I was trying to re-center my steering wheel after some hard wheeling and had the hardest time removing the bolts that hold the steering coupler on to the shaft and steering rack. For some reason, Toyota doesn't list these bolts at the rag joint but I found that the upper shaft bolts are the same, 90080-11555:
2000-2021 Toyota Intermediate Shaft Bolt 90080-11555 | Camelback Toyota Parts

so partly, this is in case anyone is looking for those, but also I had a question for those that have re-centered their wheel or installed a new rack: Since these have a knurled shoulder, is there a correct procedure to installing them and not stripping out the knurls?

I'm pretty sure Firestone alignment buggered the threads and they weren't holding the splines tight enough such that the joint slipped. Here's a pic of my old ones vs. the new:



I'm going the chase the threads on the coupler joints before using the new bolts...

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found the relevant page in the FSM, SR-20 (page 1378) and it looks like there is nothing special mentioned about the knurls.

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The correct way to remove any knurled bolt is to loosen the nut rather than the bolt head and then force the bolt out. If you try to turn the bolt you are going to damage the knurling on the bolt, change the inner diameter of the bolt hole or both. I usually thread the nut back onto the bolt until the nut is flush with the end of the bolt and then hit it with a hammer. You won't damage the nut or bolt doing this. When installing the bolts use the nut to pull the bolt in to place. Use a wrench on the bolt head to keep the bolt from spinning as you tighten the nut.

Why are you replacing the bolts?

There's no nut on these, it just connects into the split threaded collar.

I'm changing them because the threads were all buggered up after removing these to re-center the wheel. I suspect Firestone either over-torqued these or tried to remove the coupler to re-center the wheel without removing these bolts all the way. Either way, see first picture to see the old bolts. I'm not comfortable trying to put those back in place and so bought new ones.

Are you talking about the bolt that connects the splined portion of the steering rack to the rest of the steering column? I'm having a hard time figuring out where those bolts went from your description.

Are the pictures not showing up? It's bolt A and B as shown in the FSM diagram in my second post. They are the bolts that tighten the clamp around the intermediate steering shaft and the steering rack itself.

I could see the photos, but haven't had it apart to know which bolts were knurled. I'm surprised they are knurled to be honest since they have to rotate to thread in. Normally knurled bolts are pulled in by a fastener and the knurled part is to prevent the bolt from rotating. I wonder why Toyota did that? Maybe as a precaution to keep them from loosening on their own, but I would think the lock washer would be sufficient.

OK, good, I'm just as confused as you are about why these are knurled
it makes no sense to me.

I went back and re-watched the @mtbtim video on steering rack replacement and there was no mention of the knurls either...

So anyone that has replaced the steering rack or re-centered their steering wheels themselves, any problems with the knurls?

If your steering wheel was centered before wheeling & uncentered after, I would think one of the alignment components like the otre/itre would cause the steering wheel to be off and not the intermediate shaft/steering coupler especially if the steering coupler was never disconnected prior to having that issue.

Fair point, and I definitely checked, all appeared straight. I'm sure Firestone did re-center the wheel after the initial alignment. My suspicion is that they didn't torque these bolts down correctly and the shaft slipped on the splines. It drives completely straight otherwise but I suppose I should take it to a different shop for another alignment to check for hidden frame issues...

And for all the hemming and hawing about the knurls, turns out they don't even engage and don't look to be doing anything after all. I guess toyota just re-used some bolts here and called it good. Interesting... I tried to get a picture of the (lack of) knurl engagement...just take my word, they don't matter in this application.

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Of course the knurling doesn't even matter lol Thanks Toyota!

It's been several years since I did any work on that joint but I don't think the knurls/splines on that bolt has the same function that you would typically expect, like the knurls on wheel studs that pull through to secure it in place. From my experience, the threads on that steering coupler bolt can pretty easily get messed up because of the steering shaft jamming against it when trying to pull the bolt out. The knurls on the coupler bolt reminds of body mount bolts that have similar knurling that don't seem to have an obvious function other than maybe preventing the washer from sliding off? I still think it was a little odd for Firestone to remove that bolt to straighten your steering wheel during your alignment unless they noticed it coming loose.

Yes, that's exactly what it is for.

As for the steering wheel alignment... Sounds like it is time to start at square one. First, you need to make sure you have an even amount of turns left and right on the rack. That can be fixed at the steering shaft there or up at the steering wheel splines. After that, a toe alignment should be done with the steering wheel straight ahead, then the left and right outer tie rod threads should be counted to make sure they are near equal.

-Charlie

I get that part but I didn't think the steering shaft could get thrown off to the point where it would have a different amount left to right steering wheel revolutions unless it was disassembled at some point, like when installing a body lift, & the neutral position wasn't maintained.