05+ V6 Tacoma Steering Rack Bushing replacement

WTF???? Wrong thread methinks...

 

That sucks.

Didn't secure steering wheel while working?

 

what's the best way to secure the steering wheel, I will be doing this some day, and was wondering what the best way to do this?

 

I wold take a ratchet strap or cam buckle strap, through the steering wheel and strap it to the seat sub frame. All it needs to do is keep the steering wheel from free rotating which is how the clock spring can break.

 

Thanks, thats kinda what i thought but thought maybe there was a better way, thats why i asked.

 

No... I did...just not tight enough.. only took me 20 minutes to swap the clock spring out last night.

 

Hey all.. the part number for that bolt is 90119-A0137
BOLT, W/W
$8.69 a piece...

 

Homey sells grade 8 and 10.8, so you shouldn't have to worry about replacing it if you bought one or the other...

Save the $8.69 that Toyota wants, it is a rip off price....

 

I bought 2 just in case I snap one now or when I replace the rack in XX amount of miles....

And 8.69 is expensive yes.... but at least I didn't have to spend 8 dollars in shipping a bolt or driving to 7 different hardware stores to find one...

Was just trying to help some people out...

 

Received bolts from toyota... TOO SHORT... ???

Found what I need on the Fastenal website. Grade 10.

 

My matchmarks from rack to lower shaft rubbed off when I separated them
Have no idea how to line up the lower shaft to rack... would someone be super kind and take a photo of where the rack and lower shaft meet when steering in centered so I can have some sorta reference point on how I should join them? Ido probably guess based on which way the bolt faces in relation to the rack.. or anyone have the answer or know a way I can align the splines ? Bahh thanks in advance.

 

Match or alignment marks must have disappeared cos I sprayed with rust penetrating fluid as was siezed.. and was handling it alot

 

The bolt on the clamp side lines up to the flat side of each portion of the shaft.. just gotta keep turning it and wiggling till it goes in...

I did it with 2 people.. one under the truck.. the other on the side.

A small extendy mirror works well for this too

 

So I replaced my hub/bearings over the weekend and my steering issue is gone. I guess I didn't realize how bad my bearings were. Just posting this in case anyone else has had similar issues and looking for a solution.

 

Curiousity bump.. how many miles on your 06? Mine just ticked 100k.. been looking into some jersey built hub assemblies...would rather just do the whole thing..

 

Somewhere around 174,xxx. I've read around on the boards that the bearings are normally toast way before my mileage. I have had stock/oem wheels and only slightly heavier tires than stock for most of the truck's life, so maybe that contributed to them lasting as long as they did?

 

So I did this project today took about 6 hours with a help of a friend. Extra hands helps a lot. Did not cut the driver side bolt. Pull the passenger side bolt out and driver side bolt as much as you can. Tilt the rack towards front bumper and wiggle the rack back and forth left to right while pulling the drive bolt out. Driver bolt will clear ac condenser just enough to slide out. It a tight fit but it worked for me. Reverse process to install rack to get the driver bolt to clear ac condenser. Extra hands really come in handy.

 

Easy way I see tow companies securing the steering wheel is to put the seat belt through the bottom of the steering wheel and then buckle it. Works great. On a very stupid on me note. I replaced my steering bushings last week. I highly recommend removing the outer part of the old bushing too. Makes putting the new bushing in so much easier and with the old outer part of the bushing in place, you can't get it tight enough to the frame to stop the rack from moving. Trust me. Let my stupidity on this one be your lesson.

 

Ill add a couple tips here for how it went for me (and it didnt go very smooth!)

1. First thing i did was broke the intermediate steering shaft bolt loose, while i could steer it to an angle i could actually access the bolt. Left it in there, snug, but not tight so that when i had the wheels straight i could back it out much easier, whichever way it was pointed.
2. I did manage to get the driver's main bolt out without cutting or removing the condenser, but it took alot longer. rolled the rack forward as mentioned in this thread, and found a little spot that worked. I did, however, have to cut it to get it back in. I didnt want to put the bolts in upside down, i knew i would just worry about that as i drove around.
3. i took the outer tie rods off of the rack to make getting the rack out of the truck easier (the whole thing is shorter then). Getting it out was probably the hardest part of the job for me!
4. Instead of paint marking the outer tie rods, just count the number of turns till they come off and save that for re-installation. Then you don't have to worry about the marks rubbing off.
5. The inner power steering fluid connection (the one toward the middle of the truck) would not spin freely on the line, it was seized up or something. Not sure if that was my truck only, or other people's too, but it made me really take my time to ensure i didnt cross thread the connection on re-installation.
6. Try to keep the PS fluid contained. Maybe wrap a bag around the hose ends or something. I didnt, and had fluid everywhere because every time i would move the hose, more fluid would drip out. Eventually there was fluid everywhere which just makes things tougher.

Took me at least 8 hours, half of which was spent getting the driver's bolt out and getting the rack out of the truck.

 

I'm planning on changing out the bushings on my rack and pinion next weekend. Where is everyone getting them from? I can't find them on wheelers website and I've already tried looking on Amazon.