New power rack install?
04-26-2014, 11:14 AM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 478
New power rack install?
It's been a couple years since I last tackled this job, and I need a few pointers.
The garages locally want $350 for the job, and I don't remember it being that involved. It's a one-piece rack, and I remember it being two bolts holding it on to the car, one bolt holding the input shaft, jam nuts holding on the tie rod ends, and some miscellaneous hoses.
Am I glossing over details? How many hours will it take my amateur *** to do this job?
The garages locally want $350 for the job, and I don't remember it being that involved. It's a one-piece rack, and I remember it being two bolts holding it on to the car, one bolt holding the input shaft, jam nuts holding on the tie rod ends, and some miscellaneous hoses.
Am I glossing over details? How many hours will it take my amateur *** to do this job?
04-27-2014, 11:37 AM
#4
4th Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calif
Posts: 1,926
Skill level I'll give it a 4 rating.
If it's possible, determine whether the rack bushings on the car are 1-piece or two-piece by loosening the rack and trying to pull it forward enough to tell. It makes a big difference when you buy the rack. If you can, take the rack with you to the parts store, or at the very least the big rolled steel pins that locate it. You'll know what I mean when you get the rack off, they're the sleeves the bolts run through. Take them to the parts store and test-fit them into the rack they try to sell you. They list 4 different racks when in fact there should only be one for a 5.0 Mustang. The rack I bought first was for "performance suspension" and listed a 2-piece bushing. The rack was a dead ringer for the one on my car but the bushings were too small to get over the locating pins. The one I ended up with has a slower ratio but damn sure fit back on the car, so there it stays.
One thing that really helps is get a can of degreaser and go to the quarter car wash. Spray the whole rack and crossmember area and get it degrunged. It makes things a lot easier to work on when it's clean.
Required Tools:
No special tools required. It is not a very hard job, and doesn't require anything special, it's pretty straightforward wrenching and muscle. If all goes smoothly you'll be driving the car again in 3-4 hours.
Removal:
You'll need to undo the tie rod ends by taking the castle nut off the spindle and then give the tie rod a hellacious solid whack with a hammer. It'll pop right down and out of the spindle. DO NOT hit the threaded upright that the castle nut goes on or you'll wreck it.
You undo the mounting bolts, undo the steering pump lines (wrap them in a baggie or they'll never stop dripping), undo the collar that locks the steering shaft to the rack's input shaft, and tug and pry until the rack pops off.
Installation:
Next hardest part is getting the steering coupler hooked back up. You have to align the flats, then get the bolt started in the collar again which can be hard because you've probably had to spread the ears of the collar to get the old rack off.
Then you carefully weasel the rack back into place and fit the lines. I had better luck undoing one of the PS lines where it switches from metal to rubber to go to the pump, connecting the hard line to the rack, then reconnecting the rubber line. It was the only way I could get things oriented properly.
You'll need to flush and bleed the system too. You'll have to flush the pump BEFORE you hook it up to the rack or any nastiness in the pump fluid will get into your nice new rack. You can do that by pouring fresh fluid in the top while either cranking the motor with the coil wire undone or by rotating the pulley by hand. DO NOT over tighten the fluid lines, and do NOT cross thread them, which is easy to do because the fittings are brass and the housing is soft aluminum.
This should good idea of what is required even though your not adding Aluminum Steering Rack Bushings.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/As...ing/MMST-7.pdf
If it's possible, determine whether the rack bushings on the car are 1-piece or two-piece by loosening the rack and trying to pull it forward enough to tell. It makes a big difference when you buy the rack. If you can, take the rack with you to the parts store, or at the very least the big rolled steel pins that locate it. You'll know what I mean when you get the rack off, they're the sleeves the bolts run through. Take them to the parts store and test-fit them into the rack they try to sell you. They list 4 different racks when in fact there should only be one for a 5.0 Mustang. The rack I bought first was for "performance suspension" and listed a 2-piece bushing. The rack was a dead ringer for the one on my car but the bushings were too small to get over the locating pins. The one I ended up with has a slower ratio but damn sure fit back on the car, so there it stays.
