Removing Steering Rack Bushes - a different order and notes

[airheadboxer]

I’ve just replace my steering rack bushes, and at the risk of being seen to re-invent the wheel, I thought I’d share some observations and the technique I used to remove the old bushes. It is a variation on a theme but even so may be of interest.

Whichever way you do it, if you are prising or levering the bush the secret seems to be that each time you prise or lever the rubber you need to hold the tension on for a few seconds. This allows the stretched rubber to contract and help pull the bush forwards a little at a time. As you go round the bush doing this it also allows the bush to “peel” itself away from any area where it has self-bonded  to the wall of the bush mounting – sometimes there was a sound as it peeled away.

I don’t have power steering, so I can’t be sure if the following technique is suitable where it is fitted.

 Instead of the usual lowering the rack then removing the bushes, I removed the bushes with the rack still bolted in place. The benefit as I see it with this way is that there is existing pressure on the back of the bush to start with, and once you start to prise/lever  out the bush all that existing pressure and initial prising/levering effort and movement can only start to make it go in one direction – outwards, and that is a good start Also, with the rack still bolted there is no movement in it while you work.

So:
-              Remove the top bolt on one side and the lower bolt on the other side. The benefit of this is that it left the rack still secured to its mounting and continuing to apply pressure to the back lip of the bushes.

-              On each unbolted bush I used a strong thin screwdriver to start prising the bush out. The left and right sides are the best to begin with as the bush narrows on these sides. On each prise I held the pressure and waited a few seconds for the distorted  rubber to contract and in effect to pull itself out a little bit at a time. This also broke any seal the bush had made with the rack.

-              When it looked like the bush had move outwards a couple of millimetres or so (which suggests the back lip on the bush is now inside the rack mounting)  I then used a large round Philips type screwdriver in the bush centre and levered side to side and up down, again pausing each time to hold the pressure on the screwdriver. It didn’t take long at all for the bush to come out.

-              Once these two were out I replaced the washers and bolts (without the bushes, natch) and nipped up the nuts to keep the rack steady and the pressure on the back of the remaining bushes.

-              I undid the other two bolts and removed the two bushes using the same technique.

-              Then I lowered the rack, checked for any levering marks round the rim of the mounting and cleaned up the mounting.

OK, it is a bit more fiddly this way, but as you can see, no cutting, drilling or hammering. Maybe I was lucky, but it was a easy result.

If you want to compare bush removal techniques:
-              Here is Italjohn on Youtube (his moto “How difficult can it be”). He uses the prising/levering method but with the rack lowered. He also uses WD40 to help things along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2gTpzKnivY

-              This link is to a different method used on Sir Advenure with the rack lowered. It did the trick:
https://vwt25.blog/2016/09/18/powerflex ... mount-kit/

And another thing, it seems some people have been able to lower the rack without raising the front wheels off the ground. Well I didn’t raise the front to start with and I had a heck of a job lowering the rack. There just wasn’t enough slack or wiggle room until I raised one wheel which allowed me to move the wheels left and right, albeit with difficulty. If I ever do this job again I’d raise the front end at the start for extra room and for more movement in the rack for lowering.

And one more thing – if you are using replacement rubber bushes - on my rack all 4 bushes had been inserted with the flat sides vertical (or to put it another way the flat sides were on the left and right-hand side of the hole). You can see this at 2.03 onwards on one bush in the first link above and very clearly in one of the photos in the second link.

 I can't be sure if using the original type bushes would have had the same result as the polybushes I used,  but now, when I turn the wheel (non power assisted), it’s not like winding up a spring before something happens, it’s much more direct. You don't realise what you are putting up with until it changes. That said, in recents high winds there was still some wander, but not as much though.

Well, that’s my experience and observations. I hope it is of some use if anyone is thinking of doing it.

[jamesakers]

The prising method makes complete sense now you've explained it, thank you for sharing. I'd be trying that if I had original bushes.

The hammer technique was not the most elegant solution, especially as there is limited space for it to go!

[TONYT25T25]

Just adding my thanks to this so I can recall it easier in the future when I do a search.