Rebuilding steering rack on gen2

[Average Joe]

Yesterday I swapped that cover from the regular F-150 to my rack. So far I found two differences between regular and raptor racks:

- The inner tie rod boot is the larger diameter on the raptor's rack. This is weird because the inner tie rod itself is identical. Not sure what the purpose of the larger boot is.

- The cover itself, while having the same bolt pattern is slightly different inside - it has reinforcement and a plastic bearing. I guess the idea is to give it a bit of strength. Which is funny, because that's exactly where the whole thing fell apart on two raptor's racks =)))

Raptor on the left, regular on the right:



Raptor on the boottom, regular on the top:



Regular on the left, raptor on the right:



Regular on the left, raptor on the right. Notice how wornout belt is on the left one. I am pretty sure it is because the belt is very tight on the left one, while being quite loose on mine. There is a range of adjustments available on the roller. The belt itself is the same on both racks and actually can be replaced if yours busted (seen these belts on amazon).



Later I will check out if there is any difference on the driver's side of the rack between the two. But other than the cover and the boots I do not see any difference so far. I am sure the computer firmware will be different to accommodate the raptor's different drive modes, but it appears the computer can be swapped between the two relatively easily.

 

[Mikee Martin]

I blew my rack gen 2, did what you are doing, mine was simply a belt. Disassembled, greased, replaced belt, good as new...it has been hammered hard and has not fallen apart.
The transmission has dumped as well as the cam phasers. Other than being maintained more than most, its a pretty stout truck.

 

[Badgertits]

I blew my rack gen 2, did what you are doing, mine was simply a belt. Disassembled, greased, replaced belt, good as new...it has been hammered hard and has not fallen apart.
The transmission has dumped as well as the cam phasers. Other than being maintained more than most, its a pretty stout truck.

Lol you went through a steering rack & a tranny & you’re still satisfied “it’s pretty stout” Lol- I mean I tend to agree, but that’s some fairly major stuff to blow through….tranny especially

 

[Average Joe]

Just in case someone might find it useful - after putting it together (i.e. passenger side steering rack belt cover from a regular F150 onto rack from Raptor) - everything seems to work fine. I would not recommend doing that, but if there is no other option - it is one way to get back on the road. I might try my hand at welding aluminum with a TIG torch and see if I can weld together the original cover. And perhaps add some reinforcement to it =)

Also, make sure the belt is tight. Otherwise it will skip and make really scary noises )

 

[Jakenbake]

Subbed. Love watching this all happen

Yep, these are the types of threads I enjoy.

 

[WKUSMC]

Pictures of internals of the rack I received:

View attachment 337810

View attachment 337811

I have yet to diagnose how the input shaft was supposed to stay inside... After all, the failure mode of EPS, in this case, is to shut down the motor and let the driver steer wheels directly, which would put a lot of pressure on the input shaft when turning right... Here is an example of what the intact input shaft looks like under the dust cover. Nothing I could see except that washer with a blueish ring around it to hold in place... And that blueish stuff appears to be some kind of glue... Between that glue and plastic pulley on the motor side, I am puzzled how that was ok to put on an advertised Baja truck...

View attachment 337812

To be continued... =)

I think it is great what you did educating us on repairs and picture detail. Hope you sent a bill for loss of use as well and costs.

 

[Average Joe]

They covered all the repairs fairly so far. But I am fighting on the rental costs as well as diminished value with them right now.

 

[Average Joe]

Update: I still drive that frankenstein'ed rack. It slowly developed a sorta clunking feel when steering it. Turned out, it was clunking in the pinion and rack area. I remember on old cars I had there was a bolt one can tighten up. I couldn't find one initially on my rack, but it is there - under a layer of resin. Once cleaned, there is a screw with allen socket which pushes bushing against rack and pinion, making it tighter.