Underdog Motorsports - 2015 STI Steering Rack Swap

Found this, and now I'm wondering about it. I saw Underdog cutting the inner tie rods, but was it necessary? If so, 6-8mm seems fine.

 

Yes it was necessary to ensure you have full adjustability down to the last thread on the tie-rod. There isn't a lot of room for adjustability with the tie rod ends because the point where the threads start on the STi tie-rods are further out than on the LGT.

 

Next question, OEM, Reman, or? If I could source a wrecked STI, that would be my best bet.

 

I sourced mine from a wrecked STi whose parts were on ebay . It came with the STi u-joint too!

 

Next question...what are the major challenges in the swap? I've been reading up, but haven't found anything of the sort.

 

The most difficult part for me was bleeding the system. It took me a number of tries to get all of the air out of the system. At first I did my best to bleed the system without the motor on. Once I got all of the air out that I could, I turned the car on and the fluid started to "froth". I checked all the connections for leaks and there were none. I had to turn the car on and off a number of times to bleed the system and allow the "froth" to dissipate. After the froth was gone, I drove it around and the system continued to bleed air as I drove around the block.

 

The second difficult part, which wasn't so difficult... Do make sure you center your steering wheel before you pull off the old steering rack, and keep it centered at all times. Also, be sure to center the new steering rack before installation. Mating it up with the U-joint and ensuring both the steering wheel and rack are centered will be a slight challenge.

If anyone needs the thinner nuts to lock your tie-rods down, lmk. I had bought a pack of them. Send me a PM and I'll mail you a pair if you pay for shipping.

1. Cutting the inner tie rod ends is not necessary. It was done because the STI rack is a little wider than the LGT. The idea was by cutting it and using the thinner jam nuts we could get more adjust-ability (if needed). Take a look at my pictures, it really wasn't needed.

 

2. Can't help. OEM will have the best reliability probably. If going reman make sure it is actually a 2015 STI steering rack, and not just an "STI" steering rack. Only the 2015 + have the faster ratio.

 

3. Hardest part was getting off the hardlines. They are in a hard to reach place that wrenches don't really fit in. To get them off I had to unbolt the power steering reservoir and drop the whole rack to unbolt them underneath the subframe.

 

Hardest 2nd part was getting the STI steering rack back in. The hardlines don't line up exactly, which ruined my plan of reversing the install (i.e. doing the hardlines up with the rack dropped). I had to install the rack and then basically hand tighten the hardlines.

 

4. Some other tips -

I centered the rack fine (counted number of turns one way to the other, can't remember the number now), but actually getting the steering wheel straight was a little tricky. I thought I had it then went for a drive and it was so far off. I just raised everything up and reattached the u-joint one notch over and it was much better. Use a tie strap around the steering wheel and drivers seat to keep it centered.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Rhitter

Cutting the ITR is all about getting the maximum possible adjustment range without further modification. Do you want to get the car on the alignment rack and have them tell you they can't bring the toe in? Takes 5 minutes with a hacksaw or less if you have any kind of grinder or cutting wheel. Thread two nuts on before you cut and deburr. Then remove the two nuts to clean up the threads. The "outer" nut can be used to guide the blade/cutter.

 

Install is straight-forward and will entirely depend on how bad the fasteners have corroded. All the advice these guys gave is good and necessary, and if you read the whole thread you'll see it repeated often.

 

P/S fuid bleed procedure: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/howto-replace-power-steering-fluid-15-minutes-172976.html

Edited November 29, 2016 by Underdog

Well I made the plunge. Sooooooo worth while. I did the 2015 rack, white line steering bushings, STI u-joint, roll correction kit and STI JDM springs. :eek: Just the first block the car felt like a totally different beast. So happy I did this.

 

So far I have zero VDC issues. However with the snow and just barely doing the mod I havent been able to do much hard cornering.

 

 

 

Rattsl - Can you even find a re-manufactured rack? When i was looking no one had any so I ended up hunting for a wrecked STi. I found my rack with 15k miles and a inner tie rod that was at 90 degrees lol. So replaced the tie rods and I was golden.

 

Technically the rubber u-joint is safer. It is designed to break in 2 in a wreak and that is why it is rubber. Not sure how the perrin clamps affect that. So I just swapped in the STI one, screw safety

 

I will report back in a while after I get some miles on the car. Hopefully I can take it on a road trip down south in a couple of weeks.

 

-Cheers and happy modding!

^ Add a front LSD to your SpecB and THEN you will see how different it is.

 

Underdog -- thanks for this thread. I had the idea of retrofitting this rack as soon as it showed up in the STI, alas past 3 years was a no-time-for-cars time for me...

Oh hello,

 

I didn't know about this thread. I do now...

2015+ STI rack is best rack. Do it.

Gonna wait and see if I buy a different wagon in May/June timeframe. If not, I'm doing this. If I do, I'm gonna do it to that.

What's a front lsd swap cost? What else besides the diff would I need? I've looked at doing dccd and front lsd a little bit. Would be fun.

I just did this. I like it. The car feels lots more solid. Also did a steering dampener which might be 50% of what I am feeling.

So for those of us with VDC there are no issues to worry about?

I have not encountered any problems with VCD in my 08 spec b after over a year and 20k miles.

If I don't turn off traction control I get braking at odd points as the VDC tries to straighten out my car. There are two to three slow sharp turns (usually with an up / down) portion that turn it on regularly. Edited April 26, 2017 by Rhitter

I have not encountered any problems with VCD in my 08 spec b after over a year and 20k miles.

 

If I don't off traction control I get braking at odd points as the VDC tries to straighten out my car. There are two to three slow sharp turns (usually with an up / down) portion that turn it on regularly.

 

Rhitter what year is your car? And did any of you have the dealership reprogram the VDC sensor? I'm really considering doing this upgrade while the engine is pulled out for ease of installation.

Yes, I had them do the VDC reprogram posted earlier in this thread. Didn't do anything. Mine is a 2008 Outback, so it had a worse ratio than a Legacy. I am wondering if that contributes to the issues I have.

 

But honestly it's only on very specific roads at low speeds with elevation changes. Just pressing the traction control off button fixes it.

 

One other guy with an Outback fixed it, by disconnecting the steering wheel angle sensor. And he tracks his car.

 

So, it's an easily fixed "problem"

 

All that is worth it to have the the STI rack.

This thread is relevant to my interests, might as well do it when I pull the engine

I ordered one because I thought my rack had failed. Turns out mine is okay. So, I have one NIB sitting in Portland OR if anyone needs it.

^^ Since when are you in Portland?

^^ Since when are you in Portland?

I'm not, it's sitting in Elegua's hallway I think. Heuberger etc. won't ship to me so I'm using Elegua to transship stuff I need and can't or won't order from the local stealership.

I was hoping I could take a little vacation and pop up there for my Stage2 tune.

how much is everyone getting these racks for?

I bought mine brand new for $560 from Hueberger.

I would really like to do this on my 07'. I've often thought the steering needed improvement (and the radius, wtf).

Just seems that the crowd is split between "vdc is affecte....., no it's not!"....

It seems to me that the larger the delta in steering ratio the more prone to VDC issues. Going from the XT 16:1 to the 2015+ WRX 13:1 is a larger change than going from the GT 15:1 to the 2015+ WRX 13:1, and therein lies the reason for the issue that some, and not all, are having.