Steering shaft uni

[SUBYDAZZ]

Had planned on swapping out my power steering rack with a reconditioned number yesterday arvo, though discovered what I would describe as a disturbing amount of play in the join between the rack input shaft and the steering uni. This would explain some of the play in the steering! Seems equal wear on old shaft splines and the splines in the uni. The top joint play is nil.

Anyways, my questions are such:

Where can I get a brand spanker or similar that ain't genuine, my friends at Subaru gave me a price that surprised me which in itself is surprising.

Can I just tighten it more and hope for the best?

[subalex]

If it's simply a matter of the bottom bolt on the uni-joint not being tight around the steering rack input shaft then by all means give it a tighten up. After installing the uni-joint, ie - as part of a body lift installation, you'll find that it will take a bit of work to properly tighten up and it may loosen up after a bit of driving, just the same as new wheels with new wheel nuts need tightening after a few k's.

However, if it's a matter of the uni-joint itself with some slackness then go ahead and get a second hand one at a wrecker. It should be quite cheap to buy. Heck, if you really need a standard length one, I've got one for a non-power steer rack.

[steptoe]

i bought new for my manual steer brumby from a bearing place. removed it and matched it up - hardy spicer brand ? tack welded it in place. much cheeper than our friends at subaru dealer

[SUBYDAZZ]

The lower uni splines had a noticeable amount of wear as did the old rack input shaft. I managed to luck into finding one on a 95 model Liberty at my local wreckers for $10 (the only other Lib was a series 1 and it had nil left in the engine bay). This saved me $398. Seems to be no play at all whcih is all I wanted. Feels good now.