Trexthe3rd

I believe I am in need of a new FD steering rack. Has anyone ever replace theirs or know good places to purchase one. Mazdatrix doesnīt have them, I hope it is not a stricktly dealer part.
If you have replaced yours, how was the operation. Level of difficulty, duration etc. TIA.

Turboanka

Why do you think you need to replace your rack?

Trexthe3rd

Steering at highway speeds are wobbly and very unstable (if the steering is bad at 60mph just imagine it at 120+). It is down right scary. The alignment was done and re-checked by different people. The tie rods are band new (both left and right). The only thing left is the rack itself. I hope not. I am definitely open to suggestions.

user 84205

You should be able to tell if the rack is messed up, when you changed the tie rods.. What about wheel balance?

Trexthe3rd

Wheel balance was also checked. When the tie rod was replaced, the rack didnīt seem to have any problems. The steering instability progressively gotten worse over the last 3 months.

user 84205

HUH.... You got me man.... It pays to be the one to drive it, do you do all your own maintence?

peejay

How old are the tires? How out of round are they? What about the rims?

I highly doubt it's the rack.

V8 Lover

i doubt it is the rack too. Check fluid, tires, balance, tread life, and alignment.... then double check it.

Coulthard Fan

Check everything else first - this is a VERY expensive part if you need a new one... like $1500 from a dealer. I got a little too close to a curb recently and had to replace mine, well technically a bodyshop replaced it, so I can't even tell you what to look for or how hard it was, sorry.

How many miles on your FD? Did you look around for a remanufactured one? My bodyshop said a remanufactured rack was approximately $300 but he recommended a new one for me anyway. (All other parts replaced from my accident were new, I didn't want junkyard sh*t on my car.) It didn't matter to me either way since my insurance is picking up the most of the tab for it but if it was my money I'd seriously consider the reman route.

Best of luck.
Scott

Alex

Have you checked out the rest of the suspension? The control arm bushings or ball joints could be gone. It could be front or rear. Also check all the connections in the steering column. It could be play in the intermediate shaft bearings, though it sounds more like a suspension problem.

Trexthe3rd

Thanks, Iīll be spending a whole day this weekend on a complete tear down of the front suspension components to try to track down the source of the problem. I hope itīs not the rack, but someone on the forum has one off a 94 for 220.00, just in case it is.

There is 109K on the car.

To be honest, I have never heard of the rack going bad on itīs own. Itīs usually damaged by seriouse impact. Weīll see this saturday.