Replacing passenger side steering rack bellow

Post by **SonicAdventure** » 19 Dec 2017, 06:14

I was looking down in the engine bay the other night and I noticed that the rack and pinion bellows on the passenger side of my car is torn. It has about a 1” long slit in it in one of the grooves. It looks like wear and tear of the boot, no physical damage to the rack.

Does the whole rack have to be removed to replace this? Will it fail inspection like this? The car is driving fine, it could have been ripped a while ago and I never noticed until now.

Post by **amblerman** » 19 Dec 2017, 09:00

Although I don't have a V70, I can't imagine the steering rack has to be removed. However, I suspect there is no way to replace those without separating your inner and outer tie rods on that side (which will require an alignment).

I did my tie rods on my s70 this year and those bellow really just protect the inner tie rod swivel joint and the threads that attach the inner tie rod to the steering rack. The bellows are really just a protective cover.

Because of where they sit and their shape , repairing the bellows would be difficult . At this point though and depending on how long they've been like that , they could have let a lot of water, salt, dirt, etc in there and might be dealing with rusty or a compromised inner tie rod.

On the upside, if all your bolts/joints are in good shape, replacing that bellows is a pretty easy job. You will need an alignment after disassembling your tie rod though. That is mandatory.

-A

Post by **Eddystone** » 27 Dec 2017, 23:58

SonicAdventure wrote: ↑19 Dec 2017, 06:14 I was looking down in the engine bay the other night and I noticed that the rack and pinion bellows on the passenger side of my car is torn. It has about a 1” long slit in it in one of the grooves. It looks like wear and tear of the boot, no physical damage to the rack.

Does the whole rack have to be removed to replace this? Will it fail inspection like this? The car is driving fine, it could have been ripped a while ago and I never noticed until now.

It should not be an inspection issue in PA or elsewhere. Excessive play in the tie rods would be a problem.

Replaced all my tie rods recently. At a minimum, you have to separate the the outer tie rod end from the wheel hub and then remove the outer tie rod end from the inner tie rod end in order to slide the new boot onto the inner tie rod. You WILL have to have the car realigned.

The cheap and dirty fix might be to get some of that clear wrap they sell for wrapping pallets. It's a roll on a stick, and they sell it at Staples. I have seen this on a damaged air intake hose, and it seemed to be fairly sturdy and functional. Getting it in there might be tricky.

When I got my V70, I checked all of the tie rod ends (4) and found one inner and one outer had play. Since the main expense is the alignment (there are good deals on good quality parts if you search and incredibly inexpensive cheap parts if you dare), I just replaced all four and the boots. IMPORTANT: There were two different steering rack manufacturers, and you MUST get the parts to match. Search around a bit and you will find that a plate in the engine compartment has a number with a digit that identifies the type of rack on your car. If you are going to do all this work, and can't find a picture of the plate, get back to me.

Bad weather for doing this work if you are outside. Do you have a place to work inside?

Post by **SonicAdventure** » 03 Jan 2018, 06:27

Eddystone - thanks for your detailed reply. That’s a pretty good idea with the shrink wrap but you’re right, it would be tough to get the whole roll in there. However, I could see it working as a short term fix until spring.

Unfortunately I don’t have a place to work on this indoors right now. I have to replace the heater core this weekend as a priority so since this tear in the boot is minor at this point I hope to put it off till spring.

Rocambolesque · Post by **Rocambolesque** » 03 Jan 2018, 20:02

I did that on a 98 S70 I had before. It's very easy. You only need to separate the inner and outer tie-rod. You can mark the tie-rod threads or count them/measure so you'll be close to alignment after that (but it won't be perfect... if you have good tires, get an alignment afterwards). After you did this, you simply need to cut the clamps/zip ties and pull the boot.

If the rip has been there for a while, maybe your inner tie-rod ends will wear out soon.

I only have an outside work space as well. However, there is a place around here where you can rent a lift and tools for 20$/hour. Maybe you have this in your area?

Post by **Eddystone** » 04 Jan 2018, 11:22

SonicAdventure wrote: ↑03 Jan 2018, 06:27 Eddystone - thanks for your detailed reply. That’s a pretty good idea with the shrink wrap but you’re right, it would be tough to get the whole roll in there. However, I could see it working as a short term fix until spring.

Unfortunately I don’t have a place to work on this indoors right now. I have to replace the heater core this weekend as a priority so since this tear in the boot is minor at this point I hope to put it off till spring.

Weather has not been good and is REALLY bad today for outside car repair. I'm south of Philly in Delaware County. Did my heater core a few months ago after smelling antifreeze. Just submitted an update on the Swedish Auto Parts heater core today. Price is down to $35 including shipping, and mine works great.

skloon · Post by **skloon** » 04 Jan 2018, 12:52

the rack does not have to come out- you do have to remove tie rod and then slip on-

Post by **scot850** » 04 Jan 2018, 17:25

If you can get a lot of the oily stuff off, there is a silicon plumbing tape I use for water proof repairs on my car wiring and works on hoses as well. It can be bought in many hardware stores. It self adheres to itself and is flexible and may work on your car. There are also suppliers of what I would term temporary sleeves that have a slit on on side and can be glued together. Don't recommend long term but may work for you in the short term.

Good luck as I hear the Left Coast is about to get a 'bit' of a weather event!

Neil.

brunocerous · Post by **brunocerous** » 04 Jan 2018, 22:26

AZ has a self-adhesive waterproof tape that sounds like what Neil mentioned. It's supposed to work for stuff like radiator hoses, so it should probably hold up well for a bellows, at least short term.

Post by **mecheng** » 06 Jan 2018, 05:55

I had the same issue.
I used a syringe to insert some grease in the bellows, then I sealed it with 100% silicon. It's been fine every since, as long as you catch it early.
It's just a dust boot that sees very little movement. Hope that helps