Steering Rack Play?

[Burning Angel]

Well I took my starlet in the three mile hill climb recently and the handling was really less than ideal.

at speed it kinda feels loose and unpredictable like it wants to spin out.

once i turned into a corner though it handled fine.

i had a look over the car and found the left hand side of the steering rack has 2-3mm up and down play. I imagine this could be a large contributor to my problem.

Anyway can you rebuild the rack, or will I have to find a replacement?
Its a KP61 BTW

[Mr Revhead]

is it in the rack? or is it the rack mounting?
Racks are rebuildable, theres a bush that can wear causing some movement. though I would have thought that would manifest itself more through wheel slop than up and down movement in the rack.

[Burning Angel]

its definitely in the rack, not the mounting.

its only up and down movement, theres no backlash in the rack, you can dial out backlash with the large screw on the back of the rack anyway.

[Heylin]

Yep you certainly can rebuild the rack, I had the same problem with the MR2 (power steering rack). About 3-5mm play where the control rack arm goes into the rack (inner rack end).

Cost wise your looking at around $450-$550 for a rack rebuild which usually includes the rack ends, + another $60 for a wheel alignment.

And depending on car about 4 hours labour to remove and install the rack itself. Power steering has a few more things that need to be unhooked.

While its out youll also want them to replace the rack mounting bushes, these are about $40-$60 a pair, mine were virtually falling apart.