Steering Rack Bushings

I wanted to get this project done before the nasty weather started but wasn't excited to fight with rusty fasteners. My truck has endured New England winters its whole life.

This weekend I hit the bolts with ATF on Saturday and installed new Energy Suspension bushings Sunday afternoon in about two easy hours. Anybody envisioning corroded bolts shouldn't worry about it on this project.

I'm chasing that mystery rattle/clunk one maintenance item at a time. Next maybe UCABs or leaf spring shackles. Or turn up the radio.

 

Do you have OEM UCAs?

 

Yes. OEM and untouched. The only suspension work that's ever been done is Bilsteins front and rear.

 

Could also be steering wheel clunk, I have that

 

^^^ this. Mines more noticable after changing bushings. Gona do the tack weld mod next time im into the dash.

 

I don't want to hijack this excellent suspension bushing thread with the elusive clunk issue. So if this part of the discussion needs to be moved, that makes sense.

As for the steering wheel clunk theory, that may be it, but I generally hear the clunk from the rear when hitting bumps. I never feel it in the wheel, mostly seat and feet. My wife thinks it's coming from the front or the middle of the driver side, my kids can't hear it at all (they are completely oblivious to mechanical subtleties...a subject for another time) and when the truck drives by an observer and the wheel is jerked side to side it sounds like it may be from the front, but from inside it sounds like it's from the rear end. But sometimes the outside observer thinks the clunk comes from the rear. And it makes no difference if the clutch is in or out. Shaking the truck in the driveway makes it sound as if it is from the front driver side.

This. Is. Driving. Me. Nuts.

 

Did you check the inner tie rods? Just putting it out there.

 

This afternoon I realized that by wiggling the steering wheel when the truck is parked I can get it to make a clunk from the front end. (I also recognize that there may well be more than one clunk going on here. One thing at a time.)

Tonight I had my patient wife wiggle the steering wheel while I rode the creeper under the Tacoma to try and pinpoint the clunk. It does not seem to be coming from the ball joints, control arms, or tie rods. It feels like it is either in the rack or more likely the steering column. (When I put my hand on the various parts the strongest vibrations happen above the donut on the column.) So there you go.

I'll try the steering column tack weld this weekend and post the results. It seems like a big job when the steps are listed, but everyone who has done it says it is pretty easy and quick. I like that it is free and can be done without a lot of crawling around under the truck...I've had enough of that for a while and I do not want to keep throwing parts and money at the problem.

 

Did this last night but i noticed today my steering wheel is off center. I saw the post on how to fix it but would i be able to take it to a shop and get an alighnment done and have them fix the stearing wheel alighnment as well?

 

Sure they can. They might not charge for a full alignment if thats all your asking (they probably will tho...)

 

Cool thanks

 

I bet it's the rack adjuster and not the steering column. Mine had a horrible clunk and mucho play when grabbing the driver's side inner tie rod where it meets the rack and pushing it up and down. Installed the updated adjuster and the steering is like new, and on a 160K truck (Prerunner) no less.

 

Tell me more about this adjuster. I noticed the driver's side end of the rack was kind sloppy on mine. I didn't realize you could do anything about it besides getting a new steering rack. Is there a thread on this?

 

I experienced this on my truck and fixed it by replacing the steering rack bushings as you have done. However, if you are not feeling significant play in the steering wheel, and wandering at highway speeds I would suspect that it is something else. On the 100 series LandCrusiers that we have at work I have noticed that this happens when the shock bushings get damaged or in extreme cases even work their way out. Sometimes they can an oblong shape that allows play between the shock and the LCA. I have encountered this problem at least 3 times and the symptoms are very similar. Maybe this is not it, but it is easy to check. Whenever I have a problem like this that is testing my sanity I try to go back to the most simple solutions and work back up. Also, if your UCAs are stock and untouched, you might look at the UCA bushings see if there is play.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...k-pinion-2000-prerunner.390590/#post-10784882

http://www.yotatech.com/f2/how-replace-steering-rack-guide-pictures-215931/

 

Thanks! If my steering rack survives this wheeling season, this sounds like something that's going on the to-do list. Working on LCA bushings and a new passenger side front wheel bearing ATM. Driveshaft carrier bearing will be next, then this.

Again, thanks!

 

I finally did this project today.

