lil oil leak afta stored winter..strange thang is its way on left side by wheel..long story chort i rekon i blowd out the left side rack seal (fug!) i cleaned all up good,,n then emptied n added jug a lucas stop leak (yea werked fuggan great too) i pump wheel a few times n dint hafta look its all ova floor.. i did search n see nawta jack chit ceptin cc mentions did his,,so cc n any udda bruddas how bad is it ...im gonna buy the elcheapo cardone reman (nevo had issues wid master n such) now evin wid real careful countin on the tie rods i still will hafta pop fer n alignment wont i? aw the good ol daze of cj5s when ya use pipe wrenchs n tape measure..any tips help pix be great rednecks

I would get it aligned.

I am replacing the rack on mine as well and I've also wondered about aligning it. I plan to set the new rack as close to the old one as possible then check the alignment myself. You need only worry about the toe settings which are pretty easy. It's not like you'll be doing a full four wheel alignment. A quick toe and go at a shop would likely be fairly cheap though, $60?

Here follow the directions at this link:

http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/align.pdf

prolly me ,,but i cant make that load ,,sez error..preciate it thou..im thinkin like you ,,aways count tunrs etc to try be close as kin,,then go fum there..n prolly hafta align front..really gittin her high nuff will be my issue..well i hope thats all,,now ill fuggan break er strip sumthin..
ps anybody evo popped the seals in the ends??? mines blown on left side..werth the effort er jus git rebuilt?

Measuring Toe
Toe is measure by measuring the difference in track between the front of your tires, and
the rear of the same tires. You can use toe-plates, but I fine a straight edge and a tape
measure works just fine. My method is great for the solo mechanic.
1. I measure my “difference” where the rim and tire meet. It is far enough away
from the tire “bulge” but not so far out that you are on the face of the tire. See
location of ruler in picture below. Slide tape under car, and ensure it is in this
position on both sides of car.
2. Once tape is under vehicle, hold straight edge firmly against the tire and pull tape
firmly against it. The tape should sit firmly on the ground, and should hold its’ position
when you remove the straight edge.
2. Go to the other side of the vehicle. Hold straight edge in exactly the same
position (where tire and rim meet), and slide the straight edge down against the
tape measure. Read where the two touch, on the shorter side of the tape. In this
example, it is 67 ¾”
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4. Repeat steps 1-3 on the back of the same 2 wheels. Measure that distance and
simply calculate the difference. For instance, if the front of the tire measure 67
¾” and the rear measure 68 ¼”, then your tires would be toed-in ½” TOTAL.

The Cardone looked like a piece of shit with spray paint on it. And on top of that it was a standard rack with a Z51 part number.

No thanks. I returned it and bought a rack from these guys: meridianautoparts.com

I think a power steering leak is more likely than a rack leak though.

thanks aard,,what is the actual toe in on front of front wheel posed ta be..like ol jeeps were 1/4 toe in n good..
cc i hope i dont hafta say yer right ,,ill go look at that site...tooks 3 hrs well 2hrs to git ready to remove n hr to fug wid the high pressure hose that wouldnt let loose,,then nuthar 1hr a fanaglin round tryun ta git it out ,,then spilt oil had caught n quit fer night (rack still sittin in car) looked thru book to see oh chit sum models hafta remove stablizar bar n that was my hang up...so taday ill drop that n hopefully git it out,,as fer leak,,fug bruthas the drivers side had blowd so bad i could push in the tie rid n itd gurgle out fillin rubba boot,,motors very clean no doubts is that rack.. n ps have a purty fair tool box,,yet hadda go git 18 metric flare,,yet were a standard 18 that finally cracked that to fuggan tight a nut,,once rack free n turnt sideways etc

went to meridian site n dint log fer prices but 1st thang i noticed were in pic it explains best there is in catologin n this is exact pic etc yet ain the right one fer me,, 84 z51 but has the clampstyle on pass. side n pic showed mounts same on each side..will try n call lil later
nuthar question as i fergot to check befoe yanked apart is what is the steer ratio,,she was short n is z51 so is it 2 turns lock ta lock er 2 1/2 lock ta lock,,guessin short since chure was..anybody check fer er know befoe i order one thanks paps

woo hoo do it git deep ifn ya really dig ,,they say heavy duty suspension sport z51 is 47 3/4 total length 11/16ths shaft wid 2 full turn lock...but!! another builder sez nope go by the lock ta lock count period..well jus ta mindfug me ..mines a 84 z51 has the z51 n the fe7 in the codes ,,yet has a 5/8ths knuckle er shaft ,,yet has short throw 2 turn lock ta lock,,wud the fug !! so they build vets like ol harleys? wud evo had that day ya run er what??? ill finsh me saga when i git er done..right now have a 2 1/4 turn 5/8ths shaft on order..hope this bs helps ,,i hate gittin wrong parts!!

