Steering rack bush replacement

[shogun]

Tried to fit a replacement steering rack bush yesterday so stripped down the drivers side tie rod again.

The problem I'm facing is that the steering rack won't move far enough to the right to allow me to remove the old one. I manage to get the rack around 2-3mm in from the outer face of the bush however this isn't enough to push the edge inwards to unlatch it.

I've enclosed a photo and can only think that the rack has been disconnected from the steering column at some point and replaced off centre?

:edit: Forgotten to mention this was with the engine on and the steering held on the limit by a helper. With engine not started the ignition lock comes on so limits the rack movement.

 

[turkie172]

Is the other side still connected to the hub assembly it might be limiting the travel but I think it is normal travel.

 

[Lownds197]

As Turkie says if you disconnect the other track rod end from the drivers side hub it should give you the required clearance, i managed to do mine with out doing this but i had to get someone to keep the steering on full lock and ended up breaking the airbag squib so be careful.

 

[turkie172]

From the aussie frogs forum
Just did this bush on the Megane.

My procedure was as follows :

1/ Front of car up on stands
2/ Remove both fronts wheels
3/ Detach RH Tie rod from knuckle to remove load from steering and ensure rack can use full travel
4/ Remove LH Tie rod from knuckle and track rod - count how many turns to remove it as you need to screw on the (new) Tie rod the same amount of turns when reassembling.
5/ Remove LH track rod
6/ Wind steering to the right and pop the old bush out with the bent wire coat hanger and small flat blade screw driver
7/ Wind the steering back to the left and give the steering rack a smear of silicon grease - bit of silicon grease on the bush and slide it onto the exposed steering rack
8/ Wind the steering rack back to the right and push the bush into the housing
9/ Reassemble - Don't forget the lock nut on the track rod thread before screwing on the Tie Rod. Torque to 80nm on the track rod. Install the dust cover. Install the Tie Rod - 37nm on the Tie rod nut. 53nm on the Tie rod lock nut - still not sure how you measure that.

The only bit that really caught me out was point '3' above. Before I detached the RH Tie Rod from the knuckle I couldn't get full travel on the rack - just the last few mm but that was enough to make the old bush impossible to remove.

I never really had any sort of rattle before hand - just figured that after 10 years it was a maintenance item. With the new bush installed the steering is definitely a little tighter.

Cheers

Justin