factory steering rack - where to buy?

Also if your fluid level is dropping there’s a leak somewhere which you should be able to find. If there’s no leak visible and you’re not losing fluid I would lean towards a bad pump or maybe a rack that’s starting to fail it can be tricky to pinpoint

 

Anyone knowledgeable on the 1A Auto steering rack. It costs $235. Probably just another chisnese pos?

 

Try Detroit Axle on Ebay - Good Parts at least everything I've bought

 

I assume their reman axles are good?

 

I’ve used rackdoctor.com for my last 2 racks I’ve bought in my 2000 and 2004 Tacoma’s. They give you an option for outer tie rod ends to be included, and the have an option for poly rack bushings. Oh, and if you send your code back within 40 days the rack has a lifetime warranty. I paid $420, and I got outer tie rod ends and poly rack bushings.

 

@GeoYota65
Pulling this from test dead but any issues with the cardone rack yet??

 

No...I sold my 03' Tacoma in May of this year, but up to that point the Cardone had performed flawlessly.

 

My rack has play. Vibration at certain speeds and you can feel it moving when parked. New urethane rack bushings, inner and outer tie rods, and ball joints.

Looks like OEM is the best bet, aftermarket options look meh. Rebuilt oem sources seem hit or miss (unless anyone has one they'd recommend).

I have an account with my local Toyota dealer, my cost is $571 new, seems close to elsewhere.

My question is this: if I buy a new rack for my truck from the dealer, will it come with the updated rack guide? Or would I have to ask for a rack for an 01-04 (presuming the racks are compatible)?

 

If you haven't yet seen this yet it's probably worth the 20 seconds of your time to check for play in the slip joint on your steering column.

 

Thank you, I have. One person JB Welded it so as to retain the collapsibility in case of an accident, I liked that idea.

I just ordered the updated rack guide, going to start there first. Thanks

 

When I replaced the rack this spring, I bought a new OEM rack from the local dealer. It came with ITREs but not OTREs, so I also bought those as well. Total cost was around $600 ($510 rack & $45/OTRE), and there was no core on the rack because it was new not a reman. All new OEM racks from Toyota have the updated rack guide, and it should be compatible with all 1st Gen 6-lug trucks.

When you factor in the additional cost of an alignment and your time, it doesn't make as much sense to go with a cheap(er) aftermarket reman rack. If it fails, the cost to replace it again (even if the rack is covered under warranty) almost adds up to the new OEM rack, not to mention the cost of the updated rack guide if you're unlucky enough to get a reman with the older-style guide.

That's just my $.02 on this. I try to get OEM parts where it makes sense (steering, front brake pads/rotors, engine oil filter, etc) and go with a decent aftermarket version where OEM cost is too high or the replacement time is quick (NAPA for CV axles & S13WL calipers).

 

^^ Agreed.
Simply said, I was tired of the whole rack garbage and SAC'd. Old school Toyota solid axle stuff works.

 

Given that my truck is a 2000 I'm going to try replacing the rack guide first!

 

I agree with your position, wise sir. If only I could justify that too, but I don't crawl the truck and I spent all my fun money on a GFC.

Definitely worth a try. I recommend saving the packaging & old guide, then driving around for a day to see if it fixes things. If it doesn't you can swap it back, return the new guide parts (cost about $100 IIRC), and just get the new rack instead.
Even though I have an '04 with the updated guide, I did this before swapping the rack as well just in case it fixed the play on the driver's side. It didn't so I went with the new rack, but if it had then I'd have saved $600+.