Steering rack ends in the AE71 need replacing. I can't find any info on doing this on the 'net - usually my search skills are beyond immediate reproach, even if not so once subjected to detailled and relentless scrutiny ... If someone has a link to some info, that would be very groovy.

 

Alternatively ... maybe someone can indulge me with answers to the following questions:

 

Before I start breaking out the ramps, tools, removing rack boots and generally opening a can of worms I don't want ... what's involved? :)

 

Is replacing the rack ends a big job (I've replaced inner and outer tie-rods and rebushed the whole front end on the 25 before ... ) best left to someone with appropriate presses etc, or is this yet another opportunity to upset the finely tuned wife/car time balance by spending an afternoon under the car?

 

If anyone has a recommendation of a workshop in Adelaide (city to northern suburbs ish) who'd do this without me having to sell either kidney ... that'd be good too.

 

cheers,

Slapper

I'd leave it to the mechanic... its one of those jobs that you COULD do yourself... however for all the consternation it causes I've always left this particular job in the capable hands of someone in possesion of a hoist and a smattering of more appropriate flogging devices.

 

My mechanic charges me fitty bucks and does it while I wait. (and its a regular occurence with my 'rollas due to their preference for less-than-perfectly-groomed dirt roads)

 

There's a mob on ebay wo sell rack ends for 20 bucks too...

 

PS the wife/girlfriend/car time balance is inversely proportionate to several factors... degree of difficulty VS time expenditure VS potential enjoyment co-efficient VS gnashing of teeth.... IE: if its a shit of a job, she won't care how long you spend working on it, and not her.

Try Pedders in Salisbury on Commercial Road

Get the pro's to do it before you get another wheel alignment, because changing them will throw the alignment out..

There's a mob on ebay wo sell rack ends for 20 bucks too...

 

dang it ... no AE71/KE70 rack ends at the moment though ...

I've dropped them an email to see if they can get them for me anyway.

At $50 a side from Sprint, Mr Ebay sounds like a good alternative!

 

I have managed to find some info about the work involved ... including difficulty getting spanners to fit into the slots on the rack and the ends to facilitate removal ... the various comments I've seen lead to the suspicion that I'll pay someone to do it.

 

Unless they want to charge me too much!

 

I will try Pedders on Commercial Road as that's quite close to work, although my previous experinece with Pedders is that they like to charge fairly gratuitously for work done - granted, that was a different Pedders workshop though ...

 

cheers,

Slapper