Steering Rack Bushes replacement - Help! :)

[Andyl20]

I have a set of Powerflex steering rack bushes to fit as there was an advisory on the MOT i've just had done that the bushes are worn. Jacked the car and crawled under today to have a look and found what I think are the clamps and existing bushes, but if I have the right culprit I have no clue how I would get the nuts off as they are surrounded by a shield that wont allow a socket/spanner on that I can see. I've taken some pics as best as possible to show what I have found. Any advice would be grealty appreciated. I have seen there are some other threads, but cant find a how to guide. Apologies if there is one and i've missed it. Thanks

 

[Andyl20]

Any one of you clever lot able to put me out of my misery with these bl00dy steering rack bushes?🙂

 

[MarcB]

I got the garage to drop the subframe and do the lot as I believe they can be a pain in the back side.

 

[Andyl20]

I got the garage to drop the subframe and do the lot as I believe they can be a pain in the back side.

View attachment 1458685View attachment 1458686View attachment 1458687

Thanks for the pics. Cant see the shrouds covering the nuts in your pics that I have on mine. Have read threads here where folk have managed to do this on the car, despite being tricky, but I can’t see a way to get to the nuts on mine.

 

[td_dan]

On the back of the subframe there are holes for a deep socket to get onto the head of the bolt that goes through that clamped nut.

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[hipwell]

On the back of the subframe there are holes for a deep socket to get onto the head of the bolt that goes through that clamped nut.

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This

 

[frayz]

On the back of the subframe there are holes for a deep socket to get onto the head of the bolt that goes through that clamped nut.

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This, however, do yourself a favour and tape the socket to the extension. As if this falls off, youll have a royal pain in the arse fishing it out of the subframe. Also make sure you keep the rack nice and level as it helps get the new bushes in.
They can be done in about an hour by someone competent without dropping the subframe.

 

[Andyl20]

On the back of the subframe there are holes for a deep socket to get onto the head of the bolt that goes through that clamped nut.

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Aha! Thanks so much for this. Would you know what size the nut is in the recess please for a deep socket?

 

[td_dan]

16mm

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[Krarl]

As above, 16mm on the backside of the subframe. They're a bit of an arse without a few extensions, I changed the rack in place on my old dCi and put a dCi rack on my 172 without dropping the subframe but I took the engine out so I could literally sit in the engine bay

 

[hipwell]

Also, one of the bolts to the clamp which goes to the subclframe can't be accessed via a hole and deep socket, I believe it's the upper bolts, you will need a rachet spanner unless you want to spend hours with a regular spanner as you can only get a few mm of movement each time and there's a lot of threads lol

 

[Bankrupt_drunk]

I had a look at changing mine and really didn't fancy doing it on the driveway. So instead Alex at AW fitted at set of powerflex bushes for about £95 including parts, labour and VAT.

 

[Andyl20]

This is starting to sound like a job I should pass over to a professional [emoji1] I’ll give it a go at the weekend with a view to swallowing pride and admitting defeat if it all looks too much for my experience and available tools. Really appreciate all the advice. Great support on this forum [emoji1303]

 

[hipwell]

Seriously mate it's easy providing you've got a rachet with some long enough extensions and a rachet spanner.

I found it a complete pain in the arse but I went in blind, if I'd gone in knowing what I've just told you I recon I could have had it done in an hour.

 

[Andyl20]

Ok guys, progress has been made, but I’ve now hit another stumbling block...

Got the lower 16mm bolts/captive nut off both sides [emoji1303]

Got to the top 13mm nut on the passenger side with a 13mm ratchet spanner, however there is a bracket that when I slide off appears to reveal a 2nd nut that I am struggling to see to get access to. Is this right?

Also on the drivers side I can’t figure a way to access the top nut with a spanner. Can’t even find an angle where I can see the nut as again there is some kind of bracket up there there appears there may be a recess in the bracket that might allow a socket on, but I’ll be damned if I can work out how.

Going to have a break for the night but would welcome any wisdom for when I crawl back under there tomorrow evening [emoji1]

 

[hipwell]

Take a look at this pic and itl give you an idea, it's the bolt which clamps the front of the clamp to the main bracket which you have just unbolted from the subframe and squeezes the bush in place.

With those 4 main bolts removed you should now be able to wiggle the steering rack about to get your hands in lol.

It's tight, but keep at it

Google Image Result for https://cliosport.net/attachments/snv82383-jpg.926952/

 

[Andyl20]

Thank you for this. I’m good with both the lower 16mm bolts.

The upper ones are what have me confused. I’ve removed 13mm nut on the top on the passenger side. There was a separate bracket behind that nut. I pulled that off the thread and moved it as clear as I could, and there looks to be another nut behind it that is holding the steering rack bracket on for that side. Is it normal to have 2 nuts on the passenger side upper bracket thread?

As for the drivers side, again the pic you shared doesn’t include the weird bracket that is blocking access to the upper 13mm nut on my car. I can try to get some pics if it helps?

 

[hipwell]

Yeh the extra nut on the passenger side you mention is holding on a bracket to secure the pas pipes I believe from memory, remove that first and then you can get to the nut you need to shift to get the bush out

I can't remember anything being in the way of the driver's side upper bolt, I remember it being a pain and needing a racket spanner but can't think of any reason you would be able to get at it with a spanner.

