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

Ensure you properly hydrate with liquid motivation.

 

Question...My front end has a slight kinda hammering rattle that you can feel through the steering wheel when hitting small bumps fast.. It started fairly recently..I checked everything but the Rack Bushings! Ya think this may be my problem? 120,000 miles. 3/1.5 recent lift 305/70/17’s

 

Right at 5hrs working time including an extra hour dinking around with the tie rod end boot and retainer I screwed up trying to use the tie rod end pickle fork. Other side I used the loosen and tap on the spindle flat method with no damage. And also chasing a lost skid plate nut in the frame crossmember. Pounding out the old bushings may have actually been the least time consuming part of the whole job thanks to the large pickle fork. Money well spent! Thanks for the tip!

Test drive showed a crooked steering wheel by maybe 10 degrees, I double checked the OEM blue paint on the splined shaft and it doesn't get any closer than where it is. On the plus side one TRE shows about 6 threads while the other shows 3 in the direction of the crooked wheel. Maybe this just re-centered my rack and they'll finally match! Waiting for new drivers outer TRE to align perfectly. Driving feel is great! The increase in steering wheel "feel" means maybe some slightly more vibration but I like the tighter steering input this gave to control the 37s.

My only gripe now is I realized that Coachbuilder had these and the other bushings I needed for the shackles on sale, saved $10! Then they charged me $18 to ship both and they arrived in a $7.95 flat rate small box. I see where the extra "sale" went.....

Here's the pickle fork set I used. Second one from the largest popped them out in just minutes.

ABN Ball Joint Separator 5-Piece Set – for Separating Pitman Arms, Tie Rods, and Ball Joints on Cars and Light Trucks

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0727PDD7Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hSPqFb6S85J4Q

 

Short answer: I dunno maybe but probably not?

Long answer: The best way I know to check steering rack bushings is to jack the front end up on stands, have someone else sit in the truck with key on so the steering doesn't lock, doesn't need to be running unless they're really weak, and cycle the wheel back and forth at a frequency that stresses the rack side to side (pretty quickly) and then eyeball the slop. They are a rubber sleeve with air space bonded to inner and outer steel shells so some slop is to be expected (and a little bit is desired) anything that wiggles one way and stays, clunks hard, or has "excessive slop" would be due for a replacement. I don't know of a spec for replacement but I suppose you could measure it with a magnetic base dial indicator somehow. I didn't bother inspecting mine, I replaced as preventative maintenance running big tires and for a crisper steering feel.

There are also lots of other more likely things like shocks, ball joints, upper and lower control arm bushings, inner and outer tie rod ends, the steering rack itself, wheel bearings, tire pressure, alignment. These could all crop up either by 120k or anytime they're messed with like when installing a lift. For a definitive answer we'd need a super in depth inspection of everything listed.

 

I installed the coachbuilder TRD Pro kit myself and it was a breeze compared to the labor involved in replacing the steering rack bushings which turned into a nightmare $1000+ repair job for me.

Key point to remember:
Is to loosen the 12mm bolt connecting the steering shaft to the rack then prior to removing bolt lock the steering wheel in place from rotating using the seat belt. The Toyota dealer does this by wrapping it around steering wheel twice then latching the seat belt. My friend of a friend's shop didn't (or wasn't aware of) prevent the steering wheel from moving and ended up rotating the steering wheel only 180 degrees which (several trips back and forth and using different shops scanners and wasted time and stress) damaged/shorted out the clock spring/spiral cable behind the steering wheel attached adjacent to the steering angle sensor. At first we thought the steering angle sensor was just 180 degrees the wrong way a reset/zero point calibration would fix it only later to learn the damn clock spring part# 84307-0C020 needed replacing. A damaged clock spring resulted in my dash lighting up like a Christmas tree after the truck was taken down off the lift the steering wheel was turned for the first time. Every TSS code that you can imagine took turns flashing, LDA malfunction/Pre-Collision System malfunction/Headlight malfunction/Trailer Brake error and so on. After losing confidence in his shop I had the dealer fix it. $80 bushing job turned into a $1000+ mistake, Oh well live and learn but hopefully I can save a few people from making the same mistakes.
The energy suspension website says they fit up to a 2014 but that hasn't been updated as they currently fit up to 2020

 

Curious if anyone has done this on a stock truck? The Tundra has a less than desirable steering wheel feel from the factory. Being brand new, it feels more like my 4th gen 4runner with 260k than my previous 2018 Tacoma which had a nice tight steering wheel feel. Could replacing the bushings out for the sake of a better feel rather than necessity be worth it?

