Rack and pinion seals bad

Hey I brought my truck in for an inspection and the mechanic just told me my rack and pinion seals have gone bad. Quoted me $1700 to fix. Any chance there’s a way to repair the seals without changing out the whole rack and pinion/tie rod assembly?

 

There are rebuild kits available.....mine is 5 lug rwd....
so mine is most likely different....


this one only fits the older 2.4's.....

You can buy the whole new oem rack (3rz/5vz) from mcgeorge or any of the online dealers for I believe $515 was the last price I saw

 

Worth it?

 

1995-2004 Toyota Steering Gear 44250-35042 | Ourisman Toyota of Richmond Online Parts


my rack....2.4 rwd is discontinued....so I have no choice....

that one seal kit fits a bunch of different manufacturers.....
just like the electronic components on the truck


new rack could last 200K~300K......I figure a rebuilt will last 1/2 that or less

doing fluid changes every 2 or 3 years could save you lots of money...


When you replace the rack......get new hoses, they'll delaminate over time from inside out.....that and dirty fluid is No1 why these fail under 300K....
......and oversized wheels....

 

Search in your area for a remanufactured steering rack Vendor
ADCO is national wide but expensive
Typically these vendors RM both racks and drive axles
$250-$350 depending on your location
vendor will replace all seals and new inner tie rods/boots included
1 day turnaround

I was looking to attempt myself, some videos out there show that some racks are under extreme pressure (like a coil spring)…….I didn’t want to attempt

I have 2 RM racks on 2 of the 3 old ass cars I own…..no issues…..that was 8 and 5 yrs ago

if you dmg a rack in a crash, 100% chance your insurance company will be paying for a RM rack

 

assuming you're a 6 lug truck. Solo motorsports can rebuild rack and pinions starting at $350 plus shipping. The only downside is you have to ship it so it'll be a couple of days.

 

You could try this. It worked for me for a while.

 

I’ll start with the stop leak and see where that gets me

 

These high mileage fluids use seal saver polymers, to 'condition' the rubber...

This is the actual polymer used in these....

 

So I just went to O’Reilly’s and they were like hmm check your power steering to see how much you’ll need to add. It was full. They were like how bad could the seals be if the power steering fluid isn’t low? So we looked at it and he was like if anything the seals are weeping but that shouldn’t be so bad as to have to replace the whole rack. So I got a bottle of the stop leak stuff anyways to do a turkey baster fluid change with that. Gonna try to do that then get a different shop to try an alignment

 

Does all that add up?

 

Yep, the stop leak is just much thicker fluid. Suck some out and replace with stop leaker. Wipe the rack and see if if leaks after some time goes by. Mine eventually got worse and was taking a couple ounces a week. But now with warmer weather seems to have slowed down. good luck --

 

I guess that shop tried to pull me over on me

 

If that's not a regular shop for you, I'd wipe it down and get inspection elsewhere...

 

I got a seal and bushing kit online for around 50$ and new rubber boots for about 20$. Bottle of atf from gas station was 7$. A few squirts of grease for the pinion and rack gear. A weekend afternoon in the driveway.
I discovered where several nuts bolt and screws that dropped disappeared to in the process.