One thing that really helps is get a can of degreaser and go to the quarter car wash. Spray the whole rack and crossmember area and get it degrunged. It makes things a lot easier to work on when it's clean.
Required Tools:
No special tools required. It is not a very hard job, and doesn't require anything special, it's pretty straightforward wrenching and muscle. If all goes smoothly you'll be driving the car again in 3-4 hours.
Removal:
You'll need to undo the tie rod ends by taking the castle nut off the spindle and then give the tie rod a hellacious solid whack with a hammer. It'll pop right down and out of the spindle. DO NOT hit the threaded upright that the castle nut goes on or you'll wreck it.
You undo the mounting bolts, undo the steering pump lines (wrap them in a baggie or they'll never stop dripping), undo the collar that locks the steering shaft to the rack's input shaft, and tug and pry until the rack pops off.
Installation:
Next hardest part is getting the steering coupler hooked back up. You have to align the flats, then get the bolt started in the collar again which can be hard because you've probably had to spread the ears of the collar to get the old rack off.
Then you carefully weasel the rack back into place and fit the lines. I had better luck undoing one of the PS lines where it switches from metal to rubber to go to the pump, connecting the hard line to the rack, then reconnecting the rubber line. It was the only way I could get things oriented properly.
You'll need to flush and bleed the system too. You'll have to flush the pump BEFORE you hook it up to the rack or any nastiness in the pump fluid will get into your nice new rack. You can do that by pouring fresh fluid in the top while either cranking the motor with the coil wire undone or by rotating the pulley by hand. DO NOT over tighten the fluid lines, and do NOT cross thread them, which is easy to do because the fittings are brass and the housing is soft aluminum.
This should good idea of what is required even though your not adding Aluminum Steering Rack Bushings.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/As...ing/MMST-7.pdf
04-28-2014, 07:49 AM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Ohio
Posts: 333
I'm in the process of doing mine now. The old one is out. It wasn't easy been there too long. My thoughts of the pinch bolt align when going back on would be a all day PITA project and have decided to take rag joint loose and install pinch bolt side to gear before install. Also since the friggen lines were so hard to take off when removing that I would install them on gear before I install gear. If this sounds wrong please let me know. Note I have installed a new pump, all new hoses the only "old" part will be the cooler line. Will flushing it this way still gunk up the rack?
05-14-2014, 08:14 PM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 478
Just completed mine. What a giant pain in the ***. Removal took me about an hour and a half. I have no power tools and only a ratchet set to loosen the lug nuts. I quickly determined that not even my 180 pounds bouncing up and down on the 1/2" ratchet was going to get me anywhere, so I used the jack to turn the damned things off. Once I got everything off, I had to go shopping for a 12 point wrench set for the pinch bolt. Of course there is almost no room to get any leverage on it, either. Once I removed the bolt, I discovered the rack bushings had locked up on the pins, so there was no way to get the rack off. After bashing the pins out with a socket and hammer, I spent about 3 hours trying to get the new rack in, because I could not align the damned pinch bolt. Long story short, never again. It will be worth the $300 to have someone else screw with it.
05-18-2014, 11:41 AM
#7
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Ohio
Posts: 333
I found out that to get it back in was a pain. I finally decided to replace rag joint put the pinch bolt side on while out of the car. After taking upper shaft out held in by one larger bolt and not much clearance to do this found that my gear wrenches came in handy to remove and install. Mating these back together was a little challenging with limited space to work but didn't take long. Had to cut stay pin bushings off at k-member to install new poly bushings with inserts had to have cut off tool to do this. So my thoughts are if you don't have compressor or air tools and other items of handy tools this job is for your local mechanic. A hobbiest nightmare if you only had a socket set.
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