Bolt stuck on PS rack

This is the info in his profile tab:
1996 Tacoma 3.4L V6 2WD 5-lug AT 5VZ-FE

I haven't seen a 5 lug with a 3.4

 

Be patient, let it soak. I've used Gun Cleaner spray and WD40 makes a Breakaway spray that I've had luck with. Soak it from above at all angles

 

I second this one, I was staying out because it looked unfamiliar to me. Also the PS lines appear to be pointing to the back of the vehicle, mine point to the front and are a lot more difficult to access. This looks like a different design.

There should be enough room to get in the top with both a breaker bar and a torque wrench, I did. Pic below.

If you haven't already, I'd get a mirror and flashlight in there to see if the top nut is welded or otherwise pressed in. If it's not, I'd work on the nut, an impact wrench should have done it. If the nut is not welded/presssed in, you stand a chance of breaking the bolt.

 

It was an option up until 01 and all model year S-runners.

 

Intrigued.

just for reference
2.4L 1996 2wd

how/why would anyone weld a steering component bolt? Wow just wow
Not saying some Loadie mechanic would never do……

 

Yeah on a 5 lug the the ps pump lines go in the back of the valve control...

and there is just two mounts.....the vertical bolt points up....and then the c-clamp mount...

And its hard to find the bushings for these.....at least the poly's.....I had to make my own....

 

Yes, it's a 5 lug, different design that everyone else as far as all the suspension and steering rack.

I already have the bushings. The major brands don't make them, and I had to order some no name ones online. They look right, or at least the D bushing does, and I posted pics of this particular bushing on here before, but nobody has this truck so nobody could confirm that it's right.

I tried a breaker bar on the bolt today after letting it soak in the acetone/PS fluid mix for a couple days. I braced my feet against the wall and was bending the bar pretty good. I feel like any more and I'm going to break the bolt or bar or socket.

I don't see a way to get a breaker bar on the top nut. Maybe with a U joint adapter on the socket. But people are suggesting here the nut could be welded on. I don't want to try a breaker bar on the nut, if I can even get a tiny bit of wiggle room, at the risk of breaking something including the power steering lines.

Is it even possible for the bolt to be welded on instead, or make any sense?

The reason for this is I have a vibration that I feel like is in the PS rack. I feel it in the steering wheel mostly, and over every rough patch in the road. So I want the bushings replaced. I've been trying to solve a vibration for four months. Mechanics are refusing to admit there's a vibration for some reason, or refuse to admit it could be a bushing, telling me my tires might be out of balance or some bullshit like that that I've already checked, or spraying a couple bushings with some useless grease and giving it back to me, like they don't want to work on it, whether I tell them exactly what to replace or leave it up to them. The strut rod bushings that are fallen apart are also staring them in the face and they say everything is fine. I don't get it. The truck is otherwise in great shape. So my next plan is to start trying to take it to every mechanic in a wider radius until someone is willing to do it.

The strut rod bushings though from my understanding show themselves when you brake and it lurches forward or clunks, and I'm not getting that behavior at all. I'm getting the vibration at steady speed. That's what led me to try to do the steering rack bushings.

 

@BartMaster1234 @Empty_Lord @Sperrunner you ever mess with the rack on your 5 lug?

 

YEah those strut bushing are.....

 

Have you gotten a good look at the top nut with a mirror and flashlight? Is it really welded on? You need to look for yourself, it may be a nut, may be something different, maybe something was broken or changed in the past, who knows..

What size tools are you using. 1/2 inch breaker and sockets?

If the top nut isn't welded you'd have more of a chance up there. Maybe a long box end 19mm could grab it. Don't worry too much about the lines, they can withstand some bending and scratches. I've pushed them aside to get tools in there. Just be careful

 

I’ve never actually done a 5 lug rack that wasn’t on a truck without the frame removed. Never had an issue removing the bolts. This is a fun on. Little bit of heat may be needed

 

Is it a nutsert on top?

 

It should be a welded nut if I remember right


The 4x4s are a welded nut, but at the bottom of the frame

 

I'm doubting everything now about what is shaking. The steering rack is too hard and there's no issues with loose steering, so I'm going back to the strut rods again. I just ordered new ones. I was maybe one step away from knocking those loose as shown at the top of the thread below and I think I can give it a shot pounding with more tools.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trouble-removing-strut-rod.815718/

 

I was using a 3/8 breaker and adapter for 1/2 socket and was going to buy a 1/2 breaker to try too. But the way the 3/8 bar was bending, the force was concerning me.

I'll look at the nut more closely next time I'm in there.

 

Oh yeah you need at least a 2’ 1/2” breaker bar and a good 6 point socket for some things. You’re actually more likely round off a bolt with a smaller breaker bar than a big one simply because as the bar is bending, you’re inevitably letting the socket slip off of the head of the bolt and letting the corners be what comes into contact with the socket rather than the flats.

Heat is going to help you the most other than brute force. If the bolt is seized inside the inner sleeve it will help loosen it up but I have had decent results with shocking a bolt and using penetrating fluid where I am not in the rust belt where it’s a requirement to use some source of heat for some stuff.

 

Just a thought
I had to remove civic 1.7 crank shaft bolt
Videos I found were crazy
(One dude used a 12ft breaker bar)

In the end, I went to h depo. Bought a 5ft pipe that was Covid priced at $27
Bolt came off
I returned that shit to store without any damage/problems

 

Side story.

I broke this weld nut free on a 4x4 when I was a young apprentice. It requires as much force as you think.

My boss /journyman was a desk mechanic and he yelled at me for 5 minutes about this nut.

I let apprentices try to break it free, but I stop them before the yelling is needed haha.

 

98 ft lbs if I remember right.

 

I used a torch, a breaker bar and all my might. I could tell it was a weld nut once it moved...