Has anyone ever replaced one of these? I have one on order. I haven't taken a look at what it will take to replace it yet. (Its raining cats and dogs today). I was wondering if anyone has any info regarding this repair. I couldn't stand the squeaking anymore!

I had the same squealing/squeaking problem at the slightest movement of the shaft.  The grease in the bearing dries out but is repackable.  Just loosen the Allen set screws that hold the bearing in place; bearing then will be loose enough for it to drop a little; repack it with a little bearing grease and you are ready to go for a good while.  Been a couple of years since I did my MG and have not heard a squeak yet and it receives heavy usage.  

Hope this is your problem.  Whole lot easier than replacing if there is no need to.  That would require a lot more effort. lol

Bob

Unfortunately, the collar had worked its way lose over time, unbeknownst to me. This allowed the bearing to slip down, and that allowed some of the balls to fall out of their cage. I had to do an on the water  jerry rigging and that pretty much screwed the pooch on making the original one work. The part was only 6 bucks, so hopefully it won't take me 4 hours to replace.

P.S. I kinda forgot about this thread, sorry it took so long to get back to it!

You will have to take the top cover off. Take the rack out for the steering and Disconnect all the wires. You will see a small allen screw in the steering gear all the wires come through, loose or take that allen screw out. You will then unscrew that gear off the shaft. It sometimes can be a little difficult to unscrew because that allen screw that locks it on damages the top threads on the shaft. Once you get the gear off, you slide the shaft out, put you new bearings on, slide it back in, and put it back together. Home Depot usually carries those butt crimps they use to connect a couple of the wires.

One thing, hold the wires so they don't twist around while screwing the steering gear off and on.  

Make sure the rack is centered with the motor going straight when putting the steering rack back in or you may not get full steering in one direction.  I am assuming this is a foot control steering when I say this.

Make sure all the balls are in place in the top bearing. You can always just slide the collar down, take the balls out of the new bearing to replace the missing balls in the old one, and not take it apart. I've done that many times because it's a pain in the butt to replace the whole thing. Even if the cage no longer holds the balls in, it doesn't matter as long as the collar is kept in place and not let slip down like it did, the balls can't fall out.