Steering Rack Options

I found the following on my passenger side inner tierod boot back in June (note, while it might not be obvious, the inner boot clamp is present, it's just covered in grime).


Not sure how long the wet spot has existed. I don't think it was there when I lifted my vehicle back in August of 2021 (mileage approx. 30K), as I would think I would have noticed it. I am just past 50K on my odometer right now. Running 265 75R16 tires (standard load) with about 4.0 degrees of positive caster (SPC UCAs), and a 2.25" approx. lift in front. I don't think my mods would explain the leaking. However, I did do a trip down in the Ozarks last March that had some decently deep water crossings, and I have driven through water deep enough to dunk my steering rack a few times before that, but I haven't made a common thing (can likely count the number of times on two hands). I just drive through, I don't sit in the water, but maybe water got into my boots, and the steering rack started to corrode.

There is also a smaller less wet spot on the driver side boot as well. I can't be certain this isn't Fluid Film overspray. I did wipe off the excess and it doesn't seem to be as bad now, 5 months later, as it was when I found it. The steering fluid reservoir has been right at the cold min level for as long as I can remember. It probably was filled up to the cold max level when I bought the truck new in 2018. Overall, losing about 1 to 2 ounces of steering fluid over 5.5 years and 50K miles doesn't seem too much. I am planning on doing a steering fluid replacement (turning the wheels back and forth while on jack stands method) in the next couple of weeks once I find the time.

I have gone on a couple of camping road trips since I found the possible leak, that required fairly aggressive wheeling (Elephant Hill was one of the trails), and I haven't felt the steering to be stiff or loose. It drives like it always has. I also haven't loss much in the way of fluid since I found the leak. That all said, I want to start exploring my options on where to go from here, and could use some advice.

So first off, I think it would be a good idea to replace the steering fluid. It needs to be replaced, regardless, and I don't see any downsides to doing that.

Second, I was considering removing the boots and seeing what it looks like under there, and maybe cleaning up the rack arms, if there are any signs of corrosion (basically polish them like one would do on shock piston rods). The hope would be that if they are a bit rough, smoothing them out would reduce the continual wear on the seals, and the leak would stay slow and manageable. I would be interested on thoughts of whether this would be worth the trouble, or if I would just make things worse.

Third, see if there is a way to improve the seal between the boots and rack so that I don't have to replace my steering rack every time I dunk the tie rods. Has anyone done anything along these lines. I am thinking at a minimum, putting a thick layer of cosmoline on the locations where the boots are clamped to the rack, to create a wax seal of sorts between the rods/rack and boots. I would imagine using RTV here would be a bad idea, if I ever had to remove the boots again, but curious if others have gone this far.

Start looking at replacing/rebuilding the rack. My options here as I understand it, are:

Send the rack into Solo Motorsports to have it rebuilt with better seals Toyota Rebuild-A-Rack Service - Solo Motorsports. Has anyone done this and had the seals hold up better?

Attempt to replace the seals myself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q3vqH19ITM (4R rack, but same type of process). Does anyone have a link to a recommended seal kit? Looks like a lot of trouble, but could be a nice winter project.

Both of these would require buying a new rack to replace the one being rebuilt, unless I want to leave my truck up on stands for a few weeks. If anyone has a link for an OEM rack on sale, I would be interested. This would then give me a backup rack if the leaks start to show up again on the new rack.

Replace with a modified Tundra rack from Solo Motorsports or BasikBiker Toyo steering tundra steering rack | Tacoma World. The main drawback here, that probably is a deal breaker of all things, is the reduced turning radius on the Tundra rack. I don't think I could give that up. Having to do 3+ point turns on switchbacks that normally wouldn't require such, would really suck. I also have no desire to run 35s or larger tires, or rock crawl/bash my truck on a regular basis.

I have come down to the notion that if I can just do something to get the boot seals to perform better under water, I should be fine with a standard OEM rack, and could possibly continue to use the current rack for a number of years before needing to replace it.

Let me know if there are any other options out there, or suggestions on how to proceed, that I haven't covered above.

 

I don't have any advice in terms of what to do, but. I can tell you that it's unfortunately super common for the boots to have oil like that. My 3 friends, all of theirs have their boots dirtied with oil, 2017-2019 models some lifted, and one stock. Mine have looked similar to yours for a few years now and I'm just letting it ride.


I am curious about what others have done, whether it be replacing or 'fixing' the current rack.

 

Out of curiousity, what's everyone's mileage and what do you all have in it for power steering fluid

 

Mine has been leaking a little for years. Just keep an eye on the power steering fluid and keep track of how often you top it off. You can run it for a very long time with a small leak. Now if you find a puddle on the ground then its a different story.

A lift and bigger tires will cause the rack to wear out sooner from the change in angle and the increase in weight put on the rack.

 

I am still on the original factory fill of steering fluid. Should be the Toyota OEM Dexron 3 ATF fluid (photo attached). I found the spot with about 45K on the odometer.

Not sure if replacing the fluid more often would make a difference. Curious if there is a more defined correlation between those that have dunked their boots in water, and those that have seen seeps.

I would hazard to guess that the ATF does limit things getting out of control if the rack does start to corrode, such that it might not take much time to see the fluid seep first occur, but does take some time to wear out the seals, as the ATF is able to keep the corrosion under control. This is all assuming you are not beating the crap out of the rack by bouncing heavy large wheels off rocks and dunes. It would be crazy for the rack to not fail on you in that situation.

As for when to replace, I won't bother until I have a hard time keeping the fluid reservoir between the lines, or start to see fluid on the ground.

 

If you’re not adding fluid leave it alone. Save your money, take your significant other out for dinner and enjoy yourselves!

 

Agreed.

So far my only steering leak is when I get messy with adding engine oil and some drips on the inner tie rod boot.

 

I flushed the steering fluid over the weekend. The stuff that came out was black and opaque, but it doesn't appear any metal has settled out in the plastic bottle I'm storing the old fluid in. Maybe I need to stick a magnet in there to make sure my pump isn't falling apart. Regardless the fluid looks a lot better now.

 

I thought I would follow up a little over a year later, after flushing my PS fluid, to note that the level in the PS reservoir has remained stable with no discernable loss of fluid over this time. Maybe a leaking rack is just it's way of telling us the steering fluid needs to be changed.