Anyone Replacing Their Steering Rack Bushings w/ 35's?

Good to hear your experience. Bummer about those bolts. Mine were hard to break free, but not to your level. All my old bushings were round. Did you do this to your 2010 or 2020?

 

It was on the 2010 with the BDS kit. Considering how bad my bushings were, I’m anticipating a massive improvement.

 

Anyone have any experience running the ES bushings long term? Any issues of longevity?

 

2 of the factory bushings are supposed to be oval shaped
Do you have part numbers for those LCA bushings? I'd love to swap mine out when I do my LBJ's

Also - I feel your pain, the rack bolts were bonkers on mine how tight they were and almost impossible to hold.

 

That’s strange, why would they be oval shaped? The energy urethane bushings were all the same shape. All the more reason to upgrade, I guess.

Part numbers for the SuperPro or the OEM bushings? Actually I think I have pictures of both.

 

I’m all in on poly bushings. No more oem for me. Thanks - ordering.
Yea I’ve heard different things on the oval shape - it may be less of an issue with stock height/ tires and wheels but it causes way more movement with the extra weight of oversized setups.

 

If you aren’t doing them anytime soon, wait until they run a sale. It will save about $50 on a full set.

 

Can anyone provide a link so I make sure I order the correct ones haha.

Also, will probably buy an all-new steering rack and do it on the bench and have my old one as a spare.

 

Link to poly rack bushings
https://shop-coachbuilder.myshopify.com/collections/accessories/products/tundra-2007-power-steering-rack-poly-bushing-kit

I have a new OEM rack in the garage but decided against using it since it’s pretty easy to switch later on if my old one ever craps out.

 

Just got a email from superpro, 20% off sitewide until June 19th

 

This is a BEAR OF A JOB... I followed the DIY...but my bushings were rust welded to steering rack...I had to use an air chisel to get the bottoms out. Now I'm working on the top bushings.I used a 7/8 socket..so far no movement. Any advice would be appreciated...There's room but it's very close quarters!!!

 

Make sure whatever you are using to drive the bushings is actually driving the shell and not bouncing off the rubber bushing. If you are trying to drive it by the rubber, you will whack it all day long and never move it.

 

Thanks Retroboy1989....
FYI Another way to remove bushings if they're rust welded like mine is to use a map torch to melt rubber and remove center bushings leaving metal shell.. You can then use a 6" blade with a Sawzall to make a relieve cut... once relief cut is made you can then use a flathead chisel or screwdriver and tap out remaining outershell.. I removed the top bushings via this method... If I had thought of this b4 it would've have saved a lot of time and

 

I'm in the process of doing this and a few more things while at it. However I'm not having a good time with the hardline on top of the passenger-side bushing. The damn fitting is crazy tight and won't break loose, fear I might round the corners

Edit: nevermind all that. The fitting freed up in one of my tries (hurt myself, yay). Now I have to deal with lots of steering fluid out of the lines.

 

It’s worth removing that steering line because of how much easier it is to get to the nut on top of the rack. See my post #120. I didn’t have any trouble with the fitting though, hopefully it’s all a breeze after that for you.

 

Well, it's done.
Had to create a tool to get the upper driver bushing out, it was simply not coming out with hammer hits, took a while to get the right setup, luckily there was plenty of steel laying around and it served as fab practice.
Tool made it much less stressful and well, didn't want to bang something up. Removing the oil filter housing (was about time anyway) opened up a lot more angles to work around it too.

Gonna use the chance to change outer tie rods with Coachbuilder's and also the ECGS bushing.

Thread was a godsend. Thanks everyone

(no, its not pretty fabwork, flux core is messy and had to freehand a lot.)

 

So any issues removing the top bolt from the steering shaft ? The one closer to the cab I cannot get the one at the rack and pinion.

 

I didn't have any problems other than the reduced room to work.
I turned the wheel a little just to get it into a more favorable position to loosen it up, then turned it back to 12 o'clock. A paint marker is a great ally as others have mentioned

 

I finally got it. Steering wheel is upside down after job but I also did mevotech tie rods so meh. My only concern is all the error codes the truck threw at me. Wondering if I broke a sensor or alignment is messing it up

 

Just got done doing this. Took 7 hours, most of which was just figuring out how to get everything taken apart. Once I figured out how to maneuver the rack into place and lock it in, the passenger side bushings actually came out fairly easily (pickle fork for the win). Driver side upper took way longer. Struggled to get the right placement. My arm is dead from hammering at this point. But got it all done and back together. Thanks again to OP for posting a great write-up with pics and to everyone else who added suggestions. Glad it's over...