Steering column thunk

[Themoog]

Recently I've been working on a farm and to get to site I have to drive down a rough track. I've noticed a slight knocking somewhere in the steering column or rack so I have a few questions..
The green bushes at the bottom of the column where it exits the bulkhead - are they easy to replace or known to wear out?
The universal steering joint may be past it but I've heard of there being 2 different connections, one hexagonal and something else depending on year (mine is an 01).Is this correct?
As for the steering rack itself, can the play in the rack be adjusted if you know what I mean. I had a Porsche 944 years ago and and that had a screw that put more pressure via a nylon bearing on the rack to take out any play.
It may just be the UJ worn out and everything else fine but just wondering.
Thanks

[andrewwynn]

Mine wore out internally.

Test the steering gear with the engine off hold one at a time the tie rod and have a helper steer left and right. If there's play on the rack it's obvious it'll click as it lifts off and reconnects.

Many many ball joints and bearings up front an uncommon but definitely happens fault is the bearing at the top of the strut will "feel" like it's in the stewing gear.

[Henn28]

Similar problem with my 02 several years ago. Turned out to be the u joint, thankfully, as I didn’t want to deal with the rack. I ended up replacing my u joint (“double joint” in RealOEM) to fix it. Several good threads around here though that discuss tightening the screw connecting the u joint to the lower assembly, which has fixed this problem for some folks.

Hopefully it’s not your rack.

[andrewwynn]

If it's the rack PM i have a spare.

I bought one to fix my steering and a deer killed the car before i installed it.


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[Themoog]

Thanks but it's a bit tricky as I'm in the UK..