My ebay steering rack came today, and I started the removal of the bad one. It's a '94 SLS. Nowhere in the Haynes or theCadillac 5 lb. factory manual did it say anything about the semi-hard plastic boot over the pinch bolt and input shaft. Had to cut through that to get to the pinch bolt, and since that's where the thing was leaking all the fluid out, it drained all over my tools, my arm, etc.

Okay, now it wants me to remove the hydraulic lines. But my hydraulic fitting wrenches won't come close to accessing them. The stupid Haynes manual doesn't say to lower the rear of the subframe until the lines are off, but the Cadillac manual does. I know, I know, don't waste my money on a Haynes. I bought the Haynes tohelp with the '99 STS my wife drives, and the Cadillac manuals came with the '94.

At first I first thought I had the wrong rack, since there's an electric solenoid thing on the old rack, andnot on the new one. Then I saw that the boss where it mounts on the new one is just covered in black tape, and again looking at the Cadillac manual,found thatit's the speed-sensing gizmo (my word.)

So, I'll take another stab at it Friday night. If any of you who've done this before can help me avoid pitfalls here, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

How goes your steering gear project?

 

Tonight I removed the three easy bolts, lowered the subframe to the end of the subframe bolts turned in three or four turns from falling out, but couldn't get the two bolts that go through the main flange on the rack out. I did get the hose fitting off, thankfully they're not required to be really tight.

I sprayed some magic penetrating oil a friend brought over onto the remaining two bolts and into the threads from the bottom as well as where the rack contacts the subframe around those bolts. I'll let it sit overnight, spray it again in the morning, then ride my motorcycle to Laramie, WY with a bunch of other guys for a funeral for a friend who was killed a week ago on his bike when a Forest Service truck turned left across the highway in front of him. (Oh my, went on a tangent there.)

I suppose I'll use a tape measure to try and put the tie rod ends as close to where they were on the old rack as I can. I assume I should measure from a point on the rack itself toeach end as long as the input shaft is oriented exactly as the old one is.

This is a pain, but I'm saving hundreds of bucks. I only paid $1100 for the car w/160K on it. I think I may spend some of the money I saved on some inexpensive aftermarket wheels that won't look like a grandpa drives the thing.

I'm looking at some Enkei wheels from Discount Tire, on sale and out the door for $385. These aren't them, the ones I'm looking at have 15 spokes instead of ten like in this pic, and the center lug ring is bright not black. I'm staying with 16"becausemy tires are good and I want to retain ride and avoid pothole damage. Oops. Did I hijack my own thread? Sorry.

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Tape measure may get toe- in close, but you need to get it reset at alignment shop.Toe-in will wear your tires out quick and hurt fuel ecomony depending on how far its out.

 

My rack is acting up, intermittently hard to turn left. My mechanic quoted 5 hours labour at $65, so that's $325 plus the rack, fluid, lines if needed. I was quoted $253 for the rack at a local parts supply, $100 for the core. How much was the e-bay rack?

 

It was Buy It Now at $78.21, total with shipping, core & return label was $170 but I'll get $50 back when I return the old rack. Ebay # is 270077708428 if you wanna see if the seller has more.

Autozone is around $160 plus $75 core for a reman.

 

$78! Yikes, Is that thing legit? White box no doubt. I'll have a look though.

 

I just checked and they have 4 more. Well, it looks like new, came in a new box with some brand name on it, it's out in the barn & I can't remember the name now. I sure as heck hope it's good, because I don't wanna do this again.

OTOH, after having done it once it would be much less stressful the next time since I'll know what to expect. It's warranteed, seller has a great feedback rating..

 

Got the old rack out and the new one installed today. Took 2 1/2 hours to remove the last two bolts. Old LocTite and corrosion on the ends of the bolts made it tough. Replaced all the bolts with new ones. It was a job, but it works great.

Now on to mufflers. I bought some Cherry Bomb Turbo mufflers at Autozone and will be welding them on tomorrow. No, they're not glass packs. I did want a little more rumble than stock, but nothing obnoxious. It's obnoxious now with holes in both mufflers.

I scored a set of STS wheels Monday from craigslist for $200, so I had my existing tires mounted on them today. Looks much better. That's half what I would've spent on new Enkei's, and I wanted polished ones anyway to match the chrome trim on the car.

 

Drove around some today, it runs great, I cleared the codes and it sets these: P039, S020, S072, S073.

I'm not concerned about the ride control problems. I think the previous owner replaced the struts with aftermarket ones anyway, but the torque converter code sets the check engine light, and it doesn't lock up.

I'm loving the way it drives & rides. I welded on the Cherry Bomb Turbo mufflers I got at Autozone for $20 each. It's a little rumbly. Sounds a lot like my '85 Z-28 with a Dynomax cat-back. Won't be a big deal to upgrade to quieter (and more expensive) mufflers later if I get tired of it.