I'm going to disagree with you. My 2000 4runner has 205,000 miles on it and it steers perfect. It leaks some like I stated in my post above, but it performs with zero issues. Why would I drop over $500 on a steering rack when it's performing fine with no play and zero issues? There's a saying that I quite often subscribe to as well as millions of others do as well. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sometimes it's prudent to replace parts while you're in deep on a job because the labor to get back in that deep is extensive, like replacing the rear main seal while doing a clutch replacement.

My steering would have to be causing my front end to wander making it a safely issue for me to want to spend the time and money to replace it. This is my two and a half cents on this subject.