Thanks northernlights.

I finally went to O'reilly's and talked to the guy there he was telling me that although he couldn't give me a size on it, the threads are a "m14". He explained it so as to make me believe that the threads are engineered in a manner as to keep them from loosening very easily ...

Finishing up with this rack replacement and ran into another SNAFU.

I got the old rack out and realized that I needed to get the Tie Rod Nuts off (part number 985880). I cannot get these things off for anything. I finally got the DS to move enough to see under it and it looks red, not a rust red ...

So everything is loose, I can wiggle that damn rack all over the place. The return hose is still on and rounded off so I am ordering a new one. I think that once I get that cut off I will be able to twist the whole rack out.

The steering shaft came off easier with a bigger hammer. Now that it is ...

So everything is loose, I can wiggle that damn rack all over the place. The return hose is still on and rounded off so I am ordering a new one. I think that once I get that cut off I will be able to twist the whole rack out.

The steering shaft came off easier with a bigger hammer. Now that it is ...

abscate,

I surprisingly didn't think of that. I am heading out there in the next few minutes for round/day two. I am going to look and ponder at removing the swaybar to make things easier on that hose. The steering shaft is another story, one which hopefully a nights rest will help.

Where are ...

For what it is worth, our other car is a 2006 Jetta. When I was looking for a new car, ended up with the Volvo, I seen a lot of them for sale for around $5-6K. I really like the Jetta for long rides. I wouldn't want to work under the hood, but we have not had to do a major repairs since we bought it ...

I got so flustered with this repair that I failed to mention that it is a 99 V70 GLT that I am working on, my apologies. Hopefully this was the reason for the lack of responses.

I had big plans to get this rack on today. Woke up to snow!! yikes.

Luckily I have a nice unheated garage and a stubbornness that cannot be matched.

Down to business:
This is what is done
1. Setup (tires, jacks, chocks, what not)
2 . Tierods removed from balljoints.
3. Removed all the nuts ...

Lude and Vondoo,

I have everything loose from my rack EXCEPT the bottom hose connector and the steering shaft coupler.

Do either of you have any tips on these two things? I am fairly sure I have tried every possible configuration to fit my flare nut wrench in to get that stupid bottom nut. I ...

I'll check the tensioner too.

The leak is at the seal where the vertical part of the steering column meets the horizontal portion. I got a new rack today so I got to put that on.