05+ V6 Tacoma Steering Rack Bushing replacement

A certified Toyota mechanic buddy told me to keep my OEM one in the truck as long as possible. I just replaced the equalizer lines on the rack (one had rusted through) itself from someone else's take off and installed new hoses and added an inline filter. If I had the time I would have put new bushings on. I may get the take off rebuilt at a certified shop. A hydraulic shop can fab new metal lines for you if that is what you are worried about. You'll still need to take the rack out though to get them off.

 

Oh, I definitely thought of that. But here's the risk. When I have the frame swapped, I will be 450 miles from home and 340 miles from the wrecking yard where I bought it. If there's anything wrong with it, I will be forced to buy a $800 rack and pay full bore labor to change it after the truck is all back together.

I don't know what the difference is. I suspect it's internal differences that don't affect the fitment, but I wasn't willing to take a chance.

 

Not much to go wrong with the rack. I take it you already have it so you can take some pliers (and cloth to protect the splines) to rotate internals and make sure the gears are good. Bushings and tie rods can be easily inspected too. Then if ya wanna go overboard you can have any hydraulic shop pressure test the rack to check the seals but even if they leak it will still get you home. I drove hundreds of miles on 285s with no hydro assist after my pump went out but it would take a catastrophic leak to aerate the pump and grenade it in 450 miles and even then you don’t NEED hydro assist to drive mostly straight on a highway.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now. It’s not a pleasant job so me personally would try to avoid it as much as possible

 

Anyone else have any input regarding new inners and bushings being enough, or if I should just swap the mofo. If I put in a new steering rack I'm gonna go with a new Toyota one, its only $700 total delivered, from another toyota dealer (internet is amazing).

 

Given your location I’d wager that rust isn’t a worry but the seals inside and regular wear and tear are sth to reckon with. If it’s not leaking and you have no oversized tires, don’t offroad and have kept the fluid clean then you can probably reuse it with no worries.
Personally, at high mileage and because the labor you’re already doing I would just replace it

 

No leaks, but I have 275-70/r17, I offroad a bit, but drive bad dirt roads everyday.

 

A mystery O-ring fell to the ground when I removed the oil feed and return lines. Both the feed line and oil return fitting had small o-rings on the tips of each fitting, like shown in the photo below.

Anyone have an idea where the larger o-ring (maybe 1/2" diameter) might have come from? There's no obvious fit on the steering rack line fittings.

 

The high pressure line is the only one with an O ring.

 

There was also a small o-ring on the tip of the return line fitting when I removed the fitting. The strange thing is the 3rd, larger o-ring that fell to the ground. I may try to install without it and cross my fingers.

 

Searching around about steering racks and stumbled here and hoping someone can give me their thoughts:

Getting my new frame installed and they said the steering rack is rusted to hell. Haven't seen pics but they said it's not covered under my extended warranty as it needs replacement due to rust so now I'm trying to figure out if I should buy it an have them do it with free install or try to do this myself with a re-man part or something? Thoughts?

 

Or buy a reman Rack, and drop it off for the mechanic who does the swap

 

You think they'd install it? I thought dealers don't want to touch aftermarket stuff. Frankly I was surprised they didn't give me a hard time about my suspension and bumpers and dual battery...etc. but they did ask a few questions about the suspension.

Or I guess not aftermarket but someone else's remaned part

 

Hey 16Tacos, Honestly buy the new rack and have them install it. I just did last month, it was the worst job i've ever done! It was a total pain in the dick to remove, even though I even removed move hoses and line than others. Installation was super easy, almost too easy. you should be able to buy a rack from a toyota dealer delivered for only $700, google is your friend.

$700 for new + 0$ for toyota install = $700 and best possible scenario: new + toyota install

$200+ for reman + $50 for poly bushings + $0 self install = $250+, many hours of cursing life

$200+ for reman + $400+ for joe mechanic install = $600+ and second time without car, also what is with almost all mechanics working banker hours now? do they only serve bums and rich people?

 

Don’t see why why wouldn’t install it?? They re-install customers existing racks all the time so how is this different.

 

Thanks for the input @arwinnnsd and @hx989 but I called the dealer and they said it's fully functional and just corroded, no leaks. So I'm going to just stick with what I got for now. They had already re-assembled the truck so I was too late to have them install it for free. Plus they said it was over $1500 in parts which seemed way too high.

 

Hahah Hahahaha $1500 hahahahahahah

That’s fking crazy, I just less than $700 shipped 4 weeks ago, from a dealership in PA

In Boston you’re really close to Boch Toyota they usually have great prices, right now $680.81. At $1500 they are charging you for install; damn steelership. If I were you I would never go back to that dealership for service that you’re paying, they shady A F

 

They said it was $1050 or something and then you had to get new lines, which were another $350 or so.

 

Hey 16 Tacos, you're in New England. I'm new to Worcester, from out west. I'm Trying to start up a "New England Outdoors Thread: Hunting/Fishing/Camping/Diving/ETC":
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...hing-camping-diving-etc.630839/#post-21629268
I know there is a New England BS thread, but anything outdoors just gets lost there. If you're into hunting/fishing/camping/diving or etc and have anything to post try it out!

Sorry to steel you're thread OP.

 

Nice! also just FYI if you want to make sure someone sees your post you should use the @ symbol: @arwinnnsd to tag them or Quote their message.

 

I am currently in the middle of doing this. My notes:

- I was able to get the driver side bolt out without cutting it. You have to remove the 4 AC compressor bolts. I put a ratchet strap around one of the hard lines to hold it in place. I also Removed both Inner Tie-rods since I have to replace those anyways. With the compressor loose, you can wiggle that and the rack in order to get the rack out without cutting the driver side bolt.

- I am currently at the removal of old bushings part.. I am about ready to burn the rack to the ground. The Inner bushing sleeves came out without issue. Its the outer sleeves that are pretty much seized.

- Definitely a one- two day project. I have been working on it in stages but the last AC compressor bolt was hard to get to, and now the factory bushing sleeves being seized are making it difficult.

Hopefully tomorrow I get the factory sleeves out and then onto the reinstall.