DIY: Steering Shaft Seal

Not sure if this is applicable to the Tundra. It was listed as for 3rd gen 4Runners and 1st gen Taco's. It involves taking apart the entire steering column, tacking a couple of welds, and expanding the plastic ball joint just under the steering wheel with a spacer.

I came across this while watching Timmy The Toolman's other great how to videos:

 

Yeah I saw that too. Not to much info on the play in the Tundra steering wheel.

 

I could be wrong but I don't think this seal can cause play in the steering wheel. Can you explain what you're feeling? Have you checked the coupler. I'm not even sure if it could cause issues but it seems more likely than that seal. The coupler connects the steering shaft to the nipple that's on the rack. It has a rubber pad that I'm guessing acts as sort of buffer.

 

1st post, been stealing maintainance tips from you guys for a minute!

Got beaten by this fix this morning. Could not get the steering coupler to move upwards. Been hitting it with penetrating oil every couple days for about week. Hammered the hell out of it, but no dice.

I've got a compressor, is it time to buy an air hammer? Or should I ask my trusted shop to do this next time the truck is there for something else?

 

Heat and Kroil. Soak it for a week. No reason to pay a shop to do this job. I wouldn't use an air hammer personally.

 

Low and slow.

 

I've had my truck for a few months and was hearing the dreaded tick, especially on acceleration. I finally climbed under to check it out. I think it's probably time....

 

It is time.

 

^ this.

Do you have a MAPP gas or propane torch? Heat the splined area up and then give it a little liquid wrench or pb blaster. Repeat a few times.

The heat will help expand the coupler and break the rust free. The expansion will help the penetrating oil get further in.

A long brass punch and a hammer may be necessary or an air hammer.

 

I think I did a novel version of this fix today. Heat, penetrating oil, the combination of the two over a significant time period did not have the coupler willing to move up the shaft. On top of that, The outer edge had totally separated from the inner ring of the old seal, so sealing up the existing gasket with some caulking was not happening. I decided to improvise.

Since I could not slide the old one out and then the new one in my goal was to use the inner rubber of the new one as a bridge, and then be able to seal it up with caulk, and if it didn't work, this is like a 12 dollar part.


I pulled on the innards of the new gasket to cut with a razor knife and get as much of the rubber as possible.


Guts out.

Cut so I could slip it over the shaft. Razor knife did most of the cut, but I used a pair of clippers to get through the inner most part, there is a metal ring inside the rubber.

Old inner bit slid up as high as possible before putting the new one on.

New guy is in, zip tie around the inner bit compresses that metal ring to it's original size, achieving a (hopefully) decent seal on the shaft.

Caulked it all together. Was most concerned with not sticking the shaft to the seal, since that guys gotta spin. I compressed the old and new components together, using the caulk in between. I turned the wheel while holding the gasket mess in place a couple times while it dried, and it bound a little the first time, then spun free as it should. Note:This final picture is garbage, and I didn't realize it untill I put the cover, felt, carpet, and kick panel back in. Also, no feather duster points for me.

Result: Started up the truck and didn't hear a tick I thought was an exhaust leak for the first time in the 5 years I've had the truck. Lots of cold air flowing through when I was working --no more- thinking warmer toes for ski season.

I'll update if this fix fails, but I just didn't want to beat any harder on those steering components. Hope this helps someone in a similar situation.

 

$6.00 of pink fiberglass insulation placed around the shaft from inside the vehicle and 5 minutes to get the kick panel off solved the issue for me.

 

Pics or it didn't happen

 

Ask and you shall receive lol

 

The sole purpose of this seal is to separate the inside from outside? Isn't load bearing or shaft doesn't "sit" on it? If so this is my kinda fix lol!

Is it still holding up ok? Ticking sound is gone?

 

Still holding up well after 3 months. I can only hear a slight ticking sound. More so, if I roll down the window.

Last time it was done properly , the Toyota tech didn’t know what he was doing and caused my steering rack to leak. Luckily I got the rack replaced 3 miles under the end of my warranty.

It’s easily to pull out, so why not try it? I certainly don't want to mess with the rusted out shaft coupler to the rack unless absolutely necessary.

 

I think @Jack McCarthy 's solution gets the economy of effort win here for anyone with their coupler seized up. My new inards, zip tie, and caulk solution seal if working great after a few thousand miles, no tick and an overall much quieter cabin on the highway.

Seems like with these two options pounding on and heating that coupler is an unnecessary risk.

 

And if your original plastic roast beef flaps are still draping and able to be caulked then by all means do it the PHM way. Clean the inner rim and use a squeeze tube type caulk to bridge the gap. All done from under the truck. Cheap and easy. Been holding nicely for 2 years.

 

I got the new seal. This weekend I'm going to change it out, then I'm going to cram a bunch of Owens-Corning insulation all around it, then I'm going to caulk it. Because you really can't be too careful with these things.

 

Yeah. Your pic of yours is too far gone for the caulking on the old one.

If mine goes bad again and I end up replacing it, I’d for sure run a bead of silicone in between the rim flaps that face down to the ground and let it cure before installing. Give it some body yet still remain flexible.

The insulation idea sounds doable all around that upper cone on the inside. Anytime I’m in a new area of the interior I plan on sound proofing as much as possible.

 

Right. I wonder if it serves a purpose other than separating inside from outside. I've never done this repair. Just found out about this from searching on engine tick on our trucks. So this leads to.... what IS the engine tick?

One way to find out is dive in and look around i guess

So this is basically removing/replacing intermediate steering shaft..

 

It took me almost two hours but the new seal is in. A huge pain in the balls to get the coupler off the rack - took PB Blaster, heat and multiple whacks but I eventually got it off. And the heat burned off my mark to line things up upon reassembly but it went back together like it should. The decrease in cab noise is really unbelievable. Highly recommend.

 

Is this the kind of thing that can be done by pulling the steering shaft from the inside of the vehicle as well? I’m in the same boat as you with the rusted coupler and pulling out the steering wheel would be easier for me. Not that I need it with my $6 fix workaround.

 

The seal is pushed/driven into place from below. I don't see how you could remove it from inside the truck unfortunately.

 

And it does not seem like there is a need, cut the guts out of a new seal and caulk it in there like I did.

Plus; when you are done you get to talk about all the caulk and shaft you just worked with.

 

Someone needs to make a 1-piece or 2-piece snap-together seal for this job. No shaft removal necessary. Seems like it could be done? Just use rigid outer and inner ring, then have some overlap of the rubber between so you can fasten it somehow...

 

Why could't you split the coupler by removing the short vertical bolts. That would mean you would only have to fight one set of splines, (upper side) to replace that seal.

 

I agree, that would be useful.

Having cut up my replacement, the inner rings are pliable metal, no spring. So if you had one that had spring steel innards and some overlap I bet you could just snap it in and be done.

That said it looks like we've arrived at lots of acceptable ways to fix this.

 

I still need to post a pic of my Roast Beef Caulk job from last year. I looked at it the other day and it was holding nicely.

 

I know your teasing but its new seal, then caulking, and then Owens-Corning