Steering rack bushings

I just received my new steering rack from Toyota but before I decided to change the entire rack I had ordered some red energy urethane bushings to go with my new Siberian bushings and I'm obviously going to have to use the Red Energy clamp bushing because they didn't send one with the new rack but I'm wondering if it's worth doing to press out the factory bushings in the rack and put in the other Red Energy bushings that came with the kit I bought. Are they really that much better?

 

I would run the factory bushings. That’s what’s I did.

 

Same. Mine last over 20 years

 

And if you opt to go with poly bushings, don't be a ignorant of the fact you NEED to use poly-safe lubricant anywhere the bushings will touch metal. Unless you want to listen to SQUEAAAAAAK SQUEAK EEEK EEEKEEEEK SQUEEAK SQEUEEEEE EEEK EEEEEEEEEEK CREAK over every little bump or turn.

 

Well if the urethane bushings aren't going to be some kind of noticeable upgrade over the factory rubber ones then I'll probably just leave the factory ones. I bought the kit back when I realized how bad my clamp bushing was and I was just going to replace it but then I got to looking at all the other bushings and they weren't too much better and my rack had some small leaks but nothing major so I put the job off for probably 2 years and I just now got around to changing it out. So I might not change any of them out except for the clamp bushing but there aren't really any surfaces to be lubricated that I know of. I had new Siberian bushings put in at a machine shop because I didn't have time to deal with pressing them out so I just gave them 80 bucks to swap all the bushings out and an hour later I had new bushings so I don't know why those would need lubricated because technically everything that touches metal has a metal sleeve. The only place I can possibly think of that touches metal would be on my jba upper control arms where the zerk fitting squeezes grease out but I usually use a molly grease for that. I've been doing that for the last 20K miles or so. Where else would be a place that I could use Grease? Because everything else uses a steel bushing doesn't directly touch anything rubber/ poly

 

I'm speaking in generalizations here, and only as a, "yo, here's a heads-up if you opt for a poly bushing", standard disclaimer after seeing so many people over the years get frustrated with noise. I think there's a time and a place for everything, but if nobody says anything, where does that leave you?

Gist is just that: Poly is stiffer and more prone to cracking. They're going to feel tighter, more responsive, but also more jarring when taking a hit, with more noise risk if you don't lube right. Rubber/OEM is softer, more supple, absorbs more shock, and will feel warmer overall, and is very resistant to cracking and fatigue, and rarely ever makes noise.

Some people will tell you rubber can feel "sloppy" compared to poly, which typically feels "tight". With steering rack specifically, some (tagging @Tundra2 here) didn't like how stiff it felt and went back to OEM/rubber.

Really, I think it's more about what you like. Poly is noisier in environments that see a ton of rotation/movement, like upper and lower control arm bushings. In places that don't see a ton, like on your rack, or swaybar links, probably not so much. So noise may not be an issue for you.

 

Gotcha. I just wanted to do whatever would be the best but with the explanations you have it makes me think that I really wouldn't be gaining a ton. East Tennessee environments really aren't that bad because we hardly ever salt our roads down here next to the Georgia Line like they do in the more Northern parts of the state and it never really gets that cold here either. So as far as durability I wouldn't super worry about it and honestly I'll probably wind up getting fabricated control arms later down the road so putting these Siberians in were just basically trying to replace the absolutely trashed Factory ones until I decide what I want to do long-term with the front suspension control arms etc. Everyone talked about Siberians so that's what I went with. The truck has over 400k on it and this is the first time any bushings have been touched so honestly I would say anything will be an improvement over what I had. Back when I bought the Red Energy bushings I had noticed a bunch of movement in my rack and people were talking up those bushings so I got them but now I'm only going to need the steering rack clamp bushing so I'll probably wind up throwing the rest of the bushing for sale on here or something because I likely won't need any more bushings for a long time. Couple years ago my mom bought a 06 DC with 70k on it and it was a Southern California truck that I flew out and drove back home and everything on it had been meticulously kept perfect and I couldn't believe how good the brakes and the steering was so that's what alerted me that basically I had a lot of work to do to get my truck back to factory feeling conditions.

 

Where did you get your Red Energy steering rack bushings?

 

1stgenoffroad I think. I get a lot of my stuff there but it's been a while. Since I have a new steering rack, I'll probably use the clamp bushing that's in the kit and then sell the rest of them. Since I'm not replacing my old ones.

 

The poly bushings made my truck feel very responsive, but it was way too responsive in my opinion. Made the truck very jerky

Your mileage may vary

 

PM me if you want to get rid of those rack bushings. I honestly rather like the soft, Cadillac-y steering my truck has with worn bushings but I have a busted outer tie rod end and some suspension work to do, so will be doing work down there anyway.

 

Same vibes here from both my trucks.

I have a brand new Toyota steering rack I intended to put on crackie, but never got to yet.

If I ever do, I'll report what the new rack bushings feel like versus old

 

I put on the full black (graphite?) Poly on mine and love the feel very much, no regrets here.

 

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Full red poly on mine. Feeeeeeeeels gooooooood to me.

 

I'll probably just keep the bushings that came in the new rack. Might not be worth swapping but I will probably pass along the red energy's that I'm not gonna use.