Steering Rack is Toast

S

SoCalTRDPro

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So, I don't know if anyone may have a problem like this, but I couldn't find it. Figured I'd post and get some feedback. In the last few weeks I was getting some 'pops' from my front sus on right turns. I have 285s, spacers, and toytec leveling kit. Also, a little extra weight from a Pelfrey built hidden winch mount and a Warn 10s.

That said, I had some guys look at it while I got OME 898 springs put on the rear. The tech came back and said my steering rack was shot. Said to take it to toyota and get it warrantied.

Does anyone have experience with this? I cant imagine the stock rack should be destroyed in 8k miles on a TRDPro, but maybe I'm wrong.
 
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"shot", meaning what? What exactly is shot on the unit? Is it leaking at the rubber boots? Will it not turn the wheels any more?

How's the fluid in the reservoir? Is it greyish-black or really burnt smelling?

Just trying to figure out what actually happened to the rack, that might shed some light on what caused it to head south.

A steering rack is pretty basic in its entirety, basically just a hydraulic ram, so it seems strange that its shot without leaking all over the place or the ram's bent somewhere.

Now, if its bent, then that's most likely operator error. Not saying you did something, but it could be from wheeling and getting the wheel locked into a crevice and trying to turn it out, but that usually ends up with a really bad alignment issue, which you don't mention, so I assume that's not it either.

I'd be weary of taking it to the dealer with a spacer and lift kit on it, as they can say there's more than enough evidence of modified suspension causing an issue. Better to identify the actual issue with the rack before taking it in so you can either address the cause first or be prepared to defend yourself with any questions of aftermarket parts causing the damage.
 
Look up [MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION] as I think he had a similar problem. He had a bazillion miles of off road on his though.
 
[MENTION=118444]flyinhawaiian01[/MENTION] - No leaks that I know of, and it hasn't been wheeled at all. I was prepping it to go to Banff for a few weeks. That said, the tech at the shop I went to said everything was 'loose'. Don't know specifically what that means, but that's what I was told. The fluid is perfect. Not grey/not burnt.
 
Hitting a pothole at high speed, jumping a curb, etc. can all smoke your steering rack. At the same time there's always a possibility yours was just defective. The bad news is that it takes a couple days to have it replaced as they need to lift the engine a bit to get at the rack.
 
There is a lot going on with a steering rack.... Maybe the tech knows what he is doing... but my guess is he has no clue.

Loose can come from the inner or outer tie rods.... I would be checking those things first.

If I had to guess what your noise was.. I would say it is swaybar related. Total guess though. Get a second opinion (maybe even at the dealer)
 
[MENTION=106176]wfo9[/MENTION] - Scheduled a dealer appointment for Friday. I'm going to slide under the car and take a look myself tomorrow.
 
Another likely cause of "loose" would be the mounting bolts or bushings, but my money is on misdiagnosis. Should be able to easily reach in from in front each wheel, grab the tie rod and see if there is any movement. Don't need to lift it or anything.
 
I'm at the dealership now. I feel like I should be live-blogging the progress. It's almost comedy.

As suspected, the service manager told me "ohh that's lifted, we can't fix that". On asking why, he replied "'Cause it changes the angle of the dangle" --- Verbatim.

I took a ride with the tech that confirmed the noise. We went to the manager together, and I was told it would be a while before they could get to it, despite my appointment.

I told them I'd wait...they said 3+ hours to figure out the issue, and involve the 'necessary parties'.

I'm sticking this one out for a good story at the very least.
 
SoCalTRDPro said:
I'm at the dealership now. I feel like I should be live-blogging the progress. It's almost comedy.

As suspected, the service manager told me "ohh that's lifted, we can't fix that". On asking why, he replied "'Cause it changes the angle of the dangle" --- Verbatim.

I took a ride with the tech that confirmed the noise. We went to the manager together, and I was told it would be a while before they could get to it, despite my appointment.

I told them I'd wait...they said 3+ hours to figure out the issue, and involve the 'necessary parties'.

I'm sticking this one out for a good story at the very least.
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Enjoy, Stick to your guns and always remain polite but firm. I expect that you will have to push hard for any front suspension work to be completed under warranty do to your modifications.

You want to at least walk away with a diagnosis, so whatever they tell you have them show you. If they say X,Y&Z part is bad, ask how they know and then ask them to show you on the floor.
 
[MENTION=96008]Engineer[/MENTION] - Completely agree on that front. I'll keep the thread updated. This particular dealership is pretty solid, but it's boiling down to the cards I've drawn during check-in.
 
I hate when my dangle angle is out of skew! :confused::bolt:

Seriously...... Who tells a customer that and thinks that's a professional answer? :wtf: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah:
 
Saker said:
I hate when my dangle angle is out of skew! :confused::bolt:

Seriously...... Who tells a customer that and thinks that's a professional answer? :wtf: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah:
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My wife has used that diagnosis on me before...I called BS as well!
 
be all serious and ask if they can show you suspension specifications, try to get them to show you the allowable alignment ranges or something and then, in a serious voice as flatly as you can, ask them which one is the dangle angle
 
So with all the mods (of various types) people do to their 4Runners; does anyone check the work and possible future issues against the warranty (regular or extended)?

Some of you are spending a lot of $ on these things as indicated by countless threads on various subjects. I have yet to see any mention of possible warranty issues should the unthinkable happen.

I'm not against mods, but it does appear that lots of work is being done (both amateur and professional) that may impact the warranty eventually. It also appears people are quite good about doing their homework about which mod to do and which companies make the best equipment. Is this all at your own risk or do most of you wait until the warranty is up to do the serious stuff?
 
flyrv9 said:
So with all the mods (of various types) people do to their 4Runners; does anyone check the work and possible future issues against the warranty (regular or extended)?

Some of you are spending a lot of $ on these things as indicated by countless threads on various subjects. I have yet to see any mention of possible warranty issues should the unthinkable happen.

I'm not against mods, but it does appear that lots of work is being done (both amateur and professional) that may impact the warranty eventually. It also appears people are quite good about doing their homework about which mod to do and which companies make the best equipment. Is this all at your own risk or do most of you wait until the warranty is up to do the serious stuff?
Click to expand...

There will be lots of "camps" on this but IMOHO most fall into either

*Have enough money and choose to spend it on letting a shop do all the installs. This camp likely will do the same if something outside of warranty comes up

*The more "DIY" who even if the mods caused issues down the road they will buy the part and do it themselves. Things that come to the top of my mind are wheel bearings, I expect I am shortening the life if my bearings and would not expect Toyota to pay for that so when they go I will buy new and install my self.

Major failures of anything on the 4runner (Tranny/Engine) are extremely rare and most of the "mods" wont have much of a negative impact. But short answer is yes, if you modify your 4runner from OEM you are taking on some risk that it could create a failure and they wouldn't fix it. A remote example could be if my transmission went out down the road. I could see Toyota saying well because of Increased weight, wheel size, suspension lift, abuse off road etc etc I created undo wear on it and caused the failure.....depending on the circumstances I would likely argue hard about this but in the end could go find a used tranny and install it or have it installed at an independent shop and not have much concern. Life is way to short to worry about all the "what if's" - Keep them in mind, know the risks but do what you enjoy.

P.S. Having a decent skill set and small emergency fund makes life much less stressful.
 
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