Steering Rack Bushings

[Xtremluck]

Trying to chase down knocking/rattling emanating from my steering while traveling on rocky off road trails in my 2012 (5th gen with 112,000 miles on it).

Ruled out the following:
•Upper control arms (Bushings/Uniballs) - Recently replaced with aftermarket Icon UCAs
•Lower control arms (Bushings/Ball joints) - Recently replaced with brand new OEM LCAs after ball joints looked bad
•Coilover Shock (Bushings) - Everything is nice and snug
•Swaybar (Bushings) - Everything is nice and snug
•Steering Column - Checked to ensure that the steering column and steering intermediate shaft were snug together

Now I’m starting to think it could be the steering rack bushings. Popped off the front skid and grabbed this video of the unit moving while the wheels were turning. I know there should be SOME movement but no idea if this amount of play is normal. Also, when grabbing the intermediate steering shaft and moving it there is some play that produces a very slight audible click.



Hoping someone out there has tackled a similar problem. As there only seem to be threads where folks replaced their whole steering rack. Thoughts?

 

[Xtremluck]

On a side note the 4th gen racks are very different than the 5th gens surprisingly. However, it appears FJ Cruisers use a very similar unit. Apparently, the easiest way to get the steering rack out is by removing the front differential.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fj...steering-rack-replacement.html?t=433889&amp=1

There has to be someone on here that has done it themselves?


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[TrkyMfns]

It's hard to tell from the video, but as someone who spent MONTHS chasing a front end clunk, I can tell you that the steering rack moves quite a bit on these trucks. In my case, it wasn't the source of my knocking. I would check your lower control arm bolts first and secondly your skid plate bolts. Hopefully, your case is that simple.

 

[Flahart]

On a side note the 4th gen racks are very different than the 5th gens surprisingly. However, it appears FJ Cruisers use a very similar unit. Apparently, the easiest way to get the steering rack out is by removing the front differential.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fj...steering-rack-replacement.html?t=433889&amp=1

There has to be someone on here that has done it themselves?


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What did you find was different between the 4th and 5th racks? I also have Gx470 (4th gen) that needs a new rack and components and I'm curious if I can buy 5th gen parts as an upgrade over what came stock.

Thanks!

 

[Xtremluck]

It's hard to tell from the video, but as someone who spent MONTHS chasing a front end clunk, I can tell you that the steering rack moves quite a bit on these trucks. In my case, it wasn't the source of my knocking. I would check your lower control arm bolts first and secondly your skid plate bolts. Hopefully, your case is that simple.

It's not coming from my LCAs. I recently installed brand new ones with brand new bushings and ball joints. My skid plates are not the culprit either. Although, they make their own noise when the frame flexes.

 

[Xtremluck]

What did you find was different between the 4th and 5th racks? I also have Gx470 (4th gen) that needs a new rack and components and I'm curious if I can buy 5th gen parts as an upgrade over what came stock.

Thanks!

The mounting locations are different between the generations. I've attached the steering rack for a 5th gen to this message. It will definitely not fit in a 4th gen.

 

[Jeremy556]

Before going after the steering rack, I would look elsewhere besides the front end. I know lots of people have had "front end" clunks that ended up being rear control arms, sway bar mounts, etc.

 

[Xtremluck]

Before going after the steering rack, I would look elsewhere besides the front end. I know lots of people have had "front end" clunks that ended up being rear control arms, sway bar mounts, etc.

Totally a fair point. What I recently thought was a front end clunk turned out to be my driveshaft making contact with my fuel tank skid plate with the suspension fully flexed out. However, in this case I can feel the clunk in my steering wheel on top of hearing it. I may try to replace the swaybar end links + bushings before that just for the hell of it though. At that point I would have pretty much replaced all my front suspension components with newer parts.

 

[joesrcool]

I'm going to follow this thread closely. I've got what feels like a very slight clunk/wobble/loose feeling on the front driver's side when hitting some bumps and on rough dirt roads. This feeling/sound is noticeably amplified when aired down. 2010 w/ ~138k miles.

I've had this noise for a little while now, and it seems to be getting worse, albeit gradually (could be that it's just getting on my nerves). I've done the following within the past 8k miles and it's still present...

• Toytech BOSS Performance 2.5in coilovers
• SPC UCA's
• New CV shafts
• New wheel bearings
• Pulled off my front sway bar (to eliminate bad bushings or endlinks)
• Checked torque on every nut/bolt connected to any suspension component

I was just researching LCA options and I'm worried after seeing your issue still persists with new LCA's. I have not checked anything in the rear, but I suppose I could. My issue sure really feels like front driver's side.

 

[MTN4RNR]

Totally a fair point. What I recently thought was a front end clunk turned out to be my driveshaft making contact with my fuel tank skid plate with the suspension fully flexed out. However, in this case I can feel the clunk in my steering wheel on top of hearing it. I may try to replace the swaybar end links + bushings before that just for the hell of it though. At that point I would have pretty much replaced all my front steering components with newer parts.

Time to strap a camera near the steering rack to see what it does in the real world.

