I bought the replacement rack and pinion from partsgeek.com and my feedback es no bueno mi amigo.
Their mounting hardware was horrible- nothing fit properly. Neither clamp plate options worked and their bolt diameters did not even fit into the mount holes. They do not test their own product - bad sign! Had to drive all over town to find a u-bolt that worked. That was a pain!
Also, one of the steel hydraulic lines was positioned right over a mount hole, great! There was not enough play in the line to slide the u-bolt into position so I had to loosen the line-end's fasteners, and by doing so I broke a paint mark/seal (shows something has been wrenched) and if this voids my return you can bet I'll have words with partsgeek.
Anywho, got the bastard in place and all is good till I put on tie rod ends. Bought these at autozone (duralast). Check the photo for the misfit I'm sitting with!
I turned the tie rod ends same number of turns to keep alignment somewhat close, they are angled (not 90deg exactly) and L/R orientation is correct. Also, played with the wheel and steering rack position but still could not achieve proper fit.
However, a top-entry fit works... would anyone NOT suggest I install tie rod ends from top as shown? Why?
Thank you very much for your thoughts!
Much appreciated,
Brian