Rack and Pinion Replacement on 2014 Tundra Crewmax 4x4

Have above listed vehicle with 75,000 easy miles. Hardly been off road. Has 6inch Rough Country Lift and 35 inch tires. When I crank the truck the power steering fluid is drawn completely out of the reservoir. Seems to be going into one of the boots on passenger side of system. When the truck is turned off the fluid will return to normal level. No leaks anywhere and no sign of leaks. I was told it was probably a seal in the R/P mechanism. I am mechanical but not a mechanic. I was told this was a 16 hour job by the dealer. Some say you have to pull the engine to replace the R/P because of clearance issues but I have also been told that is not necessary. Dealer quoted me $2700 for repair with $1000 of that cost for the parts. This seems crazy to have to replace at this millage. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem and if that cost to repair is in line or outrageous. Thanks

 

Well, supposedly '14 and up trucks got the newer design steering rack that wasn't supposed to suffer the failure issues the older trucks had. I have a '14 myself, beat on my truck offroad, have a 6" lift, 40" tires, and haven't broken my steering rack yet. YMMV obviously. There are a few people here that have swapped the rack themselves in their garage and without removing the engine.

 

Thanks for the input. I am not usually scared to tackle a project but when the guy at the dealership said 16 hrs, I thought there must be something really damn aggravating about this. Just bought a new TRD Offroad 4runner and I am having second thoughts about putting suspension lift on it. BTW your truck is a beast. That is a true Southern Cal machine. I was out in San Diego at Christmas time and was amazed at the weather and sunsets. I see why so many people live out there now. Hard to find parking though!

 

@KevinK is a blown rack master.

 

@KevinK is no master - the dealer swapped it for him. lol
@papasmurf replaced his and has a writeup on it somewhere.
I am on my 4th rack but all were covered under warranty before 36K

 

Our truck is 2014 4x4 with a 2.5" lift and running 37s for almost 2 years now and has 65k miles.

Blew our rack about a month ago and it was replaced by the dealer under warranty. They put 4 hours labor into it. Said they removed our front diff instead of the engine. I've heard you can pull the rack without removing the engine or the diff if you know the right order of slide/rotate/slide/rotate/slide/remove. I don't know what that order is. Supposed to take about 4-5 hours if you DIY.

@n2deep is right, I'm no rack master, unless we're talking about the kind Victoria's Secret covers - I worked there for 5 years.

 

Welcome from Texas, let's see your ride

 

OP

here is my thread

http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/tu...eering-rack-thread-solutions.html#post5660218

 

Scribed...... interesting. And that link is helpful

 

Great read on link