Steering rack replacement

This is the same noise mine is making over bumps. I can recreate it by moving the drivers side tire at 9 and 3, but also by just sticking a prybar inbetween the tierod and the axle and pushing up. Has anyone had luck just tightening or replacing the rack guide? Seems like it could be a fix given where the noise is coming from and what forces cause it to happen. If not, I gotta think about bringing it in before my 1yr cpo warranty is up.

 

Assuming there's no way to replace the end link seals with the rack in place since that's where the leak happens? This is possible on some racks out there and again guessing it's not but throwing it out there anyway.

 

Don't think that will work, the racks apparently are notorious for getting fried. The bushings are probably shot as well.

If your under warranty Toyota will replace it.

If you aren't like me, well, I hope you are mechanicly inclined

 

There's a leak, but there's also noise. Bushings are gone. It's harder to see in my video, but the whole unit moves quite a bit and clunks.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/im-guess-my-steering-rack-is-worn-out-vid.487994/

This post from the 1st gen section gives me hope that just replacing or tightening the guide could fix the issue. As far as I can tell the play in mine is much less than in the videos from that post, and replacing the guide fixed his issue. Granted, that was a change from a roller to a slider, but I have seen similar threads and videos on fixes on stuff like jeep commanders and bmw f30s, both with slider style guides and replacing it fixed the slop issue.

 

I literally adjusted my rack preload yesterday and was planning to do a write up on it when I have the time to sit down and do it.

If you know what you're doing then all you need is some moly grease, thread sealant and a 24mm allen wrench. I just used a bolt with two nuts tightened together because I don't have a 24mm allen. It did in fact fix my noise.

i'm at 172'xxxKms on my 21 for reference.

 

Can you do a quick TLDR on this? I can do it this weekend and see if it helps.

Don't think it will help with the rack movement.... Or the leak. But it would be fun to know.

 

I mean a quick summary of the job would be to

1.) lift up the front end and remove the skid plate and front left tire

2.) look into the left front wheel well, following the tire rod back to the rack. Specifically where the steering shaft enters. 90* to the steering shaft, you'll see the 24mm allen adjustment with a "lock nut" around it. Make a mark that wouldn't accidentally be cleaned off of where the adjustment is.

3.) remove the 24mm adjuster(the lock nut will spin off with it)

4.) using a magnet fish out the spring and the guide bushing which will still be in there. I fished from under the hood down.

5.) separate the lock but from the adjustment nut then clean up everything

6.) put lithium base compatible moly grease on the back of the rack, spring pockets in the guide bushing and adjustment nut and on the face of the bushing

7.) clean the threads of everything and apply thread sealant to them

8.) reverse disassembly

9.) go a little past where your mark was made(i found 1/4 turn was too much and 1/8 of a turn was perfect... this part will take some trial and error) cycle the steering wheel about a 1/2 turn OVER CENTRE in both directions with the engine off. If it binds up then it's too tight and if it still makes your noise then it's too loose.

10.) once you think you have it, back it off 1/8 of a turn then run your lock nut down and tighten it with channel locks then tighten the adjuster that 1/8 a turn to get a little more torque on the lock nut

11.) go for a spin on the highway and adjust from there. If the vehicle is hard to keep straight then try loosening the adjustment a little as it's binding and not allowing your alignment to self centre the vehicle. If not then call it a success.

if it wasn't already leaking then it could possibly prolong the rack life as the rack would move straight and not slop around but if it's already leaking then that wouldn't change.

 

Awesome thanks!

I'll have to check the new rack when I replace it.

 

Thanks man, glad to hear it fixed your issue and hoping it will fix mine. I'm gonna give it a shot when I have the skidplate dropped for an oil change a week or so from now, I'll report back as well.

 

where are you located maybe I should pay you to swap mine out since it sounds like you have it down to a science.

 

Thank you definitely jumping into it all thanks for tagging me over here

 

Well I couldn't wait and decided to give this a shot after work today. Everything went smoothly, although I feel like I could go back in and tighten it up just a tiny bit more. The noise seems to be diminished but still barely there. I didn't notice any of the shimmy in the 50-70mph range that I've been feeling on the way home. And I can no longer recreate the noise with a prybar between the tierod and axle. For me 1/4 turn made the steering very stiff so I settled around and 1/8th but I think it needs a bit more. I was expecting the bushing to be Teflon based on the pics I've seen but it's actually a brass/bronze piece with a coating, that you can see has worn. I'm including a pic of all the tools I needed, minus the stuff for the wheel and skidplate. I migged together and ground flat 2 m16 nuts to make a tool for the adjuster. Also, I think the knipex pliers wrench are the tool of choice for the jam nut, no teeth marks and I was able to get it just as snug as factory.

 

I paid ~$950 at the dealer. Started leaking the day after my 60,000 service. Had a ton of issues with popping noises afterwards to they replaced it again. I’m around 97k now.

 

Was this to tighten the front steering up or try and stop it from leaking ?

 

Knocking noise over bumps and a slightly shimmy on the highway.

 

I got it a bit more dialed in this morning. Went to a quarter turn which is where the adjuster felt like it was bottoming out, and it felt stiff but smooth with the engine running, so I test drove it. Definitely too tight, wouldn't return to center. I backed it off a hair and now it's at a point where you can tell it's a bit stiffer but not in an annoying or unsafe way. Feels great on the highway and no noise most of the time, but I'm still hearing something on big potholes going super slow. I'm kind of at a loss at this point but at least it's way better than it was before.

 

Bushings could be toast, which is where I'm at.

Mine is..

Leaking
No bushings
Juuuuuust outside of warranty

I'm going to order a replacement this week, and take pics of the process. I'll adjust the lash as well.

 

I did this on my second gen and it was alllll weekend but I wasn’t smart enough to cut the bolts, I took enough accessories off the engine to slip them out. Reinstalled from the bottom, all the clunking/clanking went away on the truck and it felt like new at 270k miles. Would just cut those suckers if I did it again.

 

I plan on ordering these bushing with the new rack, and just swap them out before putting in the rack.

$69 ENERGY SUSPN Energy Suspension 8.10106G Rack & Pinnion Bushing Set

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E6O61KY