I chose the Energy Suspension urethane bushings and followed their instructions, dropping the driver's side TRE using a puller (borrowed from parts store). Based on a video I watched, I unbolted the p/s line holding bracket (12 mm bolt near the V6 oil filter) to give the rack a bit more freedom to move. I also tied up the passenger's side of the rack to keep it from dropping.

I didn't even need a pry bar to move the rack away from the frame. It moved easily by hand, possibly due to dropping the TRE and liberating the p/s lines. Funny too because I bought a pry bar just for this project and I didn't need it.

Anywho, my biggest issue was the driver's side bushing. I couldn't get the press to work because of the flat washer essentially glued to the front side of the bushing. Trying to push it through otherwise was difficult because of the lip on the back side. I ended up trimming the lip off with dikes and then hammering a short 1/2" drive extension that I stuck in there (narrow end fit into the sleeve perfectly).

The center bolt was a little tough to break free but I got it with a 24" breaker bar. Note that if your breaker bar has a big head on it, it may not fit up there. Thankfully I had two to choose from as the fat-headed one didn't work. The press worked perfectly to get this bushing out.

The Energy Suspension bushings went in pretty easily by hand. Of course after you lube them up they are a little hard to grab. I used giant channel locks to squeeze the metal sleeves into place and that made it super-easy.

I just sorta just pushed the rack back onto the frame as it didn't fight me. The driver's and passenger's side hardware went through easily. Once those were tight with my ratchet, I put the center bolt in. I threaded it almost all the way by hand.

Torquing the center bolt was difficult because of the weird angle and lack of rotation. I was only getting one ratchet click each try. I did the driver and passenger's side bolts/nuts kneeling next to the truck which gave me much more leverage.

Two helpful videos are listed below, that if anything else, allow you see what you're getting into. I was kinda scared to do this project myself until I watched these. Note that these are for a Forerunner but the components appear to be identical. These videos plus this thread were super-helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YywcR0E9bM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrt8jbRvImU

Some other helpful info I accumulated:

Print out page SR-90 in the 2000 Tacoma FSM. Heading is POWER STEERING GEAR (4WD and PRE RUNNER) COMPONENTS. Shows you all the pieces, how they fit together and the torque specs. A good reference.

Bolt & nut sizes:

Wheel lug nuts: 21 mm
P/S line bracket: 12 mm
Sway bar end link nuts: 14 mm
Sway bar bracket bolts: 12 mm
Tie-rod end castle nut: 22 mm
Driver's side bushing bolt & nut: 22 mm
Center and passenger side bushing bolts/nuts: 19 mm

Torque specs:

Driver's side bushing bolt: 141 ft-lbs
Center and passenger side bushing bolts/nuts: 123 ft-lbs
Tie-rod end castle nut: 67 ft-lbs
Sway bar bracket bolts: 19 ft-lbs (good luck torquing the passenger's side!)
Sway bar end link nuts: 14 ft-lbs
Wheel lug nuts: 83 ft-lbs

If you drop the TRE you will need a new cotter pin. I took a guess and got one that was too small. When I find out the specs on the correct one I will update this post.

 

Hows the steering feel after? Ive heard its nice and tight but you get way more vibrations through the wheel

 

An 1/8" x 1" cotter pin works well for me for the tie rod ends. I had to put a washer under the castle nut to get the cotter pin to fully engage the slot on the nut though.

I'm not especially happy with the Energy Suspension bushings. The big wrap around bushing on the passenger side is tornright down the middle where the cap clamps down on it already with very few miles on the truck since it was done (it's mostly off-road mileage though, so your mileage may vary). The other ones looked a little chewed up too, although I didn't give them a close look. I understand they have a lifetime warranty on them though. Not that it makes much difference, since I'd rather not have to replace them once a year even if it doesn't cost me anything but my time a sweat. I might have to get off my wallet and get some OEM bushings to see if they hold up as well as the original set did (180,000 miles...unless a PO replaced them or the rack before I got the truck).

Edit: those and a set of OEM inner tie rods. The ones I got from Rockauto, which were supposed to be the more durable grade lasted one wheeling trip and are now worse than the worn out OEM ones I took off.

 

The "tightness" is not really all that different than the OEM set. I wonder if those remarking that the urethane ones feel so much better is mostly because the old ones were so trashed? My old ones weren't that bad.

As far as vibration goes, I haven't had it up to speed yet, but it does feel like it vibrates a little bit more through the wheel. Not shaking vibration, more like road texture vibration. High-frequency. Not bothersome though.