I don't know what's the deal with their photos, maybe that's just the bushing sitting next to the rack. I installed a 80-00326. I did notice the rack increased the turning radius... It may be a 2 turn rack but I only get about 1.9 out of it, so there's something limiting the travel vs. what I removed. Maybe that's just an inherent part of the rebuild process.

The guy I know that works there says these are rebuilt at their factory in Michigan, they sell out of San Diego.


BTW, don't use the Energy Suspension kit's poly bushing for the steering rack, just use the rubber that it comes with. The poly is too wide and eventually will loosen up when it finally compresses. Then you'll have a ton of play in your steering and have to keep retightening it.

Quote:

David's method is decent but one thing to remember is that measuring toe at the rim vs maeauring with toe plates or the CL of the tire will have different dimensions. A 1/4 measutement at the rim may be 3/8ths at the tire.

It's not a big deal as long as you know that it happens and if you're discussing toe in with someone, you need to know how they are doing the measurement.

thanks fellas preciate all the werds a wisdom,,shes a done deal,,pulled fri at lunch (had all loose jus hadda drop stabliza bar) i orderd right fum motor shop here (cats i trust) cardone remain 167.total looks same as one removed..ceptin stock had 2 turn this one is 2 1/4 (thought would be evin betta fer me,,since she is jumpie on ruff roads)now installed i cant tell any diff thou...strange thang is car has the eu7 n z51 in the codes yet accordin to our book thats a stadard cars rack,,at any rate its a 2 1/4 turn n was zactly 47 long ,,same as ol one n had the 5/8ths input shaft,,but is 2 1/4 ratha then 2 lock ta lock..direct bolt in thou..n set up wid countin my threads etc n seems to be right on since were same length,,no shimmy no drift etc..so run as is er think i should have aligned anyways??? total rack length a 47 on both so kinda like pulled n replaced same so do i need to align?? thanks again bruthas ,,i chure fuggan enjoyed my run ta werk this day,,she be a fun toy no doubt...

The rack doesn't come with balljoints installed, so yeah, unless you measured the old rack and installed them in the same exact place, you'll want to check the toe and recenter the steering wheel.

I wouldn't trust what the cap says, whatever reman process they do probably involves pulling the guts out, reusing the casing, and reusing some of the parts from a bin. So I doubt they make any effort to use the correctly numbered cap.

thanks cc..i did measure n count tie rod threads etc..but center off a tad on wheel think was befoe,,but werth the extree scratch ta have it checked i rekon

ps am toll by local goodyear that year vet is 1/8th " toe in.takin it in thurs fer them ta check...

6 fuggan hunert n 71 fuggan dollars yea 671 denaroos good ol good year sez will cost to to their fity dollar alignment..say lower balljoints r gittun wore..i dint feel slop when checked (but dint have it chest high on lift eitha) but 191 each fer moog joints ---103.00 at local auto n 72 fer trw which id run,,so i may n i may nawt i may run as is i may gits bored n flip in sum new swear werds er um lower joints,,gittun out kin be real fun ,,but install wid no mini press is evin mo fun,,any tricks on that id love ta hear ...

wow i see 29 each at ecklers wud up wid that

end of story is: order joints, n went to pull her down n couldnt find any issues wid ball joints,,know my own ways to test plus fsm (thanks bog) n my haynes n the wear indicators all say fine ,,evin bar in a arm sez no movment,,did find lil slop in a wheel bearin,er um now called spendee fuggan hub 225 bucks..did go back ta goodyear n say wud i found n left went to firestone pd the 70 fer all wheel (joints fine to them too) n had toe in a lil off rest were groovy..so fer blowin a rack seal i pd 167 then due to robbers at goodyear i found bad bearing 225 n 70 fer piece a mind i r now done wid this repair..right side has been updated cause had the sensor gear in hub now otha side do too..all in all a pretty easy straight foward job..but had i nawt knowd a tad bit a chit id a paid 671 jus fer alignment n who knows how much that rack woulda cost me..prolly mo then cars werth heyhuh..thanks fellas..paps

your front bearings should be dirt cheap. the later ones come with ABS sensors, making them really expensive.

149.99 cheapest i could find on the net plus shippin n waitin n still nawt knowin wud kind,,so opted fer the 225 wid tax fer next mornin dilivry n fergit name but they said its the bettar brand,,but does have the sensor gear..but so do other side so now they match..i rekon considerin wud goodyear would have robbed i came out real good ..plus doin it meself i knowd wud i got..hope this is it fer awhilst..wanted pay house off nawt spend n werk on vet...