apexjapan

Steering Rack Bushings, thy time has come. I can't say I was particularly looking forward to this - these are both simple yet a bit of a pain to do. With a bit of luck, you may be able to do these in under an hour, but don't count on it. One big piece of advice: Unlike most of my other installs, don't do these on ramps! Put the car up on jackstands, you need the wheels to be able to move to wiggle the various pieces out/in.

[i]The parts: AVO's new steering rack bushing for the Legacy/Outback, and AVO steering rack bush removal tool. This bushing is a new part number, as we updated it for fitment: S1105M1GVUSAT



The tools: 14mm socket and wrench for removing everything. You will also need a 17mm socket for the removal tool. Some flat head screwdrivers for prying things loose, a breaker bar, a crowbar, and some advil won't hurt either.



I started by removing the bracket on the right side of the car. Just two 14mm bolts on each side - though they were in tight enough that a breaker bar helped a lot. You won't be able to get the bushing itself off until you remove the bolts on the other side of the rack.



It was a bit tight under there, so I wasn't able to take a picture of the brace that goes above the mounting brackets on the left side (drivers side). So you need to first remove that brace (two 14mm bolts at the back, and two 14mm nuts/bolts at the front). Then there is four 14mm bolts to remove to take this bracket off. You'll get two long and two short bolts, the long ones going in to where the bushings are.




While this design is a pain in the rear, it does ensure that you get the steering rack back to where it should go. Once the bolts are out on both sides of the rack, you can pull it down, giving you room to remove the big bushing on the right side. It's likely been put on with some sort of double-sided tape, so you may need to use a flat head screwdriver to pry it loose and peel it off.

Removal of the standard bushings on the left side can either be easy or painful, depending on if you have the car on a lift or jackstands, or you put it on ramps. If it's on a lift or jackstands, it's fairly easy to move the steering rack to one side so that you can get the nut at the top of the AVO tool at the top of the bushing - then it's just a matter of threading the long bolt into it, and ratcheting it in till the bushing pops out.

I'm not going to talk about what it's like getting the nut up there if you are on ramps. Just don't go there.



Once out, you are left with two big holes to fill. Um, you know what I mean.



Take the smaller bushings and remove one of the polyurethane ends off the metal sleeve. Use some soap on the bushing and squeeze it up on top of the mounting, and get it slid in. Then lube up the metal sleeve with the bottom polyurethane bushing (doesn't matter which one, they are both the same), and slide it into the bottom of the mounting. Do this for both sides. Then lube up the big bushing for the right side, and slide it on as well.

This isn't a picture off my car, but it's a much cleaner rack that shows how they should look at this point.



Well, this part is fun as well. Get the rack lined up and get all those brackets and bolts in. It does help to have a long, big screwdriver to slide through on one side of the mounts to pull the rack into place. Then you should be able to get one of the long bolts in, and then the other side. The right side bracket is much easier to fit.

With the bushings and bracket back on. Pay attention to the orientation of the bracket, it's hard to remember after everything.



And the right side bracket and bushing on.



As I mentioned earlier, because of the general design of the rack, installing these bushings doesn't put things too out of whack - the basic alignment of my car is about the same as before, but I'll still be getting an alignment after all the rest of the changes as well.

Regards,

Paul Hansen
http://www.avoturboworld.com/

 Biggu

nice write up, Are the specialty tools you use sold anywhere or does it come with the kit?

 dmanaenk

WL kit comes with those tools, so I presume AVO one also would.

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 KyLegacy 2.5GT

What is the difference in fitment between this kit and the S1B03E1GV002T kit that Rallitek sells? I just bought the S1B03E1GV002T kit Sunday night, should I try and sell it and get the newer release or will I be ok??

 apexjapan

The difference between the two kits is in the larger bushing - for some of the newer cars, we've had reports that it was a bit thin. So we made it slightly thicker. It fits the older cars still, and will fit the newer cars a bit better.

It's really only a slight difference, and we had been selling the S1B03E1GV002T for many years before this without many issues, so I think it's just fine for your 2005.

