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I just finished pulling my steering rack in preparation for a new harmonic balancer and I have a few questions.
1). Are the oblong nuts that secure the tierod ends to the spindle reusable or are they the kind that crush into shape when torqued and need to be replaced? I'll attach a picture.
2) I noticed the two holes where I pulled the power steering lines from are different inside. Is that normal? I'll attach a pic of that as well.
3) I intend to lower the cradle to help with clearance when removing the rack. I loosened the four 21mm nuts but the cradle wouldn't drop. If I stuck a prybar in between the frame and the cradle I could get it to move but when I removed the prybar it would just spring back up with tension. Also the studs that the nuts were on all wiggle around as if they are just floating in the frame. They aren't rigid at all. Is that normal? I was still able to use this wiggle room to make room for for the rack to come out. I'll attack a pic of one of the 4 bolts I loosened. Tierod Tierod fasteners Power steering line sockets Cradle nut Success. Wasn't at all as hard as many make it out to be.
1. I reused mine and can't find anything in the documentation I have that says to replace them.
2. Yep that's normal
3. Both the cradle springing up and the studs wobbling are normal too. I just had mine out and had to use wedges to keep the cradle down to get the rack out.
You also want to avoid using impact tools on the cradle nuts because you don't want the rivets that keep the studs from spinning to break. If they break you won't be able to tighten the nuts and you have to get into the frame to get to them.
Pull the radiator and you don't have to lower the cradle. The rack comes out easy, move it up the passenger side and out the drivers.
The nuts can be reused. Although the cradle nuts are supposed to be replaced according to the FSM.
Last edited by feeder82; Dec 13, 2020 at 08:11 PM.
Fastener questions (steering rack)
