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Having just completed the task thought I'd write up a few thoughts for anyone thinking of doing the job. Vehicle is a 2006 3 Liter Diesel 120 series. It was having a wheel alignment done the guy doing the job noticed the movement in the rack. You have to take the bash plates off to see the movement clearly. That the vehicle did wander around a bit when windy is what I noticed as a driver.
First of all, if you have a copy of the genuine workshop manual, don't take much notice of it. Whoever wrote it has obviously never done the job. The main thing wrong is that the manual has you dismantling the steering column. There is NOTHING inside the vehicle that needs to be touched.
I've seen people attempt to replace the bushes without removing the rack from the vehicle. Impossible, even with the rack off the vehicle and in a vice they take some serious bashing to get out.
No matter how I tried I could not get the rack out of the vehicle without removing the left hand complete steering link and ball joint from the steering rack end. Easy job, just remove the metal clip from the rack end of the rubber boot, knock the lock tabs back, and with a big pipe wrench undo and remove. Then the rack comes out through the front under the radiator.
Everything else is pretty straight forward and logical. The two bolts holding the rack in place have to be undone from the top as the nuts on the bottom have some bite points.
The hardest thing is undoing the pressure pipe hat comes from the power steering pump. The best way to get a decent go it it is first remove the clip and rubber hose from the return connection that sits beside it. And then wit a 17mm ring spanner remove the tube connector the hose pushed onto. This allows better access to the pipe flare nut. To undo you need a serious quality 17mm flare nut spanner. Repco have a decent one for around $30. You will NOT get it undone any other way, it is seriously tight.
Also the replacement bushes I bought of Ebay were ever so slightly bigger in diameter than the originals. While it might have been possible to press them in with a shop press, they were never going to be pressed in with just a vice. Not having a lath to remove about 0.5mm from the diameter I just took my time on a bench grinder. bring them down to the same diameter as the originals. They then pressed in tight using a large vice.
Hope this proves useful to someone.
First of all, if you have a copy of the genuine workshop manual, don't take much notice of it. Whoever wrote it has obviously never done the job. The main thing wrong is that the manual has you dismantling the steering column. There is NOTHING inside the vehicle that needs to be touched.
I've seen people attempt to replace the bushes without removing the rack from the vehicle. Impossible, even with the rack off the vehicle and in a vice they take some serious bashing to get out.
No matter how I tried I could not get the rack out of the vehicle without removing the left hand complete steering link and ball joint from the steering rack end. Easy job, just remove the metal clip from the rack end of the rubber boot, knock the lock tabs back, and with a big pipe wrench undo and remove. Then the rack comes out through the front under the radiator.
Everything else is pretty straight forward and logical. The two bolts holding the rack in place have to be undone from the top as the nuts on the bottom have some bite points.
The hardest thing is undoing the pressure pipe hat comes from the power steering pump. The best way to get a decent go it it is first remove the clip and rubber hose from the return connection that sits beside it. And then wit a 17mm ring spanner remove the tube connector the hose pushed onto. This allows better access to the pipe flare nut. To undo you need a serious quality 17mm flare nut spanner. Repco have a decent one for around $30. You will NOT get it undone any other way, it is seriously tight.
Also the replacement bushes I bought of Ebay were ever so slightly bigger in diameter than the originals. While it might have been possible to press them in with a shop press, they were never going to be pressed in with just a vice. Not having a lath to remove about 0.5mm from the diameter I just took my time on a bench grinder. bring them down to the same diameter as the originals. They then pressed in tight using a large vice.
Hope this proves useful to someone.
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