How hard is it to replace the rack?
It is done often by car owners and takes about a half a day. It is a lot easier than replacing your kitchen cabinets but a bit more time consuming than the alternator. We would say somewhat close to time and effort to do your shocks. Here is the common scenario: You need to get the car in the air safely, this means either on goods jack stands (don’t try rely on the car’s jack) or on a lift. You disconnect the hydraulic lines at the rack. Loosen the bolt in the universal collar attaching the steering shaft to the rack’s pinion (input shaft). Remove two bolts (typical) holding the rack to the cross member. Disconnect the tie rods either at the spindle or between the inner and outers. Sometimes slightly jack up the motor on one side (early model cars). Pull the rack out of the car. Remove the rack boots (just cut the old ones off because you are going to use new ones later). Turn the racks pinion so the rack shaft’s end with the gear is all the way out of the housing. Bend back the inner
