Leaking Steering Rack? Options?

[UARandy3]

When you said good 10mm of play, do you mean side to side, up and down, or rotational play? I remember getting under my truck just several weeks ago to see if I could find any loose spots and everything seemed tight except for where the joint assembly enters the steering rack.

There's a good video in that thread that shows what it does. Mine did the same thing and was an up and down movement (I tried to take a video, but it didn't work too well). To test it, I had my wife turn the steering wheel back and forth while I watched. You could hear the clunk, as well as feel it in the steering column and wheel.

 

[madbomber08]

Oh I see what you guys are saying. I meant the shaft that comes down from the steering column into the rack. I had some slight vertical up and down play with that little assembly.

If I change my oil today I'll be sure and pull my boots to see what I got going on in there. I'll snap some pics and post them if you want.

 

[cordrayj1]

When you said good 10mm of play, do you mean side to side, up and down, or rotational play? I remember getting under my truck just several weeks ago to see if I could find any loose spots and everything seemed tight except for where the joint assembly enters the steering rack.

up and down. the hourglass styled guide wears out and moves up and down inside its housing. thats where you get the up and down movement from.

 

[UARandy3]

Oh I see what you guys are saying. I meant the shaft that comes down from the steering column into the rack. I had some slight vertical up and down play with that little assembly.

If I change my oil today I'll be sure and pull my boots to see what I got going on in there. I'll snap some pics and post them if you want.

That would be great if you can snap a few pics. I would be very interested to see if yours looks the same as mine as far as the goop/grease/fluid on it.

up and down. the hourglass styled guide wears out and moves up and down inside its housing. thats where you get the up and down movement from.

Did yours have the grease and fluid leaking like what's in my pictures?

 

[cordrayj1]

That would be great if you can snap a few pics. I would be very interested to see if yours looks the same as mine as far as the goop/grease/fluid on it.


Did yours have the grease and fluid leaking like what's in my pictures?

yes, but it wasnt anything crazy . . . prob a seal. you can rebuild these things.

look at the diagrams. you prob have a bad seal or something. the guide is more important IMO

 

[madbomber08]

Well, this may put you at ease UAR....both rack ends looked nearly identical to yours!

Driver's side

I did my LBJ's and outer tie rods in late November and the driver's side of the rack had the sludgy stuff on it like yours does but I wiped it off. You can see where the sludge once was but it didn't reform on the shaft after 5 months.

Passenger side:

The rack:

I went a little bit overboard. Some of the pictures are a little bit confusing because I had the camera tilting sideways.

 

[UARandy3]

Well, this may put you at ease UAR....both rack ends looked nearly identical to yours!

Driver's side

I did my LBJ's and outer tie rods in late November and the driver's side of the rack had the sludgy stuff on it like yours does but I wiped it off. You can see where the sludge once was but it didn't reform on the shaft after 5 months. /snip

Thanks for the pictures! That does look similar as far as the leaking, though mine had quite a bit more fluid in the boot bellows.

This evening I did some more looking and diagnosing, mostly to check the inner tie rods. Both ITRs were very loose and had a lot of play (not so much in and out, but very loose spinning etc). I was REALLY hoping they would still be tight, and I could just try replacing the rack guide. So those will definitely need to be replaced.

I checked the pricing on Toyota Part Sales for the rack guide and inner tie rods, and the total comes $395.43 shipped. Hell, that's more than the cost of a reman rack from NAPA! BUT, for a new Toyota rack from same place would be $657.01 shipped. That's not a whole lot of difference to get a brand new rack either and would eliminate any questions as to whether the fixes above would work or if they would just be temporary patches.

I sure would like to get a reman rack for a few hundred cheaper than a new Toyota rack, but I've read quite a few complaints about reman racks (especially the Cardone racks that NAPA sells). The Beck/Arnley reman racks have good reviews, but they cost as much or more than a Toyota rack too. Going to think on it some and research a little more on the reman racks, but the new Toyota rack is starting to look like the right decision to fix things and be done with the issue.

EDIT: Has anyone heard of or used toyotasteering.com?? They have new racks for $345, but not sure if it comes with inner tie rods or not. If it does, I'm curious as to why they're so cheap. May give them a call tomorrow.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Thanks for the pictures! That does look similar as far as the leaking, though mine had quite a bit more fluid in the boot bellows.

This evening I did some more looking and diagnosing, mostly to check the inner tie rods. Both ITRs were very loose and had a lot of play (not so much in and out, but very loose spinning etc). I was REALLY hoping they would still be tight, and I could just try replacing the rack guide. So those will definitely need to be replaced.

I checked the pricing on Toyota Part Sales for the rack guide and inner tie rods, and the total comes $395.43 shipped. Hell, that's more than the cost of a reman rack from NAPA! BUT, for a new Toyota rack from same place would be $657.01 shipped. That's not a whole lot of difference to get a brand new rack either and would eliminate any questions as to whether the fixes above would work or if they would just be temporary patches.

I sure would like to get a reman rack for a few hundred cheaper than a new Toyota rack, but I've read quite a few complaints about reman racks (especially the Cardone racks that NAPA sells). The Beck/Arnley reman racks have good reviews, but they cost as much or more than a Toyota rack too. Going to think on it some and research a little more on the reman racks, but the new Toyota rack is starting to look like the right decision to fix things and be done with the issue.

EDIT: Has anyone heard of or used toyotasteering.com?? They have new racks for $345, but not sure if it comes with inner tie rods or not. If it does, I'm curious as to why they're so cheap. May give them a call tomorrow.

I have replaced my rack, twice. And the reason I did it twice is because I used remanufactured racks. I implore you not to get a reman rack. Just do it once and do it right. From what Ive read these racks were not built with rebuilding in mind.

As far as your high speed vibration . . . that is something I have been dealing with since I got my truck less than two years ago. I actually just got it balanced on Monday at Toyota. I hate to admit this, but since Ive had my truck Ive had it balanced (the expensive way) 6 times. Every balance has changed the feel of the vibration a bit, or increased or decreased it, but never rid it. There are several threads about our wheels and how they are hub and lug centric, which seems to cause balancing issues. The best my truck has ever felt was when I had Discount tire balance it after I got new tires. Since then Ive put on Tacoma wheels with spacers, and Discount wont balance them with the spacers. Toyota never gets it right. Its extreamly frusterating.

But so you know in advance, the steering rack is not the cause of the high speed vibration. Sure a bad rack, or any other loose front end suspension parts, will magnify the vibration. But the source of the vibration is in a spinning part. I.e. tires/wheels, drive shaft, u joints, cv joints, hubs, etc. But I would put money on the fact that its a wheel/tire balance issue.

 

[jklmc]

Ttt

so what was the outcome??? i also had that greenish goo on my garage floor.

Is there any differences between 2wd/4wd RACKS?? would taco ones fit??

 

[NCrunner0]

Leak

Bringing back a old thread, I know! So if I have a leak coming from my drivers side rack boot cover then a seal has went bad? Can I replace said seal? This is a remaned rack with only about 1k miles on it.