[Supranforever]

I have a question about the Rack and Pinion boot installation, the new boots came with zipties, I'm going to clean my old clamps from the stock ones and use those if they're alright, if they're not I'll go get newer clamps as zip ties do not seem sufficient enough for me. Second, the instructions say to "cut and remove old boots, inspect for seal leakage, fit new boots and apply zip ties." Now, my question is, do I need to pack the boots with some kind of grease, if so, what kind and how much? I am Kind of assuming they need to be packed with some kind but I don't know what. Any help would be appreciated before I put these on and go get an alignment Thanks guys! *Stupid search feature being down*

 

[Supranforever]

TTT? Would really like to know, has noone ever changed the rack and pinion bellows before?

 

[Poodles]

ok, seeing as how I just did this not too long ago, I can help.

You need to mark your tierods, and then count EXACTLY how many turns it takes to take them off (THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT). You don't have to remove them from the knuckle though, just undo the locknut and start twisting the inner tierod.

Once that's done, remove the clamps (yes clean them and reuse, put them back on the same way they where on too). Then, pull the boot off (it might be a bit touch, as they pop on to the housing and shaft. I turned the wheel all the way to that side so the rod would come out as far as possible so I could clean it out really well. I was lucky and hadn't driven it much with torn boosts, you may have a head inner tierod, or tons of gunk. Anyway, I worked some grease back into the inner tierod end, pushed the new boot on, and used the old clamps to keep it on. There is no need to pack it with grease, it would only come out anyways.

Now, you HAVE to put the outer tierod ends back on the exact same amount of times or your alignment will be WAY off and cause all sorts of issues. It's not hard, just tedious, and if you marked everything it makes it easy. Get everything back together, make sure you tighten the lock bolts on the tierod end, and you're done.

 

[Supranforever]

So I unscrew the outer tie rod, marking it before I do, and counting turns while taking it off? Cut off old boot or just pull it off, clean the tie rods inner/outer of grease/gunk, work new grease into the inner area/put new boot on, thread outer tie rod on same number of turns I counted taking it off. Clean old clamps and re-use them, tighten all bolts and blah blah blah and I'm good before I take it to the alignment shop?

 

[Poodles]

if you do it right, you won't need an alignment

cutting the old boot off is harder than just pulling it off IMHO, and you risk posibly damaging something...

 

[Supranforever]

I am only getting an alignment because the camber is killing my tires and I figured I'd replace these before I get one. BTW: thanks for the help buddy, I was really wondering about that grease part lol.

 

[Poodles]

yeah, more than likely there will be some grease/ATF fluid in the old boots from seepage, but no real reason to lubricate much of anything besides the inner tierod...