Ended up throwing it on Friday Night. Sucks to have to start the project at 11:30pm, but that was the only time I would be free during the next....month?
Anyway, I started to take pictures, but then realized the pictures aren't needed. It's really simple to see what you need to do. It's a huge pain in the donkey, but not HARD, just extremely annoying. And, it would take me forever.
I'll sum it up:
1. Undo the jacking plate (4 bolts, 2 with nuts), undo the driver subframe(bunch of big bolts that came out easy after PB Blaster, also, there is absolutely no need to undo the passenger side subframe; it doesn't make it easier, it doesn't do anything, just a waste of time IMO), driver swaybar endlink(1 bolt), driver swaybar mount(2 bolts), also undo the driver and passenger tierod castle nuts, don't forget to remove the pins first. If you've never seen anything like this, it's easy to figure out
what's going on there once you look at it. Just need a flathead screwdriver to peel it up. Bang on top of the bolt that you just undid to get the tierods out. Mine came out with a relatively light hit. I rented a 'tool' to get them out, but you need to take off the brake disc to use the tool, so F that.
2. Slide under the passenger side of the underbody, and look where the hardlines from the rack go. Follow them from the driver side to the passenger side to where they start going up into the engine bay. There, you should see a place to disconnect them. Use a crowfoot wrench(ITS A MUST) to undo the two lines . It's not bad undoing them. Be prepared, the fluid will leak.
3. slide under the driver side of the underbody, and reach UP to where the rack gears connect to the flex joints and stuff like that. Undo the one 12mm bolt that will let the rack gears slide out from the rest of the assembly.
4. Undo two bolts that hold the rack on the driver side, and undo the two bolts that hold the rack on the passenger side. It sounds very vague, but you'll figure it out easily, they're out in the open. Now you should be able to take the rack out. Compare the tierod threads on the old rack vs the new rack and adjust as needed. Mine needed quite a bit of adjustment. A sledge hammer was needed to get the tierod adjustment bolts loose.
5. Mock up the new rack, make sure to put the rack gears into the steering column thing first and put on the 12mm bolt, at the same time as you're tightening the four rack bolts. This part took me probably an hour because my rack wasn't centered when i got it, so i secured it, and went to turn the wheel side to side and it was only like 1 turn left to lock. Took forever to figure out really! was going on there, but take your time if this happens to you and you'll get it.
6. Here it comes, the absolute worst part of the whole install. Really, it's pretty annoying. Remember those hard lines from the rack that you undid from the rest of the lines with the two crowfoot wrenches? Yeah, you have to attach them back now. Make sure you undo any of the mounts that hold the two lines together in a fixed state, just to make them more flexible. I wrestled with it for 30 minutes and couldn't get it. My friend went down there and tried for another 45 minutes or an hour, and FINALLY got it. I have huge hands, it didn't help. I'm not sure if I would of ever gotten it on there myself.
7. Everything else from there is basically in reverse order. Tighten rack bolts, tierods, swaybar endlink/mounts, subframe, bla, bla.
8. Follow whatever procedure you want to refill the PS fluid. I just filled it and kept turning the wheel left to right a bunch of times. Then start the car and do the same thing. Steering felt real spongy at first, but no vibrations or anything like that, just a bit 'ruber band-y.
Put new superpro or whiteline bushings(same thing) in your new rack when its on the floor, not in the car.
Review:
I think we need to re-write the 'how to turn better than an STI' thread. Really. It's that good. My car is lowered on low mileage red STI struts and JDM STI pink springs, which are pretty stiff. I also have botox bolts. The car felt really good before this, so I was skeptical about this mod, but this really transformed the car, it's hard to believe I'm still driving the same car. I know it didn't change the limits of the car's handling, but it certainly feels like it did. I really do love this mod on the same level as my suspension, not a bit less. I honestly thing that people with stock suspensions should do this mod before anything else, especially considering how cheap it is (got mine for 180 shipped on ebay). Do this before suspension. The install is a bit more involved than suspension, but it's not too horrible.
The turn-in is just insane, i have to adjust my driving style quite a bit now. I had a few moments when I'm going into a well known corner and turn the wheel like i used to, and the car responds so much faster that it's a bit scary at first. Definitely something to get used to. I feel like I'm driving a sports car. The wheel is also heavier, I would say it feels kind of like my GF's G35(the weight, not the ratio). I kind of want to get a new steering wheel now and get rid of my grandma wheel. I don't want to lose my airbag, so that's going to be extremely expensive. Does anybody know where I can get a good aftermarket wheel that I can transfer my airbag to? Preferably under $200 or $300 at most.
Please feel free to PM me or ask questions here.
