Removing steering rack from vehicle

I have a 96' Explorer V8 AWD and am in the process of replacing the steering rack and tire rod ends. I have everything disconnected from the rack and am trying to remove it but I cannot seem to get the rack out from the vehicle.

I've narrowed it down to two options. I need to either take the 4 bolts holding my engine downa nd jack it up an inch or two, or remove the outer tie rods and inner tie rod ends and attempt to get the rack out that way. Or maybe even a combination of both.

I was hoping someone who has done this job before would have some suggestions on how to accomplish this.

You have to remove the tierods by removing the boots and then unscrewing them. You then push it to one side, and the pull the other side out the front. in other words, it will come out the front of the truck, not the side, make sure to get it aligned when the new one is in, or else ur tires are gonna wear quicker than you want.

Thanks for the info! I just got one question though, is this possible on a V8 Model since the clearance between the bottom of the oil pan and the rack is alot less than on the v6 models?

Ha, Did u notice we live 20 min apart? I honestly don't know, what the clearence differences are from V6 to V8. but the frames are still the same I think, so it should work, u will disconnect all the hoses, the steering linkage and then the tierods, when u have just the rack itself it should slide out the front w, just a little work, let me know

We are pretty close. Didn't notice that myself.

Yea, I got everythign disconnected (that was a chore in itself) and am jsut stuck on the "how to get it out" part. I'm going out here in 20 minutes to start on removing the tierods so hopefully it'll work. I'll let ya know then

Well, I got the tie rods off and am just barely not able to pull it out of the vehicle. No matter what position I put it in it just won't come out. Looking at it, all I need is another 1-2 inches of clearance on my oil pan to be able to get this thing out. Looks like like I will be jacking the engine up tommorow.