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Replacing Steering Rack

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  CroBaron 
#1 ·
I have a loud knocking coming from the front of the car when I turn the steering wheel. It's worse when the steering is under more load when parking etc. but can sometimes hear it when turning corners.

I had it checked at a garage and been told it's the steering rack. They checked the track rod ends etc. and there was no play in them and were confident the noise is coming from the steering rack.

So my question is, is it worth replacing with a used one (they seem to go pretty cheap on eBay). My worry is that mine has only covered 56k miles, so I wouldn't want to pay loads of labour to fit it, to then have problems with the used one. There are reconditioned ones on eBay for £100 offering a 2 year guarantee. But even if they did honour the guarantee it would cost more to have it changed again.

Does anyone know the cheapest place to get new ones from?
 
#2 ·
New racks are mega expensive ... several hundred at least and you probably can only get them through a dealer.

Make sure it's nothing simple first like the anti-roll bar or other suspension parts.

It's several hours work to change one as you need to drop the subframe to get the rack out ... I know, I'm looking at doing mine soon but I was going for a recon rack.
 
#4 ·
If the bar was replaced without being lubricated then it may be that again, it may be missing bolts allowing a bracket to rattle, or as simple as a droplink thread hitting a balance wieght. A steering rack is as big a job as it gets and not often the cause, I'd gofor a second opinion if I were you. Might even be just an exhaust bracket banging off the lower engine mount.
 
#5 ·
The noise when the anti roll bar went was very different. That was a loud clonking over bumps. This only happens when turning the wheel. I can sit stationary turning the wheel side to side to get the noise.

I know the mechanic so I know they wouldn't purposely say it was the rack if it wasn't, but I guess they could still be wrong about the cause of the noise. Might get a 2nd opinion before making a decision.
 
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