Safari LTD steering rack or OEM?

J

judoant

Member
My rack is leaking needs to be replaced. I ordered an OEM for $511 but I am now having doubts I should have got the Safari. I have 265/75's now but plan to lift 2-3" and go to 33's in a year or 2.

Is it worth it to get the Safari? My last rack went 200k+ miles. How have your Safari racks held up?
 
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Bumping this, anyone with the Safari LTD rack willing to give a review? Looking to purchase soon.
 
I installed my Safari rack over the winter and it was a definite improvement over my old worn out factory rack. I've had it offroad several times and the steering is still nice and tight.
 
I'm either going to get the Safari rack or just replace the guide. Just need to decide if I want to spend $80 or $350. I'm afraid if I put more parts into the OEM rack and then need inner tie rods I will end up spending even more money.
 
Im interested in this as well.
I got a bad drivers ITR diagnosis from a recent trip to the alignment shop. I think it's more like a worn old style guide bushing, and worn out rack bushings that's causing the movement.
I will be installing the newer style guide bushing and replace the rack bushings for now.
Either or, I may be in the market for a new rack down the road.
 
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I just installed a safari rack yesterday but haven't test driven it yet. [MENTION=5345]habanero[/MENTION] had a link for an OEM rack for about 550. The safari rack is about 400 with shipping.

For what it's worth the safari rack has an AAE (advanced automotive engineering) part number, but they claim to replace internal nylon bushings with brass. The AAE rack is about 250 on rockauto.

IMAG1258_zps4wlggeyq.jpg~original
 
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i can give a review of the Safari LTD rack...

great product!, much much better than the OE rack, and so far no one has been willing to pull the rockauto rack apart to confirm it also has the brass bushings, though plenty of people will say it does.. still have not seen the proof. anyhow the brass will hold up much better than the nylon and deal with the stress of a lift and bigger tires much better. on my 4runner i ran 35s, locked front and rear, armor and a lift. it made a world of difference, -i also replaced all my control arms bushings as well. but the steering is much tighter. and the rack heald up great with the larger tires in the rocks, snow and mud. if you ask me go Safari LTD all the way and never look back
 
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JBurt said:
I just installed a safari rack yesterday but haven't test driven it yet. [MENTION=5345]habanero[/MENTION] had a link for an OEM rack for about 550. The safari rack is about 400 with shipping.

For what it's worth the safari rack has an AAE (advanced automotive engineering) part number, but they claim to replace internal nylon bushings with brass. The AS A rack is about 250 on rockauto.

IMAG1258_zps4wlggeyq.jpg~original
Click to expand...

Funny, Auto Zone also sells the AAE rack, same part # as RA but Auto Zone wants $419.99 vs $231 from RA.
 
Just got back from an alignment and my steering is much better than before. The wheel is a little harder to turn and it doesn't self center as much as it did before. I don't know of the rack gets broken in or I need to adjust the guide. The steering has no more slop at all. Good product, plus you get two stickers, two pens and a keychain.


Edit: 11/16/15. The steering is nice and normal. It loosened up (easier to turn, still no play) after a few hundred miles.
 
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I went OEM because:
1. Replacing bushings/guides on a 17 year old rack is a poor investment of time and money
2. Should I actually prematurely wear out the bushings/guides, it will be worth it to replace same on a recent OEM rack.
3. the first rack lasted 17 years...with probably very little 4WD driving, I admit...
4. I hate surprises
 
the great him said:
i can give a review of the Safari LTD rack...

great product!, much much better than the OE rack, and so far no one has been willing to pull the rockauto rack apart to confirm it also has the brass bushings, though plenty of people will say it does.. still have not seen the proof. anyhow the brass will hold up much better than the nylon and deal with the stress of a lift and bigger tires much better. on my 4runner i ran 35s, locked front and rear, armor and a lift. it made a world of difference, -i also replaced all my control arms bushings as well. but the steering is much tighter. and the rack heald up great with the larger tires in the rocks, snow and mud. if you ask me go Safari LTD all the way and never look back
Click to expand...

Hello Sir...can you please advise why the Safari rack is better than OEM? I Mean other than the obvious cost difference. Are you saying OEM has nylon gears??

Also, where did you get yours from? Does it come with a warranty??

Thank you...
 
It supposedly has brass linear bushings instead of nylon ones, but I don't think anyone had cracked it open to check.

As far as I know you can only get it from Safari Ltd. They have fantastic customer service. I can't remember about a warranty.
 
JBurt said:
It supposedly has brass linear bushings instead of nylon ones, but I don't think anyone had cracked it open to check.

As far as I know you can only get it from Safari Ltd. They have fantastic customer service. I can't remember about a warranty.
Click to expand...

Thank you Sir...I thought this is what was being said...but just wanted to be sure. So I guess I need to look Safari up and call them.

Thanks again for the clarification [MENTION=84643]JBurt[/MENTION]

- Russel
 
rackcopy.jpg~original


My bad. It is a bushing, not a linear bearing, but same idea.

FWIW I've been really happy with my safari rack.
 
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