New v Recon steering rack

[Ian Jones]

Hello All

I'm a little ahead of myself with this question but here goes.

I have a knocking from the front nearside wheel area when driving over small potholes/ripples etc. I have checked all the usual suspects - trackrod end balljoint, kingpin, tiebar, damper mounting, wheel bearings, wheel nuts - everything I can see. The steering rack feels worn and noisy when I turn the raised wheel by hand - I have got lubricant in there. I'm becoming convinced that the rack is the problem. I can't get back into the garage for a couple of days to separate the trackrod end balljoint and have a feel for play in the inner joint.

In anticipation, I've been looking at replacement racks. Recon ones seem to be around the £70 mark plus the cost of returning my old one. I can buy a new one from a well-known supplier (not sure if we can use names on this forum, but I've heard nothing bad about them) for £125 all in. The question I have is this - does anyone know whether the new ones are equal quality to the originals (when reconditioned) in terms of materials used etc? Might I be getting a better quality product with a recon unit (as well as saving money). I seem to remember reading somewhere about the new ones being "sealed for life" and not needing maintenance lubrication. Is my memory playing tricks and is this a good thing anyway - I don't mind a squirt of oil every now and again.

Also looking back through the forum I found a reference to replacement method written by Phil which had been very useful in addition to the workshop manual. Despite much searching I can't find Phil's post. Can anyone point me at it?

Regards

Ian