Steering rack failing?

@KNABORES ignoring the LBJs, is this a correct understanding of your experience with the steering rack play?

As I understand you had a bit of side to side play in FR tire. You removed steering rack bellows and inspected, revealing that inner and outer TREs were solid, but you could see the ~1" diameter shiny steel steering rack shaft clunking around within the body of the steering rack. This led you to believe the steering rack might be shot and need replacing. But then, you replaced the 3 rubber steering rack bushings and that seemed to resolved the play.

Right?

Is the side to side play in FR tire and movement of steering rack shaft gone after replacing bushings?

If so, that would be encouraging news. I have same issue and would much rather do SR bushings than full SR replacement.

Thanks

 

The play within the rack was negligible in comparison to the play in the ball joints and play in the steering rack bushings. My “D” shaped bushing had disintegrated though, like completely. And my LBJs had a lot of play in them once removed from the truck. Post overhaul, the steering is tight and direct. The play is likely wear that could be adjusted with that large nut on the side of the rack, but it drives like a dream now, so I’m not going to mess with any of it.

 

Got it. Thanks! I'm doing LBJs, outer TREs, and struts today. I'll check out the SR bushings and try to post back with my results later.

 

@TenderTundie your post about that adjustment is super interesting. I had no idea that was possible. I'm a big fan of rebuilding instead of replacing, when possible.

Question- do you know what this hex thing is? circled in blue:


I ask because I rebuilt the steering gearbox in my vintage Fiat. It's not the same, as it's a gearbox instead of a rack and pinion, but there was two adjustments. One adjustment was to set the preload on the gear mesh. If I am understanding the adjustment you made correctly, that's what you adjusted, the preload. The other adjustment on the Fiat gearbox was to change the position of the pinion gear, it could move upward or downward on it's shaft. Despite some pretty heavy wear on both gears, I was able to adjust it to perfection by tweaking both adjustments.

Do you think that the part I circled in blue could be an adjustment for the pinion gear? Like, what if the pinion shaft could move up and down to change the gear mesh, on the red line?

Edit: I looked at the parts diagram, and it doesn't look like there's an adjustment there. Just looks like a cap that covers up a nut that holds it together. Still makes me wonder if a spacer that would move the pinion up/down would be beneficial.

 

Yeah, @FiatRunner thanks for mentioning the phrase "adjusted the preload" - that's a good description of exactly what I did. I feel like it did help improve the steering, and when I put the truck up last night to start the LBJs etc. I verified that the side-to-side play when shaking the tire is reduced by this adjustment. I wish there was a vertical adjustment like you drew in your diagram! As far as I know, there is not. If anyone here knows otherwise please let us know, cause that would be awesome.

Once I have the TRE's off, I'm also going to remove the steering rack bellows and see if I can video any play in the rack shaft. Now that I'm thinking about how this works, I imagine the steering rack shaft is like a long lever arm, and it's resting against the "rack guide" or "preload adjustment" on the L, then engaging against the worm gear a little farther R, then maybe just hanging in space until it hits the seals at either end of the rack.. Interesting to consider the effect of tightening up one of those main pivot points. I will also turn the steering wheel all the way to each side and see if that affects the amount of play in the rack shaft.

Front suspension work is off to a good start! My good buddy came over with his impact last night and helped me get started. Thanks bro! Some rusty fasteners, but things are going well so far.

Cheers

 

Oh, and this video has been posted elsewhere on the forum, but it's the best resource I've found on understanding the steering rack guide and preload adjustment. It's on a 4 runner I think, but very similar to our trucks. I had to make a special tool to get in the gigantic hex to make the adjustment - fashioned it out of a plumbing shower valve adjustment tool that was like $6. If anyone is dealing with this and wants to know the details just let me know, I think I saved it somewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Hhl225E8A

 

@TenderTundie Thank you for sharing that video, I was really thinking I'd have to replace my whole rack due to the slop in it, but it looks like this is really all that is needed. Do you know if those part numbers for the 4Runner parts are the same as the 1GT steering rack guide? I took mine out and the teflon part is worn almost all the way down, I had someone crash into my tire and now have had excessive play in the rack, but no leaks.

I may just try to clean and lube it up for now and see how it does though

 

Sounds like @KNABORES said he thought it was replacing the LBJs that eliminated the noise.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/steering-rack-failing.74631/#post-3736832

 

Good question @foxtrot2uz! A few months back I emailed with Ourisman about this. They said NO, that 4runner part number is not a fit for our trucks. Our part number for the Rack Guide is 45504-34030, but it is discontinued. Then they said "Not sure if there is any existing part number to fit your truck, but if there is the guys at Tundras.com will have figured it out". LOL! So y'all have the respect of Ourisman parts dept. I guess.

In case it helps someone, First Gen part numbers are as follows. You can match the names to my photos above. Unfortunately all the parts except the Rack Guide Spring are discontinued.

Rack Guide 45504-34030
Rack Guide Spring Cap Lock Nut 90080-17168
Rack Guide Spring 90080-50295
Rack Guide Cap 45524-34020

Update: cleaning it up, lubing it, and snugging it a bit tighter (1/8 or 1/16 turn?) seems to have worked for me. After ~1000 miles I can not produce any play in the tire or feel the rack moving around anymore. My Rack Guide also has the teflon all worn away like yours... I would love to get a new one. IF ANYONE CAN FIND A PART NUMBER FOR A RACK GUIDE CONFIRMED TO FIT FIRST GEN TUNDRAS PLEASE SHARE! That would be super helpful.

FYI, I smashed a deer pretty bad before onset of loose steering rack, and it went right under the front tire. Interesting that both of us experienced some kind of collision to front tires before this issue started... hopefully we don't have bent racks.