Hi All, new to the forum and adding to my "post count"......

A while ago I replaced the steering rack bushings on or '91 XJS. The original bushings tend to wear in parallel with the rack, by design which seems to be the wrong design. The new upgraded replacement bushings prevent this from happening.

I took photos of the task and created a pictured tutorial on my Photobucket page........Here. Hopefully it can help if you ever need to do this job.

Rich

 

Great job on the illustration. I did mine pre-digital camera but I seem to remember doing it without disconnecting the steering column. Am I remembering that wrong? Is that impossible?

 

Thanks......

I recall in order to get the upper bushing, I had to drop the rack down as far as possible. I suppose you could get the 2 lower bushings replaced without further drop, but to get the upper bushing I couldn't see any way unless I disconnected the lower U-joint at the end of the column. This dropped the rack down just enough to get that socket contraption I came up with in there to pull it.

What I did not have to do was release the hoses or the cooler. That was no help at all. It was all experimental to get it down so I wouldn't have to pull the rack out.

Rich

 

I was able to do mine without removing the pinch bolt. Hardest part to me was removing the old bushings, I used sockets and threaded rod. I like the black aftermarket bushings more than the red I have seen. They are a little bit softer and more jaguar like.

 

Yes with the tool you made up allowed you to get in there as-is. I was using a borrowed ball-joint separator tool and had to get it in the upper bushing area.

Proof more than one way to do this task. I like the tool idea you used. Good thinking!

Rich

 

I want to say I got the idea from Kirby's book, but I can't remember for sure.

 

Why doesn't any one make poly bushes that fit inside the sleeve?
Or maybe some poly rings to put at the ends of each bush.
Would make life so much simpler.