06 H3
a.k.a. "The Jackal"
- Messages
- 9,506
- Location
- Meridian, ID
Wow, I cant believe I installed my rancho lift one year ago. So here is the "redux" or improvement #3. The first one was the custom rancho UCP, which is holding up great and #2 was solving the leaf spring issues and #3 is fixing this...
I think it is worse then what the picture shows but the bolt is being blocked a good amount by the rancho crossmember making steering rack replacement a total PITA. You have to remove the torsion bars, disconnect the a arms and drop the rancho crossmember. I told myself I will do that once and one time only and that is to take it out and notch the crossmember so I have easier access to the steering rack in the future. I am still a few weeks out on doing this but I cant wait too long. The rack is the original one that came on the truck back in 05 along with the PS line. The rack and line are leaking and the bushings are completely shot. The reason I am waiting a bit longer is due to weather, I know, I know I am in so cal....but the im closer to the desert and we have been having nights in the high 20s and low 30s and seeing most of my projects are done later in the day I will be freezing, the nights should be back up into the 40s soon but I need to get this done before school starts so either way this is my next project. It initially scared me in moab when tbone had to change a rack on the trail and then when I took a look at my replacement it would be a nightmare. I actually think once I do this mod changing a rack will be easier compared to a non rancho rig because there is a ton more room to work with then stock.
I have two plans and I will decide what plan to use when I am actually doing the work. If I only need to chop a tiny piece out then I will grind it out paint it and leave it. If there is a bigger chunk that needs to be cut out then I will take a pipe cut in half like this
and then weld that in so the bolt has a slot, obviously plan 2 will look cleaner and better but I am not sure on how necessary this is.
kaleb or reaper, a shout out to you guys because you have done this a lot! How tough is it to do the actual rack swap?
I think it is worse then what the picture shows but the bolt is being blocked a good amount by the rancho crossmember making steering rack replacement a total PITA. You have to remove the torsion bars, disconnect the a arms and drop the rancho crossmember. I told myself I will do that once and one time only and that is to take it out and notch the crossmember so I have easier access to the steering rack in the future. I am still a few weeks out on doing this but I cant wait too long. The rack is the original one that came on the truck back in 05 along with the PS line. The rack and line are leaking and the bushings are completely shot. The reason I am waiting a bit longer is due to weather, I know, I know I am in so cal....but the im closer to the desert and we have been having nights in the high 20s and low 30s and seeing most of my projects are done later in the day I will be freezing, the nights should be back up into the 40s soon but I need to get this done before school starts so either way this is my next project. It initially scared me in moab when tbone had to change a rack on the trail and then when I took a look at my replacement it would be a nightmare. I actually think once I do this mod changing a rack will be easier compared to a non rancho rig because there is a ton more room to work with then stock.
I have two plans and I will decide what plan to use when I am actually doing the work. If I only need to chop a tiny piece out then I will grind it out paint it and leave it. If there is a bigger chunk that needs to be cut out then I will take a pipe cut in half like this
and then weld that in so the bolt has a slot, obviously plan 2 will look cleaner and better but I am not sure on how necessary this is.
kaleb or reaper, a shout out to you guys because you have done this a lot! How tough is it to do the actual rack swap?
