Hello

Hi. I only joined this forums to share my experience with Basik Biker Tundra Rack.

Hello Tacoma World! I just wanted to share my recent experience of upgrading my 4Runner to a Tundra Steering Rack. I know it's a popular modification when looking to beef up our front ends.

The short of it is this:
I bought a rack from Travis Richards aka "Basik Biker" and the rack leaked not once, but twice after he "repaired" it. Ultimately he ended up blocking me on Instagram and I was stuck with a $1500 paper weight. Do yourself a favor and buy a rack from Solo Motorsports, Inc. Spend the extra $500 and get a rack that the company will stand behind and have readily available.

Now into the nitty gritty:

I contacted Travis aka "Basik Biker" on 22 Sept 2023 on Instagram and put my order in that day. Paying my first $750. On 30 October, 2023, he informed me the rack was ready to ship and to settle up the remaining $750, in which I did. My rack was sent out on 2 November and I received it around 10 October (UPS originally lost it, and I don't have any messages saying "Hey I finally received the rack!"

Between work and the normal busy lifestyle many of us tend to live these days, I wasn't able to install the rack until 7 January 2024 (I had to find a few days the vehicle could be down and a shop to install it in). We installed it using RCLTs instructions and templates for the LC200 steering rack to mount it more forward to clear the RC Fabrication Chromoly Tie Rods and mitigate any rubbing on the front coilovers as this is a common occurrence. First issue I had was torqueing down the rack to factory specs. Basik Bikers offset bushings began pancaking in because there is a gap between the bushings and they do not meet/make contact. I was never able to properly torque them (89lb/ft on passenger side and 101lb/ft on driver side (uses diff mount on driver side, hence the higher torque). After getting them "torqued", we buttoned everything else back up and began adding fluid to the power steering system. After cycling the steering rack a few times back and fort working the bubbles out, it began leaking out of the driver side. I immediately contacted Travis and he offered 3 fixes. Option 1. Buy a seal kit and reseal the rack myself. He offered to reimburse for the seal kit. Option 2. He would pay 2 hours of labor at a local rack shop for them to rebuild it. Option 3. Send it back to him and he would repair it and return it.

His diagnosis was that it was the center seal because he has had this issue before using a standard seal driver and he changed his procedures to correct this defect, but mine had been built using the seal driver. I do not feel like I could properly rebuild this rack and I didn't know of a reputable shop locally to have the rack rebuilt, nor did I want to have continued issues and then him wash his hands with it since he wasn't the last one to crack it open. So I opted for option 3. He said he would pay for shipping there and back, I paid for the initial shipping and after about 3 weeks (5 February 2024) he finally reimbursed after being asked 3 separate occasions.

I sent the rack back to him on 12 January 2024 and received it back from him on 30 January 2024. He did have to have surgery so between shipping times back and forth and his medical state, he did provide prompt "repairs" and return. He did state the bushings were "murdered" and he sent me a new set. So that was good.

On 2 February, we reinstalled the rack a second time. Same thing happened to the bushings as previously stated trying to use factory torque specs. I was never able to obtain proper torque specs due to being afraid of completely ruining the bushings and them not holding the rack still at all. Buttoned everything back up, added fluid, leaked again. I contacted Travis and he said he would build a whole new rack but it would take about 3 weeks since he works out of town for 2 weeks at a time. At this point I had been without a vehicle for nearly a month due to this faulty steering rack. I asked if he would just send me a return shipping label and refund the $1500 I spent on the rack. He said he would allow me to return it, but would have to charge a 15% restocking fee. I found this absurd seeing as the part was faulty, not once, but twice. At this point I had ordered a Solo Motorsport Rack (which they had in stock and shipped next day). Even though I didn't agree with the 15% restocking fee because it wasn't something I ordered and made a mistake or changed my mind, I said OK and would accept 85% of my money back.

On 5 February 2024, I made contact and finally got my original shipping refunded from him (from the first time I shipped it back for repairs), and I asked him when he was going to send the return shipping label for the rack so I could return it and get a refund. No answer. He was out at the King of the Hammers, so I waited until 8 February to make contact again and did not receive a reply to that one either. I know he works out in the field with what I assume is limited service so I gave it a week and reached out to him again on 16 February asking when he'd be able to send the return shipping label, again no answer. 22 February I reach out again and state I haven't heard from him since 5 February. I then realized that his name said "Instagram User" instead of "Basik Biker". So at this point I tried calling him on Instagram, but soon came to the realization that he had blocked me.

I made contact with him on a secondary Instagram account that I had made for my 4Runner, but never used and confirmed that he had blocked me and he was actively able to receive and send messages. I threatened to take him to small claims court, but never followed through because the headache of trying to file from Texas in California and the fact that small claims, if won, still don't require the defendant to pay.

Travis claims I drove on the faulty rack, which it was set down and moved 20 feet straight back to get off the lift it was occupying so the shop could still utilize that while we waited till we could pull it back a few days later to ship it out. It was never driven on the road or even turned for that matter with the weight of the vehicle on it. He also claims I did not properly install it due to overtightening the rack bolts and smashing the bushings. As previously stated. I only tried torqueing to the factory specs which could never be achieved. There are no install instructions provided with torque specs etc, so standard procedure would be to torque to factory specs.

I know this is a long read, but I wanted to finally bring my experience with Travis "Basik Biker" to light so thay others may avoid a similar experience. I highly reccomend spending the extra money and Solo Motorsports Tundra steering racks due to availability and their reputation of providing quality steering racks.

I found a reputable steering rack shop near me and for $300 they rebuilt it, put new seals in it AND found that the actual issue was the pinion. There was a spring or ball bearing that was missing which wouldn't allow for the pinion to seal properly causing the fluid to get past the seals and leak out the driver side. No amount of seals would have fixed this issue.

I hope that this post can help people looking into this mod and help them make an informed decision on who to buy their Modified Tundra Steering Rack from.

This post is not meant to be defame Travis "Basik Biker" Richards, but more so share my experience with him and his product.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

just wanted to clarify, you used a tundra rack with RCLT kit and it works?

 

Welcome aboard!