Bushings are a piece of cakeI have play in my steering rack. 19 R, what all do I need to order? just the 4$ bushings? or the whole inner knuckle.?
How hard of a job is it to replace these?
If you have to pull the rack the diff has to come out. Which means the stupid driveshaft clip has to come out. Then you have to take the front shaft loop.
We've gotten around removing the floor to get the shaft loop out. But the clip in the diff is a pain. We either, rip it out with a pair of vice grips on a slide hammer or if the rack is bad we just grind the lower edge of the rack adjusting nut off to clear the diff.
Grinding the rack let's you keep the driveshaft clip in the diff and just slide it foward enough.
does the rack have to come out to replace the bushings?
If past experience (and by the looks of the exploded view from the service manual) are any indication, I think you will find that the bushings are split/collapsible and held in my a outer "lip" of some sort. That means the rack needs to come out of the housing and that will require a complete steering gear breakdown. So yes, I would say an entire steering gear box removal is necessary...does the rack have to come out to replace the bushings?