I forgot to add that, chances are, that is the newer part number. I've been working with them on switching their part numbers over to the newer bushings - all of the bushings I've sent to them lately have been the newer bushings, but they are probably using the old part numbers.

Regards,

Paul Hansen
http://www.avoturboworld.com/

 ronemus

You list these on your site for '05+ Legacies; will they fit my '02 LGT?

 apexjapan

No, I think you need to use the older style steering rack bushings that fit the 02-07 WRX. The part number is: S2A92G1GV001

They are actually a bit cheaper, and a lot easier to install.

Regards,

Paul Hansen

 KyLegacy 2.5GT

Yeah, so I did end up getting the newer part number but my kit did not come with the bushing remover tool... Is that a separate purchase??? I did not see it being offered at Rallitek.

If anybody else replaced these bushings, how did you all do it without the removal tool? It looks like I could probably just use a large socket and a bolt that would fit through the bushing. Any other ideas?

 Gmachine

I just did this over the weekend. Only thing i see missing from your write up,is loosening of the bolt holding the collar to steering column shaft. I marked the position on both parts,but found out i only need to slide the rack down an inch or less. The collar never came off the shaft. Easy mod.

 dmanaenk

Yeap, missing and necessary.

Don't know about the AVO kit, but if it's the same as WL it would've helped a lot if the bolt in the bushing extraction tool had the same thread as oem bolt that holds that bushing to the frame.

Since it's longer it would've really helped me lift the rack back in place and keep it aligned so that I could thread the stock bolt in the other bushing.

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 KyLegacy 2.5GT

I just put my avo kit in this weekend. A few major points to look out for:

1. The remover tool did not come with my kit. To make up for this, I cut off the out lip of the stock bushing and ran a long bolt through a 15/16 socket, through the stock bushing, and then put a LOCK WASHER and nut on the opposite side. Make sure you use some sort of lock washer because the nut will just keep spinning when you try to tighten the assembly. I ended up using the lock washer that has multiple teeth on it to grab into the rubber bushing. Once you start tightening down on the assembly the bushing will be pulled out into the 15/16 socket (this acts just like the avo remover tool).

2. I did not need to loosen the steering shaft mount to install the bushings. I turned the steering wheel to the left a few degrees and I was able to access everything i needed (takes some maneuvering while under the car, but not too much)

3. The steering improvement is nice, but my car only has 60,000 miles on it so my bushing were still pretty good to begin with. The steering is perfectly straight now and you get a little more input from the road in the steering wheel. The feeling is more precise and is worth the $65 and time it takes to put in. Just remember, this is not DRAMATIC difference at all, it just feels more sports car-ish, like how a BMW's steering is.

Probably a 15-18 hp gain by doing this mod, hahaha. Just kidding, this is a good mod.

 natoli4

finally got around to doing this install yesterday and was sad to see after starting this tear-down that the tool to take out the stock bushings was not included in my purchase! What a bummer as I had to fabricate my own and a 1-2 hour install ended up taking 4-5 hours. Not sure if the tool is indeed included but it should be as the stock ones do not come out easily. I guess I should have considered the whiteline version as they come with the tool. maybe you can include it for others so they don't have the sore hands, broken tools and bad taste in my mouth after the 5 hour death march.

 Burock

Just did the Bushing replacement yesterday. As others have noted, no tool included however you can improvise with the 15/16" socket and a 3" long M10 bolt with a nut on it to drive out the old bushing. Unfortunately, I stripped one of the mounting points on the rack and had to Heli-Coil with a new M10-1.25 insert, making the job a lot longer than one hour. Too early to say if this mod has made a big difference, but glad its done. My right hand has numerous abrasions and scars to recover from after this job... Good luck.

 natoli4

I feel you man. I love avo products but come on... Get it together!

 ChicagoSam

Thanks for all this info. My AVO kit should arrive after the snow is sorted out. All these posts will save the day when the install time comes- many thanks to my Subaru brothers