05+ V6 Tacoma Steering Rack Bushing replacement

I installed a reman rack 6 months ago. Fast-forward to last month, passenger inner had a ton of slop. Bought a OEM new for $530. Installed today.

Word of advice - buy new OEM from the get go... save yourself the headache and hassle.

As for the install, removal is a pita but install is easy. just take your time.

 

FYI, I have a set of Energy Poly Bushings. Only had them in the old rack for about 6mnths. Anyone want them? Thinking $45 shipped

 

I currently have my steering rack out and my bushing removal looks just like yours did. How did you get all of the remaining bushing rubber out of the holes?? (What a pain in the a$$!!!)

Also another question for those who may have had this happen, I tied my steering wheel straight with a tiedown strap, but during the removal of the rack I must of moved the steering shaft because the steering wheel moved. Should I just line the steering wheel back up?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7PvxtVLTKs

 

Ok, I figured out that the oem bushing has two metal sleeves. I had just pushed out the inner sleeve and not the outer sleeve. The passenger side came out fairly easy with the pickle fork. The Drive side is proving to be a little more challenging!

 

Well, I'm having terrible luck, I was able to remove the bushings form the rack and when I went to clean the rack up, I discovered it was leaking from the drive side inner tie rod. I decided to purchase a new OEM rack (as others have said, "Once and done!). Luckily I have another vehicle to drive for the next week until the new rack arrives. My question now is, do I put the Energy Suspension bushings in the new rack since I already have them?

 

I would.

 

A couple of beers and 5 hours later...new Energy Suspension bushings, new inner tie rods, and new outer tie rods...no more serious wheel wobble on 35's, but I need to readjust the steering shaft and do a string alignment for toe. Couldn't be happier

 

How many of you guys are doing this instal with the rack out of the truck vs. the rack in the truck? I need to do this but I live in an apartment complex and don't really have the room or ability to leave my truck apart while I install these bushing. I would take it to a shop but to be honest I really love working on my own cars and I can totally handle the install, its just a matter of time and space.

 

I plan on doing it with the rack still installed

 

So... I read this entire thread and ordered the bushings. My steering has been sloppy (lots of vibrations in the wheel at all speeds) for months now and I was hoping these bushings would be the answer. Well, while I was under the truck checking things out today, I found power steering fluid leaking from both ends of the rack...

My inner and outer tie rods were replaced about six months ago and now I’m starting to understand why that didn’t seem to make as any difference in my steering wheel vibrations. I have to assume the rack has been failing for a while and now it’s finally on its last leg. I’m definitely not going to bother installing these bushing in my current rack so it looks like I’m gonna need to find the best price I can on an OEM replacement. Is there anything else I should plan on replacing while I have the rack out? The truck has about 123k miles on it right now.

Also, has anyone installed these bushing in a brand new rack? I assume it won’t be any more difficult since it’ll be fresh out of the box and not on the truck. The hard part of this job sounds like it’s getting the rack out of the truck and well, I’m going to have to do that anyway since mine is shot.

 

I think @Darkgoatracer replaced the bushings on a new reman. Probably much easier

 

It was pretty easy. I knocked the old bushings out with an air hammer. I will say, cut the bolt before you try to pull the rack out. There is no other way to get it out.

 

I put new Energy Suspension bushings in my brand new rack before installing it. It was easier to get the bushings out of the new rack than it was the old rack.

 

This video helped me a lot. https://youtu.be/Gf48eGo0n9g

 

I put a reman rack in my truck in January 2019 (I think?) if you look back in this thread. I installed the Energy Suspension bushings in the new rack with ease, used a picklefork and they came right out no problem. Took a few minutes. New ones popped right in even easier. I also greased the hell out of my intermediate shaft u-joint even though it was still good with no play or binding. Then cut a bicycle tube and slid it over the whole greased up joint and zip-tied it at both ends. Only time will tell how long it lasts, but it's been in there for a 15 months and still going great. Couldn't tell you how many miles, but my guess is probably 10k miles easy since then and so far so good.

My posts start a touch before this one, but this one's got the most info in it- post 198:
05+ V6 Tacoma Steering Rack Bushing replacement

 

My current rack looks as bad, if not worse than yours from what I can see under the truck. Huge chunks of rusted material fall off it every time I touch it...

I’m hoping I can even get it out to replace it.

 

I got lucky, my brother owned my truck before me. He had the frame recall done, during that recall the dealership must have flipped the bolts on the rack, so no fighting them for me. Put a wrench on the top, impact on the bottom and bang it's loose.

Mine had chunks falling off of it as well, definitely rough. I was driving and everything was fine, went to pull into a driveway and lost all power steering. Kinda sucked, and came at a bad time in my life money-wise LOL.

As long as you can get the bolts out, you're good to go. Worst case, cut them and install inverted like my local dealer did.

 

That’s my plan. And my power steering still works but the rack is falling apart and leaking fluid on both sides. My steering wheel is also super sloppy at almost all speeds. I basically assume I’m going to lose my power steering every time I drive the truck right now (which thankfully isn’t often given the pandemic).

I already have the bushings and I just ordered a new rack, new hoses and even the little nipple piece that needs to be swapped over this morning. And I’m ordering new bolts and nuts from the dealership and will be buying new cutting wheels and sawzall blades this week.

I fully expect this project to take more than one day but I’m excited to feel the difference in my steering after a new rack and the bushings go in. I had new inner and outer tie rod ends installed last summer and it didn’t really improve my steering much at all so I’m hopeful these two things will bring it back.

 

Where can you buy the o rings for the rack? Or will the old ones be fine?

going to try to re use the bolt. Kicking myself for not flipping the bolt while I had the ac compressor out.....twice lol