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So I noticed a leak coming from the rack on my 06, after changing a few O rings and lines, the leak was till happening. It was intermittent so I decided the heck with it, I'll just install a reman rack. I thought that I'd knock it out in the afternoon, all was well until I tried to get the rack unbolted. What a major PITA!! Apparently those racks are torqued to a couple of million Ft. Lbs and Loctited. Add to that is the fact that you can't really get a straight shot from anyplace on the car. For some reason Ford welded the nuts on the bottom, and ran the bolts down, through the rack bracket, into those nuts, instead of the opposite.
So I let the carnage begin..
First off I broke some brand X 3/8 to 1/2 adaptors trying to get an angle on the bolt
Then I broke a 1970s vintage SK impact socket, which is just about impossible (I know it's not metric, it's an equivalent SAE), although NOT being an 18mm EXACTLY may have contributed to it's demise
An Impact wrench wouldn't touch it, so I applied some heat, and was able to angle a way down from the top and finally break them loose. I used a conglomeration of extensions and a 6 point MAC socket, this gave me enough room to put the mother of all breaker bars on it, , needless to say, after the install, I loaded up on the good drugs and a bottle of wine, because my back was screaming at me.
Lastly, I ordered one of these from Northern tool, which made things much easier. I ran the torque on the bolts down to 70#s, I marked the rack to make sure it didn't move, and if it did, I could tell. I'm planning to put the rack torque process on my check list for track days instead of Loctiting it forever.
So I let the carnage begin..
First off I broke some brand X 3/8 to 1/2 adaptors trying to get an angle on the bolt
Then I broke a 1970s vintage SK impact socket, which is just about impossible (I know it's not metric, it's an equivalent SAE), although NOT being an 18mm EXACTLY may have contributed to it's demise
An Impact wrench wouldn't touch it, so I applied some heat, and was able to angle a way down from the top and finally break them loose. I used a conglomeration of extensions and a 6 point MAC socket, this gave me enough room to put the mother of all breaker bars on it, , needless to say, after the install, I loaded up on the good drugs and a bottle of wine, because my back was screaming at me.
Lastly, I ordered one of these from Northern tool, which made things much easier. I ran the torque on the bolts down to 70#s, I marked the rack to make sure it didn't move, and if it did, I could tell. I'm planning to put the rack torque process on my check list for track days instead of Loctiting it forever.
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