So I recently had to replace the rack on my 2011 Tundra (blown outer seal) but didn’t find a lot of info on how to do it. From what I was able find sounded as it should be a dealer repair due to “Having to pull engine”. Here’s what I learned, for those that may need to ever do it, hopefully this’ll help.
Keeping all safety practices in mind;
Jack the front of the truck in order to remove the front wheels.
Remove wheels and any skid plate(s) you might have in the front.
Remove sway bar (I actually only removed the 4 bolts holding it to the frame and let it hang)
Remove the 2 hard lines from the rack (since you’re already down there).
Remove the 2 line supports connected to the rack.
Make sure your wheels are as straight as posible and secure the steering wheel somehow to prevent movement (I used the seatbelt)
Remove both lower tire rods from hub.
The following steps might be easier if you pulled the driver CV but I didn’t so I won’t even cover that process.
Remove the 2 bolts holding the rack assembly to the frame
Remove the 2 bolts, 1 top / 1 bottom, from the intermediate steering shaft and remove the shaft (not a whole bunch of room for hands but was able to accomplish it).
Remove the 4 lines from the steering gear (now you should be able to remove the hard lines completely).
Remove the 2 bolts holding the steering gear to the rack and remove the steering gear (again not much room to work).
There’s a bracket that needs to be removed also, (1 end has the -battery cable behind you’ll see it 2 bolts.
Remove the whole rack through the space on the passengers side of the truck.
Get it aligned after finished reassembly.
As the saying goes installation is the opposite of removal but I did learn a few tricks?
Get yourself 2 slightly longer bolts for the steering gear (it’ll help start walking it back into the rack).
If the rack moves while installing back in truck ( before putting the gear back in the rack), measure from the frame to the end of the inner tie rod & try to get as close to equal as possible on both sides.
I’m not a mechanic and may have done steps out of order or incorrectly but it did work for me! Sorry for no bolt sizes or torque specs or pictures, 1st time posting something hopefully helpful to someone!
Keeping all safety practices in mind;
Jack the front of the truck in order to remove the front wheels.
Remove wheels and any skid plate(s) you might have in the front.
Remove sway bar (I actually only removed the 4 bolts holding it to the frame and let it hang)
Remove the 2 hard lines from the rack (since you’re already down there).
Remove the 2 line supports connected to the rack.
Make sure your wheels are as straight as posible and secure the steering wheel somehow to prevent movement (I used the seatbelt)
Remove both lower tire rods from hub.
The following steps might be easier if you pulled the driver CV but I didn’t so I won’t even cover that process.
Remove the 2 bolts holding the rack assembly to the frame
Remove the 2 bolts, 1 top / 1 bottom, from the intermediate steering shaft and remove the shaft (not a whole bunch of room for hands but was able to accomplish it).
Remove the 4 lines from the steering gear (now you should be able to remove the hard lines completely).
Remove the 2 bolts holding the steering gear to the rack and remove the steering gear (again not much room to work).
There’s a bracket that needs to be removed also, (1 end has the -battery cable behind you’ll see it 2 bolts.
Remove the whole rack through the space on the passengers side of the truck.
Get it aligned after finished reassembly.
As the saying goes installation is the opposite of removal but I did learn a few tricks?
Get yourself 2 slightly longer bolts for the steering gear (it’ll help start walking it back into the rack).
If the rack moves while installing back in truck ( before putting the gear back in the rack), measure from the frame to the end of the inner tie rod & try to get as close to equal as possible on both sides.
I’m not a mechanic and may have done steps out of order or incorrectly but it did work for me! Sorry for no bolt sizes or torque specs or pictures, 1st time posting something hopefully helpful to someone!
