how would you know if you needed a new steering rack

[SILINC3R]

when i baught the car from my friend he told me he had hit a curb and bent the cv axle and that is why it would pop and click when turning. well soon afterwards the cv axle busted so i replaced it. the other side the boot tore so i went ahead and replced that one. well the pop didnt go away. when i am starting of a make a tight turn and not even that tight it will fell like it is stuck and then pop. it doesnt do this when i am at normal speeds, anything like 40+ plus. it doesnt seem dangerous just annoying. i am planning on just going ahead and putting in a new steering rack this semster to see what happens. plus one of the boots is torn and the other one looks like it leaks or something. can get the part for under 600 dallars from subaru. however i dont know how difficult it will be to perform but i know i will do it my self.

i know i ask a lot about doing improvements that you guys just think dont spend the money or if it isnt broken dont fix it but i cant help it. this is what i want to do in life is work on cars. hopefully for Subaru one day and evntually own my own shop. i want to make cars go faster and work more effiecently as possible, just as any other car does. this is my only true hobby and unfortunatly it can be a problem for me cause i will spend all my money if i could. i have spent hours and hours under my car with no concern for myself because i want to work on the car and make it better. got done with one project and had not eaten all day and burnt the crap out of my legs. the next morning put sweat pants on and did the same thing but this time burnt my back. kind of got off tangent but all i want to do is work on cars

[PhyrraM]

Check your control arms very carefully. If they are bent, then the axleshaft will be pushed in closer to the transmission. This may cause the inboard joint to 'bottom out' in its housing (it's designed to float) causing the sounds you are hearing.

I've never heard of a rack itself popping, but bad ball joints or tie-rod ends can make a popping sound when excessively worn.

[evolutionmovement]

Definitely sounds more tie rod or something bent than rack. A rack might feel loose or have a kind of sticking feel throughout the travel. Something popping is a parts alignment problem. $600 is way more than you need to spend for a rack. If you end up replacing it anyway, do a search on here for compatible racks and pick up a used one as they don't often go bad. Mine failed because I drove through almost 3 feet of standing water and the water got under the tie rod boots and sat there for a year. It can be done yourself. It's underneath the front of the crossmember. Just watch the 10mm bolts—spray the shit out of them with a good penetrant and let it sit since they are relatively fragile.

There's nothing wrong with keeping the car up—that's what makes them last and keeps them cheap, the trick is to only bother replacing what needs to be done. Not saying it isn't the rack, but it doesn't sound like one and there'd be no sense replacing it if the issue's somewhere else.

[SILINC3R]

so where the boots are is that the inner tie rod, and the outer connects to the steering knuckle. so just replace those.

[evolutionmovement]

No. Replace them if they're bad! But, yes, you have the parts ID'd right. Damage resulting in a bend top the tie rod should be obvious, but I doubt you have that problem. The other thing I thought of afterwards was balljoints and shot antiroll bar bushings. Check all of them.

Jack up front of car.

Pull wheel in and out with your hands alternately pushing and pulling at the top and bottom of the wheel. If anything moves, it's a balljoint. Look at it while moving wheel to confirm.

Shake wheel side to side. If it feels loose, wiggling with no resistance, it's a tie rod(s). Inner will show play at the rack end, outer will show play at the knuckle. This might be easier to do with just one wheel jacked since you won't have the steering rack moving in and out as you would with both wheels in the air.

Those are both good checks to do every year or so even if you don't have a problem yet just to know the state of your front end. Torn boots will tell you that part will go bad relatively soon so you can prepare or head it off before it can start affecting your tires.

Visually check your control arms. If these were bent, though, you'd have alignment issues and your tires would tell you the story if the pulling to one side wouldn't. Unless someone aligned it with a bent control arm. That would be odd, but not unheard of.

I'm not really sure how to test the antiroll bar bushings. Best thing I know is to just look at them—if they don't look like they're able to do the job of cushioning the joint, then they're probably bad. They're mainly just annoying and won't hurt anything, but I'd replace them if they look shot because I hate odd noises in my cars.

Hopefully it will be one of those things (what's more annoying than a problem you can't identify? OK, there are probably a bunch of things, but that's still high on the list). Hopefully, the antiroll bar bushings as they're cake to do, cheap, and you can wait to do them until whenever you get the chance while the alternatives will only get worse, eat tires, and eventually become a safety issue.

[SILINC3R]

sweet thanks for the help ill have to check tomorrow

[SILINC3R]

so has anybody used the Whiteline Front Roll Center Adjustment Kit and which one did you get like what year and model. i think i may try this to get rid of the poping since it is really irratating since i drive very frequently now that i am done with school and working everyday

[tahiti350]

Maybe I'm readinig his problem differently, but it sounds more like center differential bind the way he is decribing it...

"when i am starting of a make a tight turn and not even that tight it will fell like it is stuck and then pop. it doesnt do this when i am at normal speeds, anything like 40+ plus. it doesnt seem dangerous just annoying."

Thoughts from the Guru's????

[n2x4]

Maybe I'm readinig his problem differently, but it sounds more like center differential bind the way he is decribing it...

You're right, that's what it sounds like, but his signature says he's FWD, so I don't think it's a center diff issue

I have the Whiteline RCA kit. It was for a WRX. It's nice, but awful expensive unless you have a reason to buy the parts. I needed it to correct my camber issues from being lowered.

You're also screwed if you need replacements, I haven't found anywhere that sells a balljoint or tierod end from whiteline separately.

Yes there are performance gains, but I vote don't spend all that money on them.

[tahiti350]

Maybe I'm readinig his problem differently, but it sounds more like center differential bind the way he is decribing it...

You're right, that's what it sounds like, but his signature says he's FWD, so I don't think it's a center diff issue

DOH...

[94legacy2.2]

to me it sounds like the gear inside the rack.

Mine did that in that last rack. It was very loose and would pop when I turn the wheels or take off hard.
I replaced it with a rack bought here and it was great til now, mines doing it again.
I tried to build a rack out of 2 that I had but it didnt work. The internals are just to worn down.




Best thing to do it jack it up a little (not off the ground) and have someone shake the steering wheel back and forth and feel both sides. It can be outter/inner tie rods, or the gear track inside the rack.

[SILINC3R]

i still need to test this

[skid542]

I don't have any input on your steering rack.

However, I do have the Whiteline RCA kit installed and have been very happy with it. Super easy to install and noticable gains - particularly with stock suspension. I'm not lowered but it did help the front stay a little more planted during the corners.

Nate is right, it's a lot of money if you don't have to replace the parts anyways. However, if you need to swap ball joints - you may as well spend the same money to get performance parts as an OEM set. A lot of comes down to personal desires - is it worth $190 for an ALK kit? Same deal, where do you want to spend your money?

My vote is to get it if you have the money and can keep the car from sliding into curbs.

[SILINC3R]

yea i think im going to replace the outer tie rods and ball joints with Whiteline when i get the chance