Tie rods

[gnarlynick2072]

I know this subject has been beaten to death so I apologize .

Went for alignment, said I needed new tie rods. I replaced both inner and outer with oem toyota. Went to another shop, said my drivers side inner tie rod is bad. Is there play in a bad steering rack that can cause an alignment tech to think the tie rods are bad? There's no way an oem tie rod can be faulty...

Does replacing the drivers side rack guide solve this problem?

 

[pluton]

Yes, it can have play with the tie rods being OK.
I've seen the rack guide having been suggested as a source of play and it's located on the driver's side. I am pretty sure that was the source of play in mine.

Many have claimed to have successfully replaced the guide with no further complications, although local wisdom told me to expect trouble eventually from the 17 year-old rack seals.

 

[gnarlynick2072]

Yes, it can have play with the tie rods being OK.
I've seen the rack guide having been suggested as a source of play and it's located on the driver's side. I am pretty sure that was the source of play in mine.

Many have claimed to have successfully replaced the guide with no further complications, although local wisdom told me to expect trouble eventually from the 17 year-old rack seals.

Excellent, that is one more thing to troubleshoot before replacing the rack.

So to reiterate this could minimize play in the drivers side wheel with respect to the passengers side.

Sounds to me like the guide will only solve the problem until the next weakest link in the system fails.

With all that being said, are there connections on this site that can connect me with vendors in western canada that can source racks (rebuilt or new) for less than stealer ship price?

 

[BrianSD_42]

Generally what I have seen on this site is that the tie rods last longer than the steering rack.

Most steering racks (or guide component) feel a bit loose after 150k miles. This is fairly common for most cars on the road, not just the 4Runner.

I replaced my steering rack at 150k miles and again at 200k miles then I replaced both tie rods (for the first time) at about 215k miles.