What tools do I need to replace my rack & pinion and/or passenger side lower ball joint?

 

My Subi's engine runs like a champ, but it's starting to have issues. When I turn left, there is a shaking, and a sound like the chatter of a clutch. Any ideas? I think I pinpointed it to the ball joint, but I'm not sure. The boot on the drivers side of the rack & pinion has separated, so I need a new one of those. Anyhow, thank God for Pick N Pull!

what vehicle, engine, trans?

are you asking for help diagnosing or feel confident about it being the rack/ball joint?

 

racks are straight forward to replace, nothing special to it. they very rarely fail though so make sure you need to replace it - get some new fluid in there maybe (it's probably 30 years old )!?

 

have a pickle fork (or some other ball joint specific tool) ready to get the ball joints out, there a real bear if you don't have specific tools for removing those. other than that it's usually easy.

looks like this might be the vehicle from your other thread:

I have an '84 GL with the EA81 and a 4-Speed D/R 4WD

It is that same vehicle, and thanks GrossGary. The boot on the driver's side of the rack & pinion is cracked, and supposedly (according to the dealership) it's leaking. I'll probably either replace it all, or just find a boot for it and re-pack it with grease. Thanks man!

 

Forrest

you can reboot it, it's not that hard at all. if you got no rust to deal with when removing nuts, it's easy. but even with rust it's not usually bad.

 

if it's leaking then yeah you're kind of hosed. personally if it's just "seaping" like getting wet but not really loosing much, you might be able to leave it. but if it's leaking, like you're frequently adding fluid, then you'll probably want to do something about it.

 

maybe with a cleaned up joint, grease, and boot the leak would slow down? sounds unlikely but who knows?

 

given that it's on it's way out anyway, i'd try a bottle of (which i very rarely recommend, i think they're generally terrible) power steering system stop leak. if it doesn't work you're out a $3 bottle, but might save you the work.