Tundra steering rack upgrade

Did you ever get that video up ?

 

Just finished installing @Mademan925 rack into his truck. Now that I've done it into another truck I got a better baseline for creating a template/guide for where to locate your holes and stuff and be able to offer a fit kit with the racks





And yes there's like 4 toyotas in the driveway

 

Thank you for the help Travis.

This is my review of the install and rack so far.

Size comparison


Travis and I met up at 8am yesterday and by 9:30 I had the old rack out. Travis then cut the old solid frame mounts for the rack out of the frame. Then he plated the upper side of the holes.



Then he mocked up the new solid mounts on the tundra rack and then on the frame.





He then cut a hole for the mount and sliped it into the frame. After looks at clearances he tacked the mount in and drilled a hole for the bolt. Then we mount the drivers side of the rack to see if any adjustments need to be made. The he cut a hole on the passenger side and put the mount in and drilled the hole. The passenger side took a couple tries to get the frame mount in the right spot. Then we bolted the rack down and check tolances. Then we removed the rack. Painted the frame. Removed the steering shaft and cut alittle off in the middle.



Then we bolted it all back in. We were off a few splines on the first try pairing the rack with the steering wheel. The second try got us closer and now the wheel is at 1:30 on the clock dial. The tires are strait and an alignment should correct the wheel. We finished around 6:00pm

The truck turns like a car. Feels weird at first but I dove 140ish miles home last night and got use to it. I love it so far. Needs some trail testing and and alignment but its great.


If someone asks if a modified tundra rack fits, Id say no... except in this magical unicorn place on the frame that travis found. Everything is so close. Its literally the biggest rack you could fit by milimeters.

I went with stock tacoma tie rods for now. I figure it protects the rack and its a cheap weak link thats easy to replace.

Can you see the bolt under the diff mount bolt.

 

sub

 

I like this a lot. Got any updates?

 

I'm wondering if I can get @Arcticelf to comment again on the longevity of the solo tundra rack. I've just broken my second Tacoma rack and am ready to bite the bullet and go with the Tundra rack, but obviously I want to make sure it's going to last without providing any unseen problems. Any insight you can provide from your added years of experience is appreciated.

 

The good: the mechanism is heavier, the rack itself is stronger, as are the mounting points. And other than moving the bungs in the frame it's a pretty easy install.

The bad: the way the rack goes together the seals are still a weak point. Toyota puts the "teeth" side of the rack through a hydraulic seal during assembly, and that results in weakness. I managed to pop the seals on mine wheeling, but I also bent the sub-frame at the same time. Otherwise the rack was fine, and just needed to be re-built.

Verdict: The tundra rack swap is the best option available unless you want to get a full hydro system or some kind of double swing-arm set up that requires huge amounts of fabrication.

 

Has the rack held up well over time?

 

How is there no actual thread on the solo Motorsport rack deal? Does the steering shaft need to be cut down for it? It looks like hardly no one is doing this swap. Do factory taco Inner tie rods fit into this rack? I wonder if using tundra inners would be best because they have a larger ball joint for more travel? Using a taco outer and tundra inner tie rod sound like a horrible idea? @Arcticelf

 

Nobody does it because it’s expensive and there’s better options now

 

Like basikbikers option? Which is $600 cheaper but the only other actual tundra rack swap. The Howe tc pump setup is what $1200? And the slide rack $1200?

 

The solo one is 1650 (normal price 1800) and still requires additional fabrication

for some reason the slide rack isn’t listed on their site but probably in the $1200 area. I just would prefer the slide rack since i can just swap in any steering rack from an auto part store if needed, unlike the machined tundra rack if it starts leaking you will have to rebuild it or buy another one

 

The Howe pump is $1800 but I don’t know that it’s absolutely required

 

Yeah good point for sure. You can swap in $140 eBay racks all day with the slide rack. I believe he doesn’t list it for liability reasons. It’s a very niche market targeted for that product

 

If they leak the seals are easily replaced. I will even replace em. Structurally the racks do not fail...
I'm working on a way to make it bolt on.
And the tundra inners will not work...you cannot machine the rack shaft down and thread the end that big....most go to a hiemed steering setup and the inner clevis bolt does not fail.

Better options out there? Sure but they cost more...theres advantages and disadvantages to each option.

My original tundra rack that I did is still in my truck after a few years of very hard abuse and even wrecked the truck enough to have to put a new cab on...rack still works great...

Rather have a part that just works and you don't have to mess with or replace stock racks here and there...at what point are you saving money? That you have to decide.

 

Pm sent! Curious on eta if I preorder now

 

Reviving and old thread but……any update on bolt on kits from you?

 

Unfortunately there isn't a good way to make it 100% bolt on, however I'll have a locating template piece included with a rack for where you need to install the new frame barrels tho soon...just got my cnc plasma table up and running so it should be soon. Will cut install guesswork and time significantly

 

Kinda figured there would be no way to make 100% bolt on options but a template is a good idea. My steering rack is leaking and gets hard to turn my 35s sometimes so I wanna replace it once the right way instead of just putting another OEM rack in there.

 

Problem with the stock rack is if you hit a rock it slips a tooth internally and your steering will be off to the right or left it’s happened prolly 2-3 times on my personal truck and I do alignments and see it happen all the time. Total toe is the same but your wheel could be at a 10 o’clock or 2 then you lose threads on your tie rods were it cannot be adjusted without removing the steering shaft recenter the rack. I think it’s more design to prevent damage but I’ve seen it on all the 4 runners Tacoma and gx