Steering Rack/Power Steering Replacement

Hi. Can anyone give me an idea if the info. a mechanic/shop told me is correct? I don't want to be taken for a ride... I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner (2WD). I have been the only owner and have about 289000. miles on her.

Today my power steering went. I started feeling the hard steering and hearing a whining, stopped immediately, noticed the fluid dripping down and drove right to the shop. I was there w/in 10 minutes and had almost no power steering left.

After they looked at it they told me it was cracked at the "rack". I'd need a new steering rack (part & labor about $700.), would also need front wheel alignment after the rack is installed, and they said they are not sure yet if Ill need a new power steering pump as it was dry and may have been damaged driving it dry.

Any thoughts? Does this sound about right? Tks!

 

Sounds right to me. I did my rack myself and the remanufactured rack alone was $230. You will an alignment to get the toe and steering wheel back in check.

 

This sounds reasonable if the rack tube did crack or even if the seals in the rack went out. But without an impact of some sort, I don't see how the rack tube could crack or break. 289K is high mileage but not that high.

Pictures of the leak would be helpful.

 

If you're even a little mechanically inclined, this is a fairly easy job. That rack is pretty easy to take off. Just time consuming. If it were me, I would see about getting the truck home, taking the rack off, visually inspecting it to see if it is "cracked". Maybe check your lines first to make sure its not one of those and the rack be fine. You never know with shops unless you trust them completely. Then order up a new one and install. Put in some polyurethane bushings while yer at it. Total cost will be considerably less than having the shop do it. Even after towing if you need that done unless its far. But you should be able to have someone give you a tow. And Idk about the power steering. If it wasn't squealing too long then it might be fine. But again with the money you save from doing this yourself you can probly get a new one too anyways and the install isn't too bad either on that. Then when you go to fill it it's pretty easy to bleed the system. But there is a specific way to bleed it and I can find the 'how-to' or whatever online if you do decide to do it yourself. Then you can get the alignment as close as possible yourself, then take it in right away for the proper alignment. Unless you have the $$$ then yeah I would have the shop do it. But keep in mind, if I understand their quote correctly being only for the rack, you'll have the power steering pump and labor, then alignment if they do that, so you'll be right around $1k for all that!
Also when you shop for a new rack, if you do, that yours will most likely be rejected for a core return. Not sure on that but, that's what I assume. Unless you take it to napa or something and they just dont check it. But a crack in the rack seems like it might just get rejected because it's not really capable of being re-manufactured. Again I'm not sure on that though.

Idk the more I think about it, it may be best to have the shop do it if you can afford it. Good luck.

 

I would source a used working rack assemble from a wrecked truck at the salvage yard and bolt in on then go get an alignment.

its a straight forward simple job no more difficult then doing an oil change or replacing a tie rod

there really isn't much to them that wears out so a used one is going to be much cheaper and just as good as a rebuilt or reconditioned one and you certainly don't want to spend the kind of money a brand new one costs.

 

While I generally agree with this approach, I would look for the newer model ('01-'04) to avoid potential issues. The older models had some wear issues that were later corrected.