Hi,

My mechanic has informed me that within 12months the wear on the bushings in my Power Steering Rack will be worn so much that they will require replacement.

I am wondering if I can do this job myself or if it is requiring a mechanic's attention?

What bushings are available for this rack? Can they be replaced with polyeurothane?

Has any one else had this problem with their lude?

My car is a 92 model Si with 4WS and has done 230 thousand km's and is getting on in age and I guess I should be expecting these kinds of issues...

My mechanic is talking around $800 for the rebuild of the steering rack hence my thoughts about doing the work myself.

Thanks in advance for your help guys...

 

youre talking about the bushings inside the "u" bracket that bolt the rack body to the frame?

bump for more input

 

im not sure what bushings he is talking about

either way its not that hard to get the rack out, just look in my writeup to convert to manual rack, that will get you through taking it off and opening it up, just dont start throwing **** away like i did

 

where's that writeup I can't find it? Searched!

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1517004

try the archives next time

 

Hi Guys,

I'm not exactly sure what "bushings" my mechanic's referring to...

My symptoms are:

1. "free" movement in the steering wheel of about half an inch left and right of center before the front wheels actually turn

2. Slight shuddering on braking

3. Wheels are off the car and there is about half an inch of freedom before you feel the steering rack when you try and turn the wheel hub left and right. There is also a small amount of freedom in the tie rod when moving it up and down...

I hope this helps?

Is there anything I can maybe tighten to stop this "freedom" in the steering rack? or are there really bushes that require replacement in there?

Thanks for your help.


Modified by AdReNaLiN at 10:39 PM 3/14/2006

 

I thought I would put this here too:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

Has anyone had experience with these?
Seems cheaper than a rebuild but I'm thinking its gotta be poor quality? I'm sceptical of ebay...

 

Yes I have wiggled the tie rods and they are "loose" feeling...

Which ball joints are you talking about? The only ball joints I know about are these:

 

Sorry I should explain, this is not a photo of my car - this photo comes from the write up on mgags7 manual rack conversion thread.

My ball joint bushings appear to be fine and there's no freedom there.

The freedom of movement appears to be futher in the steering rack.

Where do "Tie Rod Bushings" go? Do you have to pull out the steering rack to replace these?

Thanks for your help mate.

 

you know...that trw rack doesn't look bad at all...i might pick one up

 

I'd look at his other auctions - the photographs are all the same for each steering rack he sells...

If you do get one - please let me know how it compares to the stock one...

Is it just me or is that price ridiculously cheap?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silverlude15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">go under your car. wiggle the tie rods. if they are loose, replace the bj bushings. its also pretty obvios if they're out...they'd be cracked or w/ holes in it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

there are no ball joint bushings, wtf are you talking about

the inner tie rods are the only thing other than the ball joint that will make the tie rods loose feeling....



^^thats the inner joint, replace them on both sides, they will tighten things up nicely

 

I've been looking in the Service Manual and they call that part the "rack end" - can you buy this from honda or is there a more performance replacement?

Also in the steering rack there's mention of a Bushing A and a Bushing B - are these the bushings that my mechanic could've been talking about?

 

thats not a bushing, thats a seal

it seals in grease, it does not dampen anything

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AdReNaLiN &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've been looking in the Service Manual and they call that part the "rack end" - can you buy this from honda or is there a more performance replacement?

Also in the steering rack there's mention of a Bushing A and a Bushing B - are these the bushings that my mechanic could've been talking about?</TD></TR></TABLE>

they are inside the rack, unless im mistaken

you will have to completely disassemble the rack to get at them

the rack ends are the inner tie rods, replace them both, just use oem ones...

 

So you think that I wont need to replace the inner bushings - and the only replacements i will need to make are the Inner Tie Rod Rack Ends from honda?

Thanks for your help guys.
It is sounding more and more like a job I can do myself.

I was wondering if others have the same issues with loose steering?

 

at 110k my inner tie rods were as sloppy as grannys pink

<FONT SIZE="5"><FONT COLOR="brown">GROSS!!!</FONT></FONT>

but seriously, they were loose as hell, the new ones were nice and tight...(like yo momma )

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silverlude15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

you can go and buy it at honda for about 3x more or you can buy it from worldsuspension.net for much cheaper.

hey it's your choice, i'm afraid to post any opinions anymore...they end up backfiring on me when i try to help someone out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

No dont get annoyed. I have found your information quite informative in this thread and I have checked my outer ball joints and they're ok - but that would've been very helpful had mine been busted...

Here's the link to world suspension's Rack End replacement & tie rod. Do World Suspension make these for longer durability/performance than OEM honda or are they an oem copy?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...photo

 

the world suspension stuff is supposedly exactly the same as oem stuff....they say they get it from the same supply...

i would rly like to try them...

 

i was told it was a "boot" too. when i got my lude, i had to replace the cv boots, so i was told to just replace the whole axle. $70 a side at the local napa. put them in in about 2 hours...not bad at all.

 

I recently swapped out the inner/outer tie rods for the World Suspension parts. They are quality parts. They shipped them really quick too. The brand that they use is OEParts.

 

Two thumbs up on World Suspension parts is good enough for me - I will probably be ordering some very soon.

Will update this thread when I solve my steering issues.

Thanks all for your help.