Stick a pic up, it might jog my memory lol

I think you've missed the other 2 large bolts securing the bracket to the subframe. They sit inside here

 

[DomP182]

There was a good guide on here that I used when I did mine

 

[Andyl20]

There was a good guide on here that I used when I did mine

If you could share that would be great

 

[Andyl20]

Yeh the extra nut on the passenger side you mention is holding on a bracket to secure the pas pipes I believe from memory, remove that first and then you can get to the nut you need to shift to get the bush out

I can't remember anything being in the way of the driver's side upper bolt, I remember it being a pain and needing a racket spanner but can't think of any reason you would be able to get at it with a spanner.

Stick a pic up, it might jog my memory lol

I think you've missed the other 2 large bolts securing the bracket to the subframe. They sit inside here

Are these 2 16mm bolts visible on the rear of the subframe above the access holes for the lower bolts?


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[DomP182]

Cant remember how to link it but if you go into the guide section and search "rack bushes" it comes up, by Beasleyclio182 or something like that

 

[hipwell]

Are these 2 16mm bolts visible on the rear of the subframe above the access holes for the lower bolts?


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Nope, if you look at where my arrow is pointing they are in there.

It will become clear when you get back under the car trust me

 

[hipwell]

Are these 2 16mm bolts visible on the rear of the subframe above the access holes for the lower bolts?


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How did you get on?

 

[Andyl20]

Got the B4stards done today! Took me the best part of 3 hours and had a nightmare with the top 13mm bolts on the passenger side. Done now but not something I ever want to repeat if I can help it! Thanks to everyone for the advice and support. Could t have done it without the knowledge shared on here [emoji1303][emoji1303]


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[frayz]

Well done Andy. 👍🏼

 

[hipwell]

Easy init!!

 

[sam55]

Great advice in here. Just wondering if anyone's got experience of using the Black Series steering rack Polybushes on the road? I know that the Black Series bushes are normally too stiff for road use in other areas of the car (my car's other bushes are Road Series), but I wonder if the drawbacks for their use in the rack are much smaller - or even not noticeable?

Potentially a noob question, but the prospect of much-improved steering feel has me very tempted, especially since there's no price difference...

 

[Andyl20]

Great advice in here. Just wondering if anyone's got experience of using the Black Series steering rack Polybushes on the road? I know that the Black Series bushes are normally too stiff for road use in other areas of the car (my car's other bushes are Road Series), but I wonder if the drawbacks for their use in the rack are much smaller - or even not noticeable?

Potentially a noob question, but the prospect of much-improved steering feel has me very tempted, especially since there's no price difference...

Mine are the black series ones and feel fine to me. My car is going to be used for track, but remain road legal.

 

[sam55]

Mine are the black series ones and feel fine to me. My car is going to be used for track, but remain road legal.

Awesome, were the improvements significant? In truth, I can't sense any issues with my rack, but the car's done 129,000 miles and every other bush change I've done has made a noticeable difference as a result

 

[Andyl20]

Awesome, were the improvements significant? In truth, I can't sense any issues with my rack, but the car's done 129,000 miles and every other bush change I've done has made a noticeable difference as a result

I replaced mine after an MOT advisory. I haven't felt a world of difference after doing so I must admit. Just good to know its done.

 

[hipwell]

I didn't notice any difference tbh, unless your standard ones are completely shot I don't think there's much to gain.

As far as I'm aware some of the diesel clios don't even have a rack Bush, just bolted straight on.

 

[Bankrupt_drunk]

I had mine changed when tracing clunks and noises. There was a lot of movement in the rack before hand so the difference afterwards was really obvious. It hugely tightened up the steerig and made it feel much more direct.

 

[sam55]

I didn't notice any difference tbh, unless your standard ones are completely shot I don't think there's much to gain.

As far as I'm aware some of the diesel clios don't even have a rack Bush, just bolted straight on.

That's interesting. Guessing the rattle of the diesel motors covers up any worsening of NVH in the rack... I'm still tempted to switch mine, partly to increase longevity and partly to fill time during lockdown

For anyone interested, I've also had a reply directly from Powerflex about whether the Black Series option would be too harsh for the road. Turns out they won't be because it's the same material in the case of the rack bushes - hence the price of the Road and Black Series ones being the same.

 

[hipwell]

Yeh now that you mention it mine were black, and I don't recall being given the option for the purple ones

 

[Usr117063]

Epas clios racks are bolted straight to the subframe and the column lacks any rubber dampener in the lower uj. How it should be standard on the 1*2

 

[Bankrupt_drunk]

Epas clios racks are bolted straight to the subframe and the column lacks any rubber dampener in the lower uj. How it should be standard on the 1*2

Interesting. I had wondered why people swapped them out. How hard is it to change the UJ?

 

[Usr117063]

Interesting. I had wondered why people swapped them out. How hard is it to change the UJ?

Its finding either a twingo lower uj or clio one then just the case of wacking them off and swapping them over. 'just the case' being a little bit of work and making sure they go on the same otherwise your wheel will be offset. Made more of a difference than new rack bushes and solid topmounts and a hose of other mods to the steering.

 

[Bankrupt_drunk]

Back when i used to have a Impreza WRX wagon a quick, cheap and effective mod was an STI steering knuckle. Interesting that on a clio the swap is from a less sporty model.

 

[Bankrupt_drunk]

PS. Sorry about the thread hijack.