 

I don't think you'll regret it ill post a pic of the stock bushings there isn't much rubber in there in my opinion then again im not a toyota engineer ?? I think they do it to keep customers coming back ?? who knows

 

Energy Suspensions website only has up to 2014. The kit fit ur's though correct? Or is there a kit that's not listed.

 

It works for all current Tundras.

 

pretty sure mines 2016 ... I ordered through @Coachbuilder1

 

man that sucks. Been on the fence about paying someone or trying to do myself. Sounds like a pita either way.

I thought I had read the clock spring replacement was a pretty easy fix though. Surprised it turned into such an issue

 

I don't think my old bushings were bad, the sloppiness in steering was just exacerbated by big heavy tires. It would probably make a stock truck feel nice and tight. They make them cushy from the factory for noise/vibration/harshness concerns but everyone's preferences are different. Consider this mod a "sport mode" for steering wheel feel and feedback.

 

I ordered through coachbuilder too but the part number that shows up is the same as energy suspension part number "up to 14" fit my 17 no issues.

 

if you're capable just do it ..... its not that HARD its just hard work .... fasten your steering wheel with the seat belt, and make sure you have the proper size pickle fork i didn't and it was a BITCH got one side off on the truck and the driver wasn't worth trying I also have the BDS LIFT AND THE FRONT DIFF DROP BRACKET BLOCKS RACK BOLTS I need up dropping almost my whole front end but took out the rack put it back in bolted and torqued everything .... a few hours a day took me 3 days by myself including dropping and reinstalling the diff , in a rocky dirty driveway on a drop cloth ....

 

you got me thinking about again. I remember looking at it last time i took my skidplate off to change the oil. Looked a little tight on reaching everything. Ill probably go ahead and look at it again

I checked with a couple shops locally and they seemed a little clueless on this job. One place told me they would have to pull my engine to access the rack! I have a guy that will do it for $500 that knows these trucks. I would love tot save the money and do it myself if its manageable

If I had a lift I would definitely try it. Just hate laying on my back trying to beat on a something over my head and hard to reach

 

yeah man its a gamble taking it to a shop at least where I live they over charge and then you have a bunch of younger guys that seem careless ...

pay someone 500 to do it isn't bad as long as they own a torque wrench and know how to use it ... if that option was available to me I woulda took it lmao but I have a hard time trusting anyone touching my truck , I'm actually just drove 45 miles to an alignment shop that I have faith in

 

This definitely sounds like a job I could do. I've just grown lazy at doing my own work on my back. If the cost is as high as some have mentioned to have a shop do it, I guess I'll just live with the steering until it's unbearable. My truck has less than 1k on it, once it gets worse from wear and tear, I'll suck it up and do it.

 

I'll do it for $500!!! Or $400 + parts and beer.

 

I would like to say that Continental Toyota was very cool with allowing me to source a new oem Toyota clock spring ( 84307-0C020) instead of having to buy from them. They were going to charge me $680 for it and i was able to get it from Elgin Toyota (cheapest I could find and half hour away) for $460 after tax. The part isn't readily available as its not a frequently replaced part and this model fits only 2018-2020. So that quick online purchase and parts run pickup/drop off from dealer to dealer saved me some $$ to use for labor.

Just remember to lock down your steering wheel and you should be fine

 

At 47000 miles and the looseness has not gotten worst. So you are good for at least that many miles. But it’s no better either. I am all stock, And those guys must really wrestle with 35+ tires!I agree it is a lot involved to change these out and I also will live with it until it gets really unbearable and a must do.

 

I didn't lock it down. Not required, just don't fuk with it.

 

Why fasten the wheel with the seat belt instead of just locking the wheel? Genuinely curious, as I'm going to tackle this next week.

 

Refer to previous post 52 don't fuk with it.

 

You do need it free to get the linkage bolt off. It’s going to be hard to lock it in the right spot to get your socket on it.

 

I'm gonna assume that every truck is different, I didn't use the lock on the wheel because I needed to turn my wheel slightly toward passenger side to get a good angle at getting the intermediate shaft bolt

 

@blackoutt - the pickel fork set in Amazon link is no longer available. Can you please measure the opening / spread on the pickel fork you used? Maybe I can find a substitute? thanks in advance

 

1 3/8”

 

thanks!

 

You bet