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Steering pinion gear removal

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  amc49 
#1 ·
A bit of background:

I'm building a kit car (MEV Rocket) that is based on the 2.0L zetec focus setup. Much of the powertrain and drivetrain is transplanted including steering.

One of the problems is that in the kit car, power steering is eliminated. This results a an whopping 4.5 turns lock to lock. Clearly not a track-friendly steering ratio. Good news is that quaife makes a quick-steering rack and pinion replacement, but you only get just the rack and the pinion gear.

Issue:

I got the inner tie rods out of the rack and disconnected the steering arm from the pinion, but I can't figure out how to get the pinion gear bear out. The photo shows the gear and the bearing on top of it, but i don't see a retaining clip to pull out. Do i need a special tool to pull the bearing out? Is it threaded? Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

 
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#2 ·
I haven't dug into many racks, but usually the bearing retainer cap screws in.
It's hard to tell in that pic, but it appears the housing is "staked" to prevent that cap from unscrewing on it's own as well.
 
#3 ·
You are right, it was threaded in indeed...and most definitely not fun to get out. Ended up sacrificing a screwdriver and in a counter clockwise fashion tapped the 4 slots that run the perimeter of the cap. Apparently some folks sacrifice a large deep socket instead by grinding it down to have 4 tabs to engage the ring, but I didn't have a socket around that was the right size and i was willing to part with. Once the ring came out, the rest was a cake.
 
#4 ·
You are actually supposed to grind the staked portion out so cover comes out easier, the stake point can strip lower threads. Simply restake in different spot when reassembled.
 
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