All Praise to the Rack Bushing Repair Kit..

[jdmidwest]

I have fought the sloppy, wobbly front end for almost 2 years now. Balancing the tires, aligning the front end all seemed to help for a while. But lately, I have had more steering wheel shimmy, tires tracking the diamond grooved pavement, and sloppy handling on gravel roads. Braking brought some severe vibrations of the steering wheel. My front end was tight, so said my local mechanic. All tie rods, ball joints were good.

After work one day I was talking with one of the guys at work that is a Toyota fan and we were comparing our trucks, mine a 99 4 Runner and his a 98 Tacoma. He mentioned that his wife's 99 4 Runner had a sloppy steering wheel and we decided to order a rack bushing kit for it. He had a local dealer special order it and he installed it at home. He came in on a Monday morning and proclaimed his wife's 4 Runner drove like a new one now after the kit. I ordered one up online and had it installed today.

The steering is tight and responsive. It even seems to steer better, before it seemed a little tight. Shimmy is gone, it tracks good on grooved pavement, and shimmies less when braking. $18 for parts, $50 for install and I am good to go.

 

[eric_simo99]

those the dealership prices?

 

[jdmidwest]

My local dealership for Toyota could not even get me a master key for the truck when I bought it. Parts guy seemed too busy to even bother ordering it and I decided not to bother him any more. He did have the nylon washer for the oil pan nut for $3 a piece.

The parts were Energy Suspension that I ordered offline and were installed by my local tire and suspension guy.

 

[Elton H]

can order the kit from http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/4runnerrackbushkit.htm its on my list of thing to do also

 

[TheDurk]

Yeah, Wheeler's is the way to go. Some have said Toyota won't sell the bushings, just the entire rack. I do know there is no listing for any kit--just the individual pieces. I'm pretty sure old Dan, my counter guy, could get them, but getting them one-by-one has to be way more expensive than the Wheeler kit which worked great for me.

 

[Daretofish]

OK, you guys talked me into ordering the kit. like others and the ad says, the dealer does not sell the bushings without the rack. The dealer (a good one) did not diagnose the steering looseness a couple of years ago. Thanks to the members here for the information!

 

[jdmidwest]

Unless Wheelers is a sponser on here, why not go direct to the source at Energy Suspension. Fast shipping and they take Paypal.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=8.10101

 

[notrayray]

Unless Wheelers is a sponser on here, why not go direct to the source at Energy Suspension. Fast shipping and they take Paypal.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=8.10101

Because Wheelers provides the custom bushing for the center mount.

 

[024RunnerSE]

I'm actually a bit shocked that they wont sell the bushings. My 98 4Runner in Yemen has it's bushings replaced commonly after some good offroad abuse.

 

[Brutus]

I got my kit from Wheelers. Took a while to get here ( 9 days) but I got it in. Didn't really help my shimmy at all. What I do notice is the shimmy used to be the worst from 62 - 67 now it's more like 55 - 60. Truck handles like a Porshe now too, really responsive.

 

[bak3rme]

i have the similar problem. about to make this cheap purchase, however installation can be a different story for me. any write ups on this? ..sorry too tired to search...yea yea u guys can give me sh!7 for this. How long did it take? any heavy tools required?

 

[notrayray]

I got my kit from Wheelers. Took a while to get here ( 9 days) but I got it in. Didn't really help my shimmy at all. What I do notice is the shimmy used to be the worst from 62 - 67 now it's more like 55 - 60. Truck handles like a Porshe now too, really responsive.

Look and see if there is any play in your u-joints or that all the flange bolts are tight.

i have the similar problem. about to make this cheap purchase, however installation can be a different story for me. any write ups on this? ..sorry too tired to search...yea yea u guys can give me sh!7 for this. How long did it take? any heavy tools required?

Steering rack bushing replacement

from my sigline link......:cheers: