Steering rack

Herculean T4R

Herculean T4R

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How do I ascertain if my steering rack is at the end of its life? I definetely need to replace inner and outer tie rods as the steering feels sloppy during wheeling. I don't want to spend ~$280 on OEM inner tie rods if my steering rack will fail eventually. The new rack is about $550 on Camelback Toyota, so I am tempted to just replace the entire steering rack.

My steering rack is not leaking (haven't checked inside the boots), no whining noise and the truck handles well on highways and city driving.


Can someone suggest how to inspect steering rack? I know how to inspect tie rods but don't know a good method to test steering rack.

Thanks!
 
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Herculean T4R said:
How do I ascertain if my steering rack is at the end of its life? I definetely need to replace inner and outer tie rods as the steering feels sloppy during wheeling. I don't want to spend ~$280 on OEM inner tie rods if my steering rack will fail eventually. The new rack is about $550 on Camelback Toyota, so I am tempted to just replace the entire steering rack.

My steering rack is not leaking (haven't checked inside the boots), no whining noise and the truck handles well on highways and city driving.


Can someone suggest how to inspect steering rack? I know how to inspect tie rods but don't know a good method to test steering rack.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
usually you will see leaks. I got it for $500. In reality , your getting oem inner tie rods so...
 
Does the $550 Camelback rack that you mention come with new inner tie rods? Are you sure?

I'd check. I think it is the rack minus the inner tie rods at that OEM price.
 
Herculean T4R said:
How do I ascertain if my steering rack is at the end of its life? I definetely need to replace inner and outer tie rods as the steering feels sloppy during wheeling. I don't want to spend ~$280 on OEM inner tie rods if my steering rack will fail eventually. The new rack is about $550 on Camelback Toyota, so I am tempted to just replace the entire steering rack.



My steering rack is not leaking (haven't checked inside the boots), no whining noise and the truck handles well on highways and city driving.





Can someone suggest how to inspect steering rack? I know how to inspect tie rods but don't know a good method to test steering rack.



Thanks!
Click to expand...



Explain your slop. It could be the bushings too


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
With the engine running to get power assist, have someone wiggle the steering wheel back and forth while you (carefully, obviously) look.

I still have the original rack on my '99 (219K miles) but I have:
1) Replaced the bushings that hold the rack to the frame - first time it developed slop you could see the whole rack housing wiggling around. This is a bit more of a PITA than it sounds like, some of those bushings are hard to get out and back in.

2) Replaced the rack guide. Later model OEM racks use a roller guide, earlier racks use a solid guide. The roller guides wear out sooner and then the rack can wiggle around some. I replaced my roller guide with a new earlier style solid guide - no more slack. This is easy to replace - it just screws into the bottom side of the rack housing, then you adjust it to be not too tight, but not too loose.

EDIT - Link on replacing the guide: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/70884-how-replace-steering-rack-guide-pictures.html

PS: My wife initially replaced the worn/leaking rack on her '96 with a rebuilt (can't remember what brand) because it cost so much less than a new Toyota part. But it really didn't last very long, perhaps a year or two? Not worth the effort of putting another rebuilt in, she replaced that with a new Toyota OEM part and it's been good for many years now. The original one lasted well over 200K miles, the new replacement should as well.
 
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If your rack isn't leaking just replace the bushings. I did the OTRE's too because they're cheap. When the time comes I'll get the Rack with ITRE's.
 
I'm pretty sure you already know [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] and I have videos related to this subject matter but I figured I'd post them here anyway for those coming across this thread in the future and don't know about the Tim and Sean Timmy the Toolman show.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YywcR0E9bM4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r4Hhl225E8A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
BrianSD_42 said:
Does the $550 Camelback rack that you mention come with new inner tie rods? Are you sure?

I'd check. I think it is the rack minus the inner tie rods at that OEM price.
Click to expand...

The steering rack we did for Dave DID NOT come out its toe rods...

We swapped the old ones over .... @ herculean t4r
 
infamousRNR said:
The steering rack we did for Dave DID NOT come out its toe rods...

We swapped the old ones over .... @ herculean t4r
Click to expand...

The OEM steering racks come with the inner tie rods. Like Sean stated, we swapped over the outer tie rods from the old rack.
 
Since the rack is not leaking, my game plan is to replace outer tie rods (OEM), Inner tie rods( Moog), bushings and guide. If that doesn't solve the issue I will buy a new steering rack from Camelback. Would just hate to do this job all over again as it seems to be PITA to remove and replace the rack, especially the part where intermediate shaft joint needs to be properly connected to the lower rack joint.
 
Herculean T4R said:
Since the rack is not leaking, my game plan is to replace outer tie rods (OEM), Inner tie rods( Moog), bushings and guide. If that doesn't solve the issue I will buy a new steering rack from Camelback. Would just hate to do this job all over again as it seems to be PITA to remove and replace the rack, especially the part where intermediate shaft joint needs to be properly connected to the lower rack joint.
Click to expand...

It's actually not a hard job to replace the steering rack but I'm saying this being from the California Bay Area with no rust issues to deal with. I think the hardest might be removing the send and return power steering lines from the rack, but if you have flex head flare nut wrenches, it makes it much easier. Consider buying a set on Amazon if you have to do this job. They have come in very handy.

Here's a link to the flex head flare nut set I bought from Gear Wrench. Gear Wrench tools work really well and they stand behind their product. If you need to replace a tool due to a defect or failure, they replace it quickly.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XQ5MJA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Herculean T4R said:
Since the rack is not leaking, my game plan is to replace outer tie rods (OEM), Inner tie rods( Moog), bushings and guide. If that doesn't solve the issue I will buy a new steering rack from Camelback. Would just hate to do this job all over again as it seems to be PITA to remove and replace the rack, especially the part where intermediate shaft joint needs to be properly connected to the lower rack joint.
Click to expand...

Don't buy Moog, stick with OEM. I made the mistake of purchasing all Moog inner & outers, then about 2 years later my rack started leaking. When I replaced the rack, I was shocked to find the inners were virtually trash. For the minimal price difference, I would have been way further ahead to get OEM the first time around.
 
I had been fighting some play in the steering for quite some time. I replaced every joint and pivot in the front end and the problem was still there. One day I put just one tire in the air and tried forcing that tire left and right, as I had done previously, but this time I finally noticed it was moving up and down within the ends of the steering rack. Anyway, I replaced the steering rack and my steering issues finally went away.

I've also heard stay away from Moog in this instance. They have decent quality parts for other things, but not related to the steering rack.
 
Yes. OEM steering rack comes with OEM inner tie rods.

Steering wheel play could be due to badly worn out rag joint. Which I had to replace mine because I couldn't get it of the old steering rack. Was about $100 for the whole rag joint.

Steering play could also be inside the steering colum. Some people tack weld it. I'm sure 99% of the photos on how to fix something is gone due to photobucket messing it all up.

When I did my steering rack. I went with OEM. At the same time. I replaced OEM outter tie rods. And OEM LCA bushings. I still have some play in the steering wheel and I'm 99% it's the actual steering colum inside.
 
Someone earlier mentioned the steering rack guide bushing. The one you want is the newer solid bushing.
My 1996 with 240,000 miles had pretty bad play that mimics a bad drivers itre. Just yesterday I pulled the guide and shimmed it the 13 thou with washers used for installing an ar muzzle brake. Totally fixed the clunk!
When I can afford it I will upgrade to the new style guide if the play comes back.

Interesting read here on steering rack rebuilding
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rack-pinion-service-tools-tips.312600/
Jon
 
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