Toyota Reman Steering Rack Experiences? Mine's a bit...crusty...

Checking in to see what other people's experiences with reman racks are from Toyota. I bought one a couple months ago to use in my bumper to bumper refresh, and finally got around to installing it today. Was a little shocked when I unwrapped it:

Sloppy, peeling rattle can paint job over rusty lines; paint all over the input splines; boots are installed with regular zip ties (rather than ear & constant tension clamps); and what finally set me off to post here is when I popped the sealing caps off there was grit/debris in the residual fluid sitting in the cavities, so now I'm wondering how much crap is inside waiting to potentially cause actual problems. Yes, I know, year long warranty...but that's not going to make me feel that much better if I have to pull the bastard out again.

So I've installed a number of reman things from various sources on various makes and models over the years...and this one is definitely the worst by a huge margin. I wish it had a date tag on it, I'd not be shocked at all if it was a 2020 job. It's probably fine, which, combined with the fact I am past my return window is why I begrudgingly continued with installation...but...regrets. IMO, not worth the ~$170 it saved me over an all new unit. I went Toyota specifically because I didn't want to be questioning things!



[queue the people berating me for me having the audacity to expect stuff from the dealer to both look nice and not look questionable...]

 

Typically they look ok, I'd expect that of a Covid era part or from aftermarket remain.

That said I'd install it no issue.

My last 4runner rack wasnt centered propery, make sure to center the rack and dont let the steering wheel spin while its out, lock the wheel with the seat belt through it.

 

reman anything is really a crapshoot.

there was another thread somewhere about someone else's bad experience using reman brake calipers. it talked about how many reman's just sand blast the crap out of it while covering the caliper bores, but generally don't do anything about the bores, and install new guts. that's fine, until someone sends a core in that the rubber cracked a long time ago, and it has rusted/pitted bores... but it's also not the first time i've bought some some really crappy reman parts...

i definitely understand the desire to save money over buying new. none of us are made of money. so i generally base replacements on the "how difficult is it to get to and how critical is the part for vehicle safety?"

so things like brake, steering, and suspension, i generally pay for new or new-alternative-brand stuff when the oem-new stuff far exceeds my finances.

 

I actually scanned the Rock Auto options to double check I wasn't being unreasonable about appearance, but those all look new; although of course I question the quality of replacement components or I would have saved the bucks I dropped on the Toyota to begin with. It's what's on the inside, I know..

..but a part of me actually got a little worried someone did the old swaparoo and returned an aftermarket rebuild on it, so I thought I would check here for an outside opinion/sanity check. The box had been opened at least once or twice before I got it, but once was the dealer putting the lines I got to go with it inside the box, and wouldn't be the first time UPS retaped a big box, so impossible to tell that for sure.

And I centered the rack before install...but forgot to center the steering wheel. I took the original rack out with it turned full lock left, I'm hoping nothing moved on me but all I can do is turn it 1-3/4 turns back to the right and hope I didn't buggar the clockspring..

 

Yeah..honestly, never had an issue with a reman (worth admitting I typically cycle through vehicles pretty often up until recently though, hah). I suppose now that I know the tricks of getting it out, it wouldn't be a horrible job to do again if I need to (the lines not being in place for 13+ years will help as well).

But yeah all in all, not at all worth the savings, in hindsight. All that was available via Toyota was the rack and alternator anyway..alternator should be pretty solid I would think.