Lets talk racks

Now that you r in here thinking you were gonna see bewbs....

Im talkin about rack and pinions. Ive bought a local reman shop's rack 3 times now only to have the same fault happen every time. the drivers side of the steering rod inside the rack has a huge amount of up and down play. which inturn leads to toe one the f/l tire being all over the place.

Anyone had good luck woth other brands? oem is damn expensive. im hard on mine so if your daily driving to the grocery store all year, not exactly the same circumstances.

Also wondering if anybody has a found a heavy duty rack for our trucks? what r you lt guys using, you jump your trucks, if it holds up on a lt truck it should work for mine

 

Well... I mostly daily drive to elementary school and the grocery store and don't wheel hard. And I was hoping we'd be talking female mammaries.

This thread sucks.

 

SAS

 

dude^ tell me about.... preachin to the choir! just cant sas at this moment in my financial situation...

 

Check out the rack from Safari Limited. I just ordered one for my truck. From everything I've been able to find they are holding up better than reman'd racks. Its a new rack with better seals and guides and better materials all around.

It'll run you about $500. They are in Grand Junction.
http://safari-ltd.com/parts.html

 

whered u find that company? im definitely interested but 500 bux is steep. i can get a brand new oem for that much....

 

Safari Ltd has been a Land Cruiser resource for a while now but are offering stuff for other Toyotas as well. The reason I decided to try their rack out is because of the upgraded materials. They use different alloys in the rack housing etc so that the typical problem areas with the OEM racks is addressed. The OEM rack would be a better choice than a reman'd unit for sure but you still end up with the likelihood that you'll need to replace it again in a year or so on a truck with big tires that gets wheeled often. Trucks like ours are just hard on Steering racks.


I don't have any hard evidence yet that the Safari unit is better. The ones who have been using it say it's holding up better, but I won't know for sure until I get mine installed and get some time on it.

 

Option 1
Those "new" racks that have come on the market lately are Chinese knock offs with as yet no long term testing. I would like to see any info other than the sales pitch from folks that sell them. They can be had for as little as $229-$340. It would be great if they turned out to be viable, only time will tell. Then there is this issue, say you need a simple little replacement part like an ITR or a guide, where are you going to get it? Are "wear items" interchangeable with OEM or aftermarket?

Option 2
All the reman racks on the market use cheap replacement parts and questionable reused parts. Consequently their lifespan is hit and miss across the board, usually miss. Many of them will reuse the old style guide that was junk when new. One does not have to look very far to to be overwhelmed by reman rack horror stories.
For any rack, new or reman, I put a discount on the worth of warranties because they don't cover things like R+R of the unit, fluid, alignment if needed, down time and the hassle. Better than nothing though.

Option 3
Consider a new OEM. The price has actually come down from 5 or 6 years ago, although the outer TRs are no longer included. You get an entire new unit, including ITRs, the later style guide and everything else. It's all new.
The old style guide is the primary culprit that gave the racks the bad rep they have. The newer guide lasts significantly longer and is a 15 minute job to replace when it wears out. It is also my suspicion the the mount bushings are more durable than the early ones but still not as good as urethane.

Option 4
How about DIY? It is really not that big of a job for an experienced wrench in a well equipped shop. There is only one special tool needed other than easily "shop improvised" seal drivers and such. Frankly, that one tool can be easily made up for about a buck and a half, made mine from scrap. Pics on request.
I only do an overhaul on an otherwise well functioning rack that has the text book "bad guide" resulting in the driver side "up and down" play and/or a simple leak from the rack ends or the control valve. Any mechanical issues such as a pitted rack shaft, worn pinion gear/shaft, worn sealing surfaces and the unit should be considered not repairable. Of course that usually can't be determined without at least a partial tear down.
Folks in commercial settings don't do this on a "one at a time" basis due to non assembly line labor costs. Using OEM parts consisting of 2 ITRs, a seal kit and a new guide you are up to $350 (online discount price) so the math is pretty simple. Quick and easy unit replacement is the norm.

With consideration for cost, down time and life span, each persons situation may best be served by a different option.

 

I tried my luck with an autozone steering rack, three times... Got a free replacement three times. Same thing you described, lasted about a week. it was quite aggravating and it really was a set back because I was spending all my damn time on replacing goddamn racks. So I just got a toyota rack and tie rods, and a power steering filter, put em in and bam. It's been about 70k now, rack is doing awesome. The original lasted 150k, and I'm pretty sure this one will last just as long. And I have the comfort of knowing the steering will work. Also I added poly steering rack bushings while I did the swap.