New Steering Rack - Normal Movement?

So long story short, I just did a complete rebuild on the front suspension of my 1998 Tacoma SR5 Ext. Cab 4X4 with V6. My tires are KO2s and on 16" 4Runner wheels (can't remember the tire size right now but I think +1 over factory 4Runner Sport tire size). As part of this rebuild, I replaced the steering rack (old one had 327K miles) with a new rack from Toyota..I think its actually a factory rebuilt rack. I installed the polyurethane bushing on the outer rack clamp, but opted to keep the factory rack rubber bushings as I didn't want to press-out new stuff and assumed they would be okay - I think I was wrong. I tried to load the video, but won't work. I'm seeing over 1/2" movement side to side (1" total) on the steering rack when turning the wheels stationary and on dry pavement...rack is sliding laterally inside the clamp bushing and looks like the vertical and horizontal rack bushings are compressing. I also hear a popping noise where I think the rack hydraulic fitting is sliding / contacting the outer clamp. I also think this movement is affecting my steering wheel center position and keeping me from getting the alignment dead-on. Although I do have over-sized wheels/tires, is this much movement normal with a new rack? All my other components are 1 year to brand new: King Coilovers, JBA upper control arms, new OEM lower control arm bushings, Energy Suspension sway bar bushings and link end bushings, OEM lower ball joint, new OEM outer tie rod ends, new OEM wheel bearings, OEM spindles, and OEM rebuilt CV axles. I feel like someone who rebuilt the rack at the Toyota subcontractor shop forgot to replace the old rubber bushings! Regardless, I do have new polyurethane rack bushings I plan to install this weekend, but I just don't want to go chasing down the wrong rabbit.

 

Some side to side movement is normal. I assume "clamp" bushing to mean the D shaped passenger side bushing? I wouldn't expect that bushing to do much in the way of preventing the rack to move side to side. The other two fix the side to side movement more.

So yeah, I'd change them out and see where you're at after that.

How does it feel when you're driving? responsive, or sloppy?

 

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I should have said the "D" shaped clamp and agree it won't do much to hold any side-to-side movement...assume polyurethane would actually be worse than the factory rubber bushing, which would tend to grip more although not designed for holding the rack in that direction.
Feels pretty sloppy when steering, but think the sway bar bushing and other stuff helped the handling.

 

I have the same year pickup as you. I did the same exact re-build. Only difference is I have Toytecs for coilovers. I don't have any movement in there. My rack doesn't slide at all like you say. The very first step I did was lock the steering wheel in the position where I was pointed straight into the garage. I measured my tie-rods and made sure they were equal as far as how far out they were adjusted. Took it to get aligned and they didn't have to do much. Something must be either missing, not tight or way out of adjustment.

 

Thanks for your comments. I've worked with Toyotas a lot of years and this is the first time I've been puzzled after installing new OEM parts. All bolts and parts were in place and torqued to FSM specs. The only difference was I had a polyurethane bushing on the "D" shaped rack mount and not the factory rubber bushing, which shouldn't have made any difference in lateral movement.
I just replaced the other two rack bushings today with Prothane polyurethane and almost zero movement now - it's fixed. The OEM bushings I pulled out looked new, so I can't explain why they flexed and compressed so much, but recommend that even if buying a new rack its best to go ahead and replace the bushings with polyurethane before installing.
Anyhow, last week my Toyota dealership shop tried to align the front end and used the tie rod ends to center the steering wheel and got them way out side-to-side. After waiting on the truck for several hours, they weren't able to center the steering wheel due to the excessive play/movement in the rack. I decided to replace the OEM bushings and marked/reset the tie rod ends myself so an even 8 threads out on each side. The shop alignment ended-up close so I fixed the steering wheel center by setting the tires straight and then rotating/resetting the splined connection at the steering rack input - I suppose it got off when I replaced the rack. I'm sure this shortcut using the tie rod ends is taken all the time, but disappointed my dealership didn't do what I did rather than take the easy route to try and center the steering wheel by offsetting the tie rod ends.
Whew! Happy camper now.
Best.