Subaru Steering Rack Rebuild

So I did quite a lot of searching, and came up dry in trying to find a good walk through for rebuilding the entire subaru steering rack. There are kits from subaru to rebuild with OE parts, and the factory service manual from the vacation pics is honestly confusing, hard to interpret pictures and some steps are actually out of order. So I forged ahead to rebuild it myself and document it along the way. Attached is a PDF of Subaru Rack Rebuild how to. If there are errors, please let me know and I will edit and up-rev the document.

 

It is quite inexpensive to rebuild the steering rack, not including cost of tools. It is not difficult but also not easy. It takes some time and patience. Please read the disclaimer in the document before attempting.

There are aftermarket rebuild kits but I highly recommend OE.

***This should be a good how to for most subaru applications including the 15+ STI rack. Please verify the correct parts for your application.***

 

Edit

3/21/21 - updated to note that parts list are for 2005 Subaru Legacy GT

8/26/22 - My rebuild attempt resulted in leaks after 1500 miles. BagRidersJohn also saw leaking. I still need to investigate. Proceed with rebuild at you're own risk

The PDF is too large to upload so here is a link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nlnYUjx_TvJvtbzorMoIWHBv24T7WUMi/view?usp=sharing

 

 

 

 

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8/5/2021 - 300 miles and dry

8/10/2021 - 600 miles and dry

9/12/2021 - 1500 miles...leaking out the driver side inner tie rod boot time to tear down for a post mortem. That will be in a month or 2 when I have time

6/2/2022 - I have been lazy and finally threw in a rack I snagged from Solidxsnake's specB. One thing I noticed was that the bleeding felt completely different. When I bled the DIY rebuilt rack, I felt resistance near both full locking points (air locking maybe?). So I pushed through that and now I am thinking that maybe a completely dry rack being bled needs more care in the initial bleeding process then a rack that has more residual fluid. I'll tear apart the rebuilt rack soon and find the failure points. Also in removing the rebuilt rack, both sides were leaking heavily. I doubt the rebuild process is the issue now.

Edited June 2, 2022 by jaylew

Very impressive contribution!

Great doc, and great timing. Have a 15+ STI rack in need of a rebuild. I owe ya a beer!

Let me know how it goes for ya, and if I need to amend anything. I may have had a beer or two while writing it

Quick question, how can I have the PDF uploaded to this forum? Actually it is just how to upload a PDF that is too big of a file (11MB). Just in case I accidentally move the pdf in my google drive and ruin the fun for everyone.

 

Also, is there a way to have this more google-able (for lack of a better term)? Just so it helps more people than just those that stumble across this thread since this is applicable to all subarus and I couldn't find anything like this in my own searches.

 

I see MaxCapacity already shared it to the outback forums...Thanks for spreading the word!

Edited August 5, 2021 by jaylew

Quick question, how can I have the PDF uploaded to this forum? Just in case I accidentally move the pdf in my google drive and ruin the fun for everyone.

 

Also, is there a way to have this more google-able (for lack of a better term)? Just so it helps more people than just those that stumble across this thread since this is applicable to all subarus and I couldn't find anything like this in my own searches.

 

I see MaxCapacity already shared it to the outback forums...Thanks for spreading the word!

SBT was always the one that furned the walkthroughs to pdfs. You moght tey to pm him but he doesn't show up too often anymore.

So...maybe not so impressive. It is leaking after 1500 miles from the driver side boot. No idea if it is from the pinion valving or the driver rack seal but ATF is all up in the gear box housing. I am hoping for the first as that is easier to fix. So at the moment this will serve as a good look into the inner workings of the rack until I can call it truly fixed with more than 1500 miles of dry driving. I am willing to give it another shot now that I know what I am getting into before I call it a day an go STI upgraded rack.

hope for an easy fix. good luck.

Thanks for this guide Jaylew! I just about finished with my rack teardown last night before it was bedtime for me Rebuild kit is in the mail. Wish me luck!

 

Bonus - I figured if I was going to have a spiffy "new" rack, I couldn't reinstall it into a crusty front crossmember. Anyone who has followed my build thread was not surprised by this decision

Best of luck!!! I have been side tracked with the timing belts on both mine and my wife's cars. Then I'll get to route cause why mine is leaking again. I doubt its because of the process but something else. It is just such a simple (kinda) rebuild process