Nº 1 son has just bought himself a KJ, so we were thinking of buying his TS off him for Nº 2 son. Was ours before passing on to Nº 1, & it's given us next to no trouble over the years :)

However...

3 mths ago, Nº 1 put new tyres on it, but NOW he tells me that a wheel alignment couldn't be done, because "something or other" :roll: has had it.
Upon further prompting, he says he remembers something about the rack & pinion, & something else. Haven't had a chance to look for worn parts yet.

Had plenty to do with the old style steering in the past (holdens & fords pre mid '70's) - steering box, idler arm, ball joints etc, never done anything with rack & pinion.
What would I be looking for, is it doable replacing rack & pinion is back yard, & (roughly) cost???

Cheers :)

If my two TSs are anything to go by, the steering is quite good as far as wear goes. The troubles I have had include leaks at the rack pinion, and worn out/clunky tie rods. These have ball joints under the boots at the ends of the steering rack, if the boots are torn look for play in those ball joints and the tie rod ends themselves. Replacing these is cheap but you need to pull the rack out to do it. Doable in your back yard. You will need a wheel alignment after. Also check that the ball joints are ok, they can go dry with age and the boots can tear, but if there is no play you can add grease and get some aftermarket boots for them. Tie rods and boots cost me less than $100. (check Repco, other car parts places). Check driveshafts boots while you are there.

Recon racks go for about $350, if you don't want to bother with doing the tie rods and tie rod ends yourself, or if it is leaking badly. Power steering pump needs to be bled as per the manual, or it will be noisy for a while.

Thanks MadMax :)

Had a chance to climb under her this afternoon.
Had her up on some boards, so weight on the steering. Had the young bloke rock the steering back & forth (with engine running), but couldn't see any slack/play anywhere.
All boots are in fine condition, no cracks or splits (unless on top where I can't see).
Jacked the front up, & couldn't feel any (abnormal) play.
It's always had a slight knock sound on the left front - when hitting a pothole for instance, since we bought it.

Any ideas???

Could be...(since I've gone though the EXACT thing this week with the Diamante)
Worn D shackle bushes in front sway bar (I replaced them anyway as they WERE SHAGGED @ $18 for poly replacements)
Sway bar links? (Cheap at wreckers off another 3rd gen
lower control arm rear bush's shagged?
any bump stops in your strut?
or could be a totally dead strut.

in the end for me, it was a strut so rooted, rooted isnt even how you'd describe how rooted it was. without a spring, it'd just collapse on itself.
$25 later with a 2nd hand one from the wreckers, noise gone :)

Also tie rod ends can be done with the just the wheel off, no need to take the rack out!

"Also tie rod ends can be done with the just the wheel off, no need to take the rack out!"


yep, tie rod ENDs can be, but the tie rods tghemselves can't be.

try another wheel alignment mob

get a report on paper

"Also tie rod ends can be done with the just the wheel off, no need to take the rack out!"


yep, tie rod ENDs can be, but the tie rods tghemselves can't be.

My mistake. sorry about that.

Thanks for advice :)
Car will be sitting all weekend, so will give it a thourogh (sp?) inspection.
If I can't see anything, will take your advice Magna Buff...good idea :)

"Also tie rod ends can be done with the just the wheel off, no need to take the rack out!"


yep, tie rod ENDs can be, but the tie rods tghemselves can't be.

Ummm why not, I always do the rack ends with the rack still in, is a little hard to get to but certainly can be done no issues

Best bet, jack up the car, wheels off the ground, try and feel for any play in all directions by holding the wheel and moving

OR go to another wheel allignment shop as may be a case of the place trying to stitch your son, similar case, had a female customer who came to me today with her Ford Terrible, she was told that the rear link bushes were had it, funny thing is they need to be removed to even inspect them. Short story long, the bushes are fine and the place was trying to take her for a ride