Rack and pinion centering

Good morning, did some work on 2001 Toyota Tacoma, 2.4l, rwd, 5 lugs, replaced rack and pinion, all ball joints on the front, sway bar links, front shocks, performed alignment at mechanical shop, my problem is steering wheel not return in center after turns. Can I center steering rack while still attached on vehicle. I read on previous threads that I can do it by turning steering wheel all the way to the left then all the way to de right and counting turns and then turning to the left as half of that count. After separate steering wheel from rack and then turning steering wheel until meet splines in the groove. After that need center steering wheel by turning tie rod ends in or out. Only think I did not understand what tie rod ends to turn inner or outer in order to center steering wheel. Thanks

 

It is your truck . It is better to have marked things before removing anything .

The front end shop should have centered your steering wheel why did you not bring that to their attention before you left?

Now no telling what might have been done.

I am sure if you search you can find how to do your complete front end alignment at home.

 

To center, turn one link in and one out. if the steering wheel is pointed to the right, make adjustments on the arms to make the wheels turn the way it is steering. Move each one the same distance to maintain your toe. Alignment shops around me have been terrible and I had to learn how to do a full alignment on my own...

 

My steering wheel is in center, when in straight position and front wheels are in straight position only complaint that I have when turning vehicle in turns steering wheel not coming back in center without my assistance, after I replaced rack and pinion I was hoping that alignment will take care of that. Guys thanks for response but I am not sure that understand when you say to center on link in one out, and when you say arms do you mean outer tie rod ends. Thanks

 

My first guest would be tow-in on the alignment is too far off....

Second would be control arm bushings, have those been checked or replaced?
Worn sway bar bushings will make you 'fall' into turns.....
And there's a torsion bar bushing too....these go before any of the others.....

FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM STRUT ROD BUSHING FOR 1995-1999 TOYOTA TACOMA 2WD PAIR | eBay

 

I replaced everything on front rack and pinion, lower and upper ball joints, sway bar links, shocks.

 

Did you get a report from the place that did the alignment? Sounds like something (caster, camber, toe) is out of specification.

 

I have a 1998 tacoma 4x4 xcab. I just had my rack replaced with a Toyota rack and lbj's and lca's. I am having the same problem with mine. Swapped it out for a Napa rack and pinion. Did you ever find out what was causing your problem? Is there an adjustment on the Toyota rack that can me adjusted that allows it to come back to center??

Thanks!!

 

Not sure why you'd opt for an aftermarket if you had an OEM, sure you had your reasons. The short answer is you can disconnect/slide the rag joint up the steering shaft and move the rack shaft a tooth or two one way or the other, if the wheels are in proper alignment. If they're not, an alignment can take care of it.

There should be "witness marks" on the top shaft of the steering gear/rack. Can't speak for an aftermarket rack, but I'd think they would have them too. I would start here, make sure they are aligned.

Before starting any work, get it on jackstands and make sure your steering wheel is dead center - this doesn't mean lock it with a key, as that is almost never perfectly centered. Unlock the column with the key. I used ratchet straps around the steering wheel to the seat frames, both sides, so the wheel is perfectly centered, that sucker's not moving anywhere.

Crawl under the truck and see if the witness marks are aligned. If they are, this is possibly an alignment issue.

If not, disconnect the rag joint by the top and bottom pinch bolts (don't separate the joint,) slide it up the steering shaft out of the way. Align the witness marks on the rack, slide the rag joint back down and torque to spec. You may or may not find it easier to twist the wheels one way or the other to align the marks rather than risk damaging the splines by twisting the rack shaft.

Timmy the Toolman has an excellent video that includes this procedure (below the pic.) I have it linked toward the end of the video, where the owner sees it's not quite centered, but everything in the video is absolute gold.

If it's still not centered, truck on down to an alignment shop and have them align it. When I did mine everything went perfectly with the same exception, wheel slightly right, but I only "eyeballed" the toe in/out (TRE adjustment) to get it to the shop. The alignment took care of the off center wheel.

Pic below is from this epic thread on replacing a rack.





https://youtu.be/wZoRP5ogrK0?t=3821

 

A cheaters way.....if its already aligned....and not too far off...

Is to spin the outer tie rods....

Have to do each side evenly......1 turn out D side....1 turn in Pass side...

Of course this has its problems....have to break loose the rubber boot so it can spin free...

and then be careful not the break loose the inner tie bolting into the rack with that 'Staked washer'.
also allows checking to make sure inner tie is firmly seated and secured to the rack....
you've be surprised how many times that breaks loose after mechanics replace that.

IF either of those inner tie rods are loose....that may be your problem right there.....worth double checking...
if that comes loose....its gonna be a bad day....

 

Yeah like they mentioned above . . . but now you're mucking with alignment and will likely want to put it on a rack anyway. Additionally if the rack isn't centered, you'll have more full steer on one side than the other, probably not enough to notice but it would be there and keep me awake at night.

 

Is the steering wheel straight when driving straight ahead on level ground? The steering (not necessarily the steering wheel) returning to straight ahead is provided by the torque applied at the leading edge of the front tires when there is positive caster. Both of these can be fixed at a decent alignment shop.

 

Sounds to me like what the OP is saying is that when he turns the wheel to make a turn it stays put unless he turns it back straight himself. I would suspect that the friction adjustment on the rack may be too tight. That would be adjusted by that big nut that I've circled in the pic. I'm fairly sure if that is too tight it places excessive drag on the rack

 

Check out this vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzQrAKH1lVw