steering rack bushings 97 base
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 776
Likes: 98
From: carroll ohio
steering rack bushings 97 base
headed to the finish line on my balancer replace and having a little trouble with the passenger side rubber bushings on the rack. when I removed that side it came out very easy. going back in seems like a super tight fit. I haven't got it in yet and i'm wondering if that rubber bushing had swelled up a bit. I just moved the rack towards the passenger side back in December to get enough clearance to remove and install the new balancer. really don't want to mess the aluminum tabs up on that side which would be a disaster. I'll go out tomorrow and see if I can get it to go in without too much trouble. open for suggestions. thanks Denny
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Pro
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 511
Likes: 65
From: Vancouver BC
Sounds like you are on the right track. My 2010 rack went in so much easier than my 2003 rack i thought i had dropped a shim. Do yourself a huge favour and get rid of the bushing (rubber) and install an aluminum bushing. Less than fifty bucks.... huge difference
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 776
Likes: 98
From: carroll ohio
thanks for the reply don. did not realize they had an aluminum bushing for the rack. i'll google it and see if i can locate one for my rack. would they sell these here in the states? thanks again.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 776
Likes: 98
From: carroll ohio
just ordered one from DRM. thanks for the heads-up. the forum is priceless. I beat the 240 ft. lbs torque on the balancer bolt by using a torque multiplier as suggested by a member here. I strained my lower back in late December getting to 240 on the old bolt. took a little more than 2 months to recover. used the ARP bolt to finish. thanks again.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2024
Posts: 20
Likes: 9
Just installed the DRM bushing, did notice an improvement. Install was not as easy as I thought it would be, passenger side was tight, had to beat on top of the rack with a piece of wood and dead blow hammer to get it to seat back in the "saddle".
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 776
Likes: 98
From: carroll ohio
I put my factory bushing back in as it was in good shape. my DRM bushing needed some aluminum taken off in order to fit the saddle. i.d of saddle was 1.490 and DRM bushing was 1.70something installed on rack. i'm a little short on time for this project so I installed the factory bushing for now as I did not feel like shaving off close to an 1/8 from each side of the DRM. I also did not want to hammer it on like you did. looks like yours is on now and in good shape. wasn't that rack fun to install? lol.
