as possible and tighten nut down on tie rod
19 add steering fluid, add coolant at radiator, add ½ q of oil, start truck, add more steering fluid and coolant. Move the steering back and forth a few times. The pump will sound very unhappy but this will go away after a short drive when it works all the bubbles out.
20 skid plate
21 take it for an alignment AND ASK FOR 0 CAMBER, for some reason the book at the place I was taking it to required positive camber…nuts.
sorry for the lack of pictures, but this should get people going the right direction.
