I had to take the extension rod out of my transmission to remove my rack and pinion, and the repair manual says to replace the spring pin. However, the parts car I pulled the other rack and pinion out of had no spring pin; it was a bolt, which makes me wonder if I can save myself time in the future and put the bolt in its place. Would you recommend doing so?

 

Just re-use the spring pin. Grease it before you tap it in.

​​​​​​​Bolts make a sloppy connection.

 

I have used them over and over... unless it allows the joint to get sloppy on the selector rod... use it. Make sure you have the "C" clip to cover it so that it cannot fall out from vibration.

 

The bolt will be sloppy, even a used pin tends to have a little slop but they can be reused. Those spring pins are about $2 so it's not really a big deal to replace them.