2012 Tundra Steering Rack (2 Viewers)

[cooziecup]

Long time lurker/member. Rarely a contributor...

I have looked and looked, here and elsewhere, and turn up little information outside of steering rack bushings... There's a question/request for insight coming. But first, let me explain my sitch...

Recently, I have a new to me 2012 Crewmax TRD Offroad. 130,xxx miles, really good shape (or so I thought). Immediately after purchase, I had 6112/5160 installed front/rear and lifted the front to the second position. Basically, it is leveled with a very slight forward rake. Stock wheels and 285/75/18 Open Country AT III. The truck drives great, tracks well, aligned pretty well perfectly.

Shortly after the lift was installed the original steering rack quite literally exploded and resulted in a failed power steering pump. Had the same shop that did the suspension install a new rack, pump (both Napa Gold), and 555 outer tie rods (all with a 3-year warranty that the shop will honor). All was well for about a week. Then, I started to hear/feel a mechanical 'clunk' at both ends of the steering range (does this make sense?). This was happening when the truck was stationary; like in a parking lot, etc. Took it back to the shop and it was determined that the mounting bolts were not buttoned down tight enough and the rack was shifting when turning left/right causing the 'clunk'. Anyways, the bolts got re-tightened, re-aligned, bolts paint-marked, and returned home. Not 10 days later, the damn mechanical 'clunk' returned! Took it back to the shop, checked the paint marks (they hadn't moved), tightened the mounting bolts (again), re-aligned, returned home. Now, I'm paranoid just waiting for the next instance of this 'clunk' to show up again. I'm afraid to turn the wheels much past 90º on either side.

The shop guys tell me torque spec for the bolts is something like, 89 ft/lbs, but that the bolts are awkwardly placed and getting a torque (or any) wrench in there to apply that amount of force is challenging. This last time around they told me that they really put their back into tightening the bolts. But, I'm hesitant to drive this truck for fear of ending up in a CHiPs-style fiery car wreck.

An aside: I understand that Toyota Service calls for removing the engine in order to replace the steering rack to the tune of somewhere around 13 to 14 hours of labor. The shop didn't do this and charged me somewhere around 6 hours, instead.

Now for questions/request for insight:

Would a faulty (new) aftermarket rack cause a mechanical 'clunk' within the range of steering from center to the left/right limit?
Could this 'clunk' be related to over or under tightened inner/outer tie rods? Or some other component?
Do I take the truck to another shop for a 2nd opinion? How do I describe/ask for help if I end up at another shop? (I really don't want to have to spend more time/money, but will if I have to...)

I think this covers my dilemma and hope that there might be someone out there with deeper knowledge to share. Thanks for reading and for any positive/constructive insight!

 

[Jgrauman]

Long time lurker/member. Rarely a contributor...

I have looked and looked, here and elsewhere, and turn up little information outside of steering rack bushings... There's a question/request for insight coming. But first, let me explain my sitch...

Recently, I have a new to me 2012 Crewmax TRD Offroad. 130,xxx miles, really good shape (or so I thought). Immediately after purchase, I had 6112/5160 installed front/rear and lifted the front to the second position. Basically, it is leveled with a very slight forward rake. Stock wheels and 285/75/18 Open Country AT III. The truck drives great, tracks well, aligned pretty well perfectly.

Shortly after the lift was installed the original steering rack quite literally exploded and resulted in a failed power steering pump. Had the same shop that did the suspension install a new rack, pump (both Napa Gold), and 555 outer tie rods (all with a 3-year warranty that the shop will honor). All was well for about a week. Then, I started to hear/feel a mechanical 'clunk' at both ends of the steering range (does this make sense?). This was happening when the truck was stationary; like in a parking lot, etc. Took it back to the shop and it was determined that the mounting bolts were not buttoned down tight enough and the rack was shifting when turning left/right causing the 'clunk'. Anyways, the bolts got re-tightened, re-aligned, bolts paint-marked, and returned home. Not 10 days later, the damn mechanical 'clunk' returned! Took it back to the shop, checked the paint marks (they hadn't moved), tightened the mounting bolts (again), re-aligned, returned home. Now, I'm paranoid just waiting for the next instance of this 'clunk' to show up again. I'm afraid to turn the wheels much past 90º on either side.

The shop guys tell me torque spec for the bolts is something like, 89 ft/lbs, but that the bolts are awkwardly placed and getting a torque (or any) wrench in there to apply that amount of force is challenging. This last time around they told me that they really put their back into tightening the bolts. But, I'm hesitant to drive this truck for fear of ending up in a CHiPs-style fiery car wreck.

An aside: I understand that Toyota Service calls for removing the engine in order to replace the steering rack to the tune of somewhere around 13 to 14 hours of labor. The shop didn't do this and charged me somewhere around 6 hours, instead.

Now for questions/request for insight:

Would a faulty (new) aftermarket rack cause a mechanical 'clunk' within the range of steering from center to the left/right limit?
Could this 'clunk' be related to over or under tightened inner/outer tie rods? Or some other component?
Do I take the truck to another shop for a 2nd opinion? How do I describe/ask for help if I end up at another shop? (I really don't want to have to spend more time/money, but will if I have to...)

I think this covers my dilemma and hope that there might be someone out there with deeper knowledge to share. Thanks for reading and for any positive/constructive insight!

View attachment 3483693

Had the paint makers showed that it had loosened? The top bolt is pretty impossible to get a torque wrench on I agree. But you can get it plenty tight. If it loosened up, have them put lock tight on it. If it's a 3 year warranty, hold them to the work if it happens again.

 

[cooziecup]

Had the paint makers showed that it had loosened? The top bolt is pretty impossible to get a torque wrench on I agree. But you can get it plenty tight. If it loosened up, have them put lