Rack and pinion or tire rod boot

If the ride height is affected it’s a good idea.

 

The alignment could change when replacing shocks. It’s not mandatory but many people lift their truck when replacing that’s when you really need it. I do just in case

 

They wanted $1500.00 because you might have come across as gullible( It will break and I will get killed)
and it would be easy money to replace the boots on your steering Rack and clean things up make it look like new.

Your going to get a little seepage over the years into the boots.

My Rack is going strong at 250,000 miles on my 2000 I put new boots on when I did the tie Rods a few years ago.

 

Unless you will drive your truck just on the pavement and not over any washboard roads, I would think very carefully about installing a rack from AutoZone. They are rebuilt and as such I would not trust them to last much over 15K-20K miles of easy-peasy granny driving. No tellin' what the quality of whatever-it-is that they replace or whatever gets aligned or how good the rubbers are.

So get a-crackin' and go online and check the price of a new part plus tax and delivery at 4 or 5 Toyota dealers until you find something in the low $500 range. Then call around locally and find somebody who will install it for under $300 including a tow-in alignment.