BLUE1972

Pulled the rack today due to a huge pothole causing damage. No where to go in the middle lane.
It was getting to be time as it had the normal hints. Hard to turn when first started and sometimes shudder when driving in really cold weather.

My question has anyone used the Auto-Zone rack. They claim 2 day arrival.

I would like to get the car together for a drive in 2 weeks , so I was thinking of going that way..

I also looking for a local rebuilder here on Long Island.. have one prospect - will call tomorrow..

9T3VETTE

Personally I have not used them, but read lots of great things over the years.

https://www.turnone-steering.com/pag...lding-services

xrav22

I used a local rebuilder for mine and mine was not turning anymore. The fluid leaks and puts pressure the opposite way to stop turning of the rack.
Mine is still working after 2 years. I like the locals.

vette196

check out a recent post from Went, he just did his rack with Turnone

BLUE1972

Found a local guy Ronkonkoma L.I., N.Y. He has been in business since 1950's. He had one in stock and was lower cost than everyone else.

We talked and he is a great car guy...

Should put it in Monday or so - it's raining / snowing at 45 degrees..

Deepa

How hard of a job was it?

Hiw many hours to pull?

mike

BLUE1972

Took me 5 hours to get it out. It was original. A straight removal would be 3 to 4 hours.

I did not work my self to death, coffee is a must. Also cleaning parts as you go helps.

I put the front of the car on jack stands.
Disconnect the battery.
Pull the front wheels.
Pull the fan,
Pull the belt,
Pull the PS reservoir ,
I pulled the Alt and pump w/ mount/housing to get to the hoses. I could not break loose the fittings on the rack with a crows foot.
Pull the outer tie rods.
Take out the sway bar. - the bolts were frozen. ( thank god for FREEZ-OFF)

Remove the racks bolts. The ones on the passenger side strap are a real PIA to get to.

Loosen the universal steering link on the rack. Remove the locking bolt. Slide the universal / swivel off the rack.
Manipulate the rack out the sway bar hole. (drivers side) It fits but is tight.


Have many beers or Youkan Jack shots...

The next day , take to rebuilder and re do the steps in reverse.


The Haynes book is wrong in a lot of steps, it says lift out the rack - only if the engine is out.. The biggest problem is figuring out how to get to the bolts and manipulate the parts to get them out.


The rebuilder claims 2 day turn around.

Deepa

Thanks.

My steering is heavy on my 91

was fine before a motor swap...changed the pump and it started. Pump was junk, swapped another , and it’s better but at idle there’s low assist.

I may try another pump first. If not, rack comes out.

Thank you.

BLUE1972

Try adding a little Lucas power steering fix.

It helped mine. I knew the "O" rings were shot - morning sickness - hard steering..

fparkin

I going try this in my 84 see if it helps rack

Deepa

I switched away from synthetic fluid to Lucas. It helped a ton and made the car drivable.

Ill swap the res fluid again.

BLUE1972

According to the rebuilder I used, the steering shaft gets sloppy and the fluid goes everywhere. The Teflon rings get contaminated and this adds to the issues. Mine was loose where it attaches to the steering mid shaft. That is the worn Teflon.

The Lucas helped for 4 years.. not bad.. the pot hole did it in.

waddiejohn

What Lucas stuff are you guys using. I have a reman'd sport rack coming in a couple of days and would like to use the best. Car has been giving fits. I changed all the hoses and pump, flushed the system and all I got was noise. Couldn't hold vacuum and couldn't bleed the air out so I ordered a rack and pinion from Denny's Corvette.
Valvoline is the only brand I've seen that actually references the GM spec number for PS fluid.

BLUE1972

With a new rack you should not need anything but clean fresh PS fluid.

When I was talking to the rebuilder, he said remember to flush the system before installing the new rack.

I already had changed the hoses and ran clean fluid through the pump = spinning it by hand, cleaned out the reservoirs - a lot of dirt came out. So the rebuilder was right, junk in the system.

For a worn rack I used Lucas Powering Steering Fluid . From AutoZone - it says it stops leaks and hard steering. It works..

VikingTrad3r

This may sound nuts but it worked for me. like everything on my roach 86, it was used up and the ps system was full of black fluid. many hard spots.

i use atf in my cars. it works great.

i also use atf + acetone mixed 50/50 as my own penetration oil and its the best ive used.

so i had this idea that i was going to circulate some atf + acetone mix throughout the ps system. it worked amazingly well. it freed up junk and grime out of the system. i idid this while the car was lifted and rotated the wheel to fill stops left and right about a hundred times.

then i flushed it a few times using pure atf. then on the last fill i used 50/50 blend of atf and lucas power steering help stuff.

amazingly my steering issues were completly solved.

ymmv, i did this and it worked for me. i figured the worst that could happen was i needed new parts which i was headed towards anyway.

catso

My guess is the acetone-ATF mix caused the seals to swell, besides cleaning out some gunk; keep us posted on low long it works

VikingTrad3r

been a year and a half so far. working great.

catso

I guess I now know what this weekend's Vette project will be for me!

VikingTrad3r

A cheap jug of ATF and a cheap bottle of acetone. Then I was very sure that I flushed with pure ATF to make sure the acetone was out of the system. Then I did the 50-50 with Lucas As final top up., Very happy with it. I’m taking the car to the track this Saturday so I guess I’ll find out if it can handle heat

catso

How did you flush? Did you remove a hose or just use the turkey baster method?