New Here, Steering rack and ball joint problems

Hey All,

I'm 4 years into owing my stock 02 AC and loving it, except for the suspension issues.

In the last 7 weeks I replaced my upper and lower ball joints with Mevotech's, had it aligned and put my Firestone Winterforce's on it getting it ready for winter here is western Wisconsin. Last week it started steering bad, hard to keep straight at 55, much less 75. Took it into the shop today and found out that not only are the "new" ball joints bad (.250" vertical travel) but the steering rack I put into it last year is shot and the rear springs are "slipping" on off camber corners.

I'm planning on picking up another reman steering rack, from NAPA I think, and doing that replacement again. I am not quite sure what to do about he ball joints. The new ones from Toyota are $128 eac. Will they be good enough? I want to keep it stock ride, etc.

Any suggestions would be great.

 

Welcome from CO

 

Welcome from Ohio

 

Hiya and welcome from SoCalif!!!

 

Welcome from Texas

 

Welcome from Kentucky.

 

Welcome from CO.

 

Thanks All! And no, I don't enjoy doing ball joints all the time so , yes, I am going to purchase OEM BJ's and build a tent ( I don't have a garage) and install them.
Does anyone think the failure of the ball joints caused the rack to fail or vice versa or neither? Just trying to figure out why the rack failed.

 

welcome from Colorado, I have always used OEM ball joints on my 04, 220k now with no problems and I live in the mtns and it sees lots of rough roads. I can't help with the rack, is it leaking fluid? Did you check your inner and outer tie rods for looseness? If they have not been replaced on a an 02 they are probably worn out??

 

Internally it developed play, the seals are still fine but I now have 1/2" play on it. measured by guys at a shop I trust

 

Welcome to the party!!

 

Definitely only use OEM BJs on a first gen, as far as the rack I would double check the bushings that hold the rack to the frame. And welcome to the page, great group of people here!

 

Welcome from Ohio!

 

Hey, here's a recent post from a very knowledgeable guy who regularly does stuff in his truck you never will. Here's what he experienced, and what he did:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/the-truck-by-osidepunker.26649/page-5#post-904493


My thought in sharing it, is to prompt you to think about related upgrades you might do at the same time, for not much $ in parts, that could save you $$$ in the long run.