T.Com community unites, swaps steering rack in desert AMAZING

I did!

 

Yeah, I understand that for built Tundras, with all the reinforced parts that comprise an LT build, it’s the steering racks. So... gotta figure it out.

Edit: I’m studying what you posted; if those are stronger than stock, maybe mitigate this weakness.

 

Great read. Very cool.story.

 

I need some help with my cab bushing today. I start around noon

Yes, Bruce and I already looked into this. The problem is the input is offset. Howe will make one, but its a custom job, $4-5k plus fabrication to mount it. Packaging might be a problem too. Not much room. Might have to cut cross member out and make a new one or something. Its not something you can figure out until you commit to the job.

I'm not convinced its a "weak" component. I think its a "hit or miss" part. Most racks are good, some have weak seals. Ive seen 3 or 4 fail. The ones that fail all fail in the same way, the inner tie rod seals blow. My last rack had 70k very hard miles on it and no problems. I broke a couple teeth on it when I hit something wrong. It still worked, just made a click in a certain spot so I swapped it.

If your rack blows, you're not stuck on the trail. When it comes to carrying spare parts, you have the balance the size of the part, its value, and the difficulty of the repair. Everyone will have their own idea of how much weight to give these factors. For example, I carry a serpentine belt. Without one you'll be dead in the water. Plus, its small and light and easy to carry. Easy to swap too. A steering rack is heavy and big and where TF would you store it?? Not to mention its at least a 6 hour job, requires two men, and requires jack stands and a floor jack. Bottle jacks or hilifts wont work. Finally, if your rack blows, you're not dead in the water. You can still drive out. You'll lose your power steering pump by driving with no fluid, but at least you wont need a tow.

As much as it sucks to have a rack blow, carrying a spare doesnt make sense. Upgrading to a howe rack would be awesome, but cost prohibitive.

 

Great read. Glad it worked out and kudos to all that helped!

 

Had I known they could be as cheap as $750, I would’ve tried to work him over a little more. I was going in blind. I always try to talk the parts guy down. But if they’ve already jacked the price up significantly, they can easily drop a few bucks off to make you feel better. Then the consumer, not realizing that it was highly inflated to begin with. But when they know you need something and they have the only one, they’ve got you by the nuggets!

 

Dealers are crazy, the one I bought for Warren same day was $723.

 

I am for ever grateful for the SoCal members. The little 3 day 'baby-moon' vacation my wife and I planned while she was 30 weeks pregnant, turned into a 5 week stay after my wife developed complications and my son had to be delivered. we landed at midnight, at the hospital before 7am and he was delivered before 7pm. We were able to get into the Ronald McDonald House after 5-6 days. My wife started over producing milk to the point the hospitals both said we had to find somewhere else to store any more milk. Both @Sunnier and @sdde4n immediately offered up space in their garage for me to place a deep freezer to store the milk, @sdde4n worked a mile away from the hospital and he offered to transport the milk back home so I did not have to make the drive (allowing me to be next to my son). Every 4-5 days Sam and I met up so he could take another medium size box cooler of frozen milk to the deep freezer. Both Sam and Sunny took us to lunch a few times, which got my wife and I away from the hospital for an hour or two (we both really needed that). Sam, Sunny and Steve (@nishibot) planned a quick day trip off-road outing for us, even though they had just had a big off-road weekend 2 weeks earlier and had another coming up.
Some where in the 5 weeks, a SoCal group was having a monthy meet up to hang out and eat, so I went to get away for a few hours, got to meet @eccracer104 and @Spvrtan. During the 5 weeks I also talked with Keith aka @dirtydeeds and spent one evening at his place talking, having a drink, and going out in his 1st gen LT tundra. I needed the emotional distraction more so than my wife. The way everyone supported and helped us was incredible.
My son spent 89 days in the NICU between 3 hospitals and it has been almost a year now since he came home and he is doing great now.

 

Once I found out, it was quite disheartening. They definitely pulled one over on me. With tax it was going to be basically double that $723 mark. So I definitely thought I was getting a good deal when they knock 200 off the quoted price at the counter. That’s freaking robbery man!

 

Next time you’re out let’s skip the medical bits and go all in for fun. I’m excited to see you all, when you make it out next year!

 

Hey Sean, I appreciate all you did. Like I said, you gotta shop to find the cheaper price and that was not an option at the time. I needed "that" one, not something a little less expensive that might arrive 24 hrs later. It all worked out perfectly, Thanks

 

OK Aex, on my way. Sent from my Iphone. LOL
Actually, I can be there Monday.

 

you guys are awesome

 

Amazing. So happy to be part of this community when I see stories like this.

Please give me a minute to wipe my tears.

OK, I'm back

 

Im just playing warren...

If I do have you come over we'll be swapping a door LOL

 

Very cool story. Huge props to all of those involved. Nice job Everyone.

 

lol TJ

yeah those guys are 2 minutes from my house, I’ve taken my truck down to them and after some spirited discussion 5k$ is the starting price to get a custom rack made... at a minimum if they could do it... space is the Issue. We gone round and round about this topic sadly there is no easy fix,.. I’m on my 4th rack but since going LT and putting 50k + hard miles no issues I truly believe the rack problem is combined issue... bad manufacturing and certain kits add stress to them ie bds, fab tech etc. or unfortunately a little love tap from a rock wall in Warren’s case ... I’d love to come up w a long term solution and I still may work with Howe on this in the future but at 1k a rack I’ll stick w stock for now... one more and yes I could have paid for a Howe setup.. but again all depends on if it’s even possible w the space we have

 

It was crazy to see you guys working on that thing in the middle of nowhere. Me and @Porschetech29 @TheFreshMouse did not mind the night run to bring the rack out to you. Just wish we got to wheel with you guy more but like you said we need a do over trip haha .......... "T" = TRUCK GANG!!!!

 

It's like 1600 or 1800 psi I think. Not totally sure

From what I understand full hydro steering doesn't handle well on the street and can be dangerous. But I haven't done hard research on it

 

My wife has a 08 Scion XB, years ago when we got it I was quite surprised to find no power steering reservoir. So it must be electric assist. To be honest I haven’t really looked into it but the steering in that car is great. Is there a reason they don’t put this type of system on a truck?

 

I want to say it is fully electric. I looked all over that thing and could not find any type of reservoir. I guess it’s possible it could be electric with some type of hydraulic ram but, wouldn’t that need a reservoir LOL? That car is so low to the ground that I have not been under it other than to change the oil. They keep everything so tight It’s hard to get an idea what’s going on without getting it on some jackstands. It’s about to hit the 100 K mark and I’m due to change the manual transmission lube, coolant, hoses and serpentine belt. Hopefully I’ll get a better look at it then.

but still, I wonder why they haven’t implemented these electronic steering systems in trucks. Maybe it’s possible they aren’t up to the task of big wheels and heavy trucks. But it would seem like a really good idea if they could get it right.

 

Cool story. It's refreshing to hear about the positive side of people when all I see and read on the news is negative.

 

Yeah. Stop reading the news, spend more time wheeling....

 

Nice! I love less maintenance!