'06 Power stering rack removal.

Question, I'm trying to remove the steering rack in my 2006 with the 2.7 engine. I have everything unhooked, but was wondering how to remove the rack. It doesn't appear to be able to slide out the drivers side of the truck. I tried searching the Tutorials, but couldn't find anything. Suggestions? Thanks!!

 

Patience and coercion.

I pulled mine out from the passenger side at the time when I was doing work to mine.

 

Hmmmm, ok. I've been fussing with it for some time, the rack seems a good bit wider in the measurement from the end of the steering shaft to the front of the rack body, as opposed to the two pass through points in the frame that are smaller that the body of the rack itself. I've been trying different combinations of turning but it's so unwieldy under there. May help to mention that it's four wheel drive.

 

Remove the sway bar. Loosen the front 2 bolts that mount the front diff, so the diff drops down slightly. Mine is a 4.0 and I unbolted the trans crossmember to make the AC compressor go up a bit. Don’t know if that’s necessary with a 2.7. When you finally make progress, it will go towards the passenger side til the left tie rod end drops down past the left frame rail. After that, slide it out towards the driver side. Make sure you have the steering wheel anchored with the seat belt.

 

Thanks! Ok, sounds like I need just a little more room to get that removed. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some more free time to renew the attack on that rack. It's a bit time consuming as it's got thirteen years of New England corrosion to contend with. Luckily most of the fasteners have been pretty good, as the truck went through the frame recall about five years ago.