Steering rack question

[Vulpes]

Does anyone know if the shaft in steering racks have teeth that are variable pitch or even pitch?

For those with questions.
I replaced my dead rack last year with a rebuilt unit, which at the the time appeared to be the only unit available in the entire country for the off road group with Bilstein shocks. Reset the steering in the computer, had it aligned, then later noticed intermittent binding in right hand curves, where I have to force it back to center. Had it looked over at a local off-road shop, checked steering linkage for binding, they aligned it again, and setup as much caster as it would allow. But it still happens.

It happens during the following conditions:

• Long trips
• Highway speeds only
• Right hand curves only (Which is odd because most forums report problems with left hand curves).

 

[bcoviello]

Hey brotha, sorry I don’t have the answer to your question. However I was curious on the process of replacing the steering rack. I have a 5th gen I am looking to repair myself but I need to know if it’s possible. I’ve heard it’s plug and play and I’ve also heard it needs to be reprogrammed. All I really care about is if I’ll be able to move the wheels. (The current rack is seized). As long as I can turn the wheels some what I can pull it out of my neighbors back yard into my garage and do the body work. Eventually I will get it towed to a shop for alignment and paint.

Basically if replace the rack and plug everything in is it going to work enough to drive the truck around a block. Thanks and sorry for the lengthy message.

 

[Vulpes]

Hey brotha, sorry I don’t have the answer to your question. However I was curious on the process of replacing the steering rack. I have a 5th gen I am looking to repair myself but I need to know if it’s possible. I’ve heard it’s plug and play and I’ve also heard it needs to be reprogrammed. All I really care about is if I’ll be able to move the wheels. (The current rack is seized). As long as I can turn the wheels some what I can pull it out of my neighbors back yard into my garage and do the body work. Eventually I will get it towed to a shop for alignment and paint.

Basically if replace the rack and plug everything in is it going to work enough to drive the truck around a block. Thanks and sorry for the lengthy message.

When I replaced the rack, yes it was indeed "plug and play". Let me know if you need any more information, like the R&R procedure, would be happy to provide it.

Did yours actually seize up? I am curious because when the electronics on mine stopped working and killed the power assist, I was still able to drive it all over, although it took A LOT of arm strength and maneuvers like parallel parking were were almost impossible.