 

[FrenchToasty]

Totally a fair point. What I recently thought was a front end clunk turned out to be my driveshaft making contact with my fuel tank skid plate with the suspension fully flexed out. However, in this case I can feel the clunk in my steering wheel on top of hearing it. I may try to replace the swaybar end links + bushings before that just for the hell of it though. At that point I would have pretty much replaced all my front steering components with newer parts.

I posted on a different thread earlier this week; I was able to hear and feel a "errt" noise from my front end while turning at low speeds. I cleaned the steering colum/shaft where it penetrates the firewall and greased it aswell. I haven't herd the noise since.

 

[rochmpr]

What I found while searching a front end clunck was the LCA bolts. Doing some work, I found that by torturing the LCA bolts at full droop caused a clunk upon stopping, starting, turning. By torturing the bolts at a loaded position resolved this clunck. Something worth looking at.

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[Xtremluck]

Time to strap a camera near the steering rack to see what it does in the real world.

You don't want to volunteer to stick your head into my wheel wells while I drive over rocks like last time?

Not a bad idea though. I just need to find my suction cup mount.

 

[Xtremluck]

What I found while searching a front end clunck was the LCA bolts. Doing some work, I found that by torturing the LCA bolts at full droop caused a clunk upon stopping, starting, turning. By torturing the bolts at a loaded position resolved this clunck. Something worth looking at.

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Thanks, it was one of the first things I checked. I literally just replaced the LCAs entirely about 1.5 months ago. Made sure they were torqued to spec even after I got an alignment. Everything was nice and snug.

 

[Xtremluck]

I'm going to try a couple of other things before I yank out the steering rack. Hoping that this problem will never produce a catastrophic failure when I'm out in middle of nowhere on a trail that a tow truck couldn't get to :wacko:

On a side note I ran into this video that our boy Max Powell made of replacing his steering rack on his 3rd Gen Tacoma. Their setup looks extremely similar to ours:


Steps for Removing the Steering Rack
1. Unbolt tie rod ends
2. Remove inner tie rods (Probably makes sense to remove the outer tie rods ends first)
3. Unbolt and remove intermediate steering shaft
3. Unbolt front differential brackets
4. Remove oil filter
5. Loosen steering rack mounting bolts
6. Cut and remove steering rack mounting bolts from the top
7. Unplug hi pressure and low pressure steering pump lines
8. Drain fluid
9. Remove rack from the passenger side

Reverse steps above to install the new rack

 

[joesrcool]

I was under the 4Runner today installing the Plastic Guy bumpstops and I decided to do some more checking and tightening of any nut/bolt I could find. As I was fiddling around I came to the No. 2 Steering Intermediate Shaft (the one under the 4Runner). I checked the two bolts and then decided to give the u-joint a shake. There was a very distinct clunk/rattle when I shook it in an up/down motion, however there was no movement when I tried to rotate it. The clunking sound the joint made was near identical to the clunk I hear when I'm driving over small bumps or rough roads. I'm 95% sure this is the source of my clunk.

Has anyone replaced this on a 5th gen? It appears to be different than the 4th gen and FJ shafts. The repair manual calls for removing the steering column to pull this out, but I'm wondering if there's enough slip in the spline joints to slide it up/down to disconnect one side, then the other.

 

[Xtremluck]

A quick update on this: I had my friend who has a 2016 TEP (w/60,000 mi) turn his wheels while I watched his rack and it had the same amount of movement. So it appears to be normal. Will move to replacing swaybar endlinks and bushings next.

 

[Xtremluck]

I was under the 4Runner today installing the Plastic Guy bumpstops and I decided to do some more checking and tightening of any nut/bolt I could find. As I was fiddling around I came to the No. 2 Steering Intermediate Shaft (the one under the 4Runner). I checked the two bolts and then decided to give the u-joint a shake. There was a very distinct clunk/rattle when I shook it in an up/down motion, however there was no movement when I tried to rotate it. The clunking sound the joint made was near identical to the clunk I hear when I'm driving over small bumps or rough roads. I'm 95% sure this is the source of my clunk.

Has anyone replaced this on a 5th gen? It appears to be different than the 4th gen and FJ shafts. The repair manual calls for removing the steering column to pull this out, but I'm wondering if there's enough slip in the spline joints to slide it up/down to disconnect one side, then the other.

Funny you mention that, I also noticed a TINY bit of play in my U-Joint as well. Moving it up and down also produced a light clicking noise. Will need to check my friend's rig to see if it's normal. If you look at this thread we had another member who had similar symptoms and the dealer replaced his steering shaft sub assembly and it did the trick: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/123042-ideas-identifying-steering-rattle.html

 

[Kmanxj]

Did you figure out what your issue was?

I can’t see your video but I’ve got some movement on mine and a clunk. Checking that u joint on steering shaft tomorrow.

 

[obxbird]

What I found while searching a front end clunck was the LCA bolts. Doing some work, I found that by torturing the LCA bolts at full droop caused a clunk upon stopping, starting, turning. By torturing the bolts at a loaded position resolved this clunck. Something worth looking at.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

My P/S LCA had to be replaced due to a stripped eccentric bolt and dealer was unable to get it aligned to spec. I have the same "metallic clunk" sound coming from the P/S front and if the LCA were torqued with the LCA extended, can I loosen it under a load and re-torque w/o having to get another alignment?