De-Powering the power steering rack

[Tanj!]

Originally Posted by infernosg

So I understand how to keep the tie rods in the correct location for reinstall (measure, mark, whatever to keep toe settings) but what about actually "centering" the rack (steering wheel is straight = wheels straight)?

Typically one would mark the top of the quill and where it mates to the drive shaft linkage before disassembly to get it all hooked back up basically in the right place. But since we are actually taking apart the rack that doesn't work. You could measure the amount of rack that juts out on each end when quill mark is face up and just reproduce those measurements and mark that as your new up.

Since i'm replacing inner and outer tie rods and updating to a power rack from a manual one and lowering the car I plan on just measuring revolutions from lock to lock and setting it halfway when doing the install and just matching the amount of thread showing for the tie rods between the two sides. I can eyeball it a bit but I already know I'm going to have to go get an alignment done afterwards so I'm not to worried.