Aha! I was trying to install it with the bolt in place to save myself
hassles. I will remove the bolt and make sure its line up properly and
try it again. Thanks for the tip!

----- Original Message -----
From: Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 07:16:11 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: power steering rack replacement
To: Andy Stalick <andystalick@gmail.com>, vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com

Did you remove the bolt?  You will notice there is a notch cut out in
the spline on the rack.  The bolt going through the u-joint must line
up with this notch.  The bolt must be out of the u-joint for
installation or it will hit the spline.  Once installed, the bolt can
be re-installed.

Z

Andy Stalick <andystalick@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

So I am in the midst of replacing my power steering rack. The old one
came out with minimum problems. I flushed out the hydraulic system by
placing a bucket under the open hydraulic lines and cranking the
engine over until the fluid ran clean. I bolted the new rack into
place and got the tie rod ends in place in a reasonable approximation
of straight.

But I can't seem to get the steering rod and u-joint assembly into
place. The u-joint doesn't slip as far onto the rack's splined nub as
far as it did on the old rack, and consequently I can't get the two
plates on the other end to line up. I tried hammering it , and its
gotten tighter, but there's still not enough clearance. Now I'm not
even sure I can get it back off to try something new. Does anyone have
a tip for this last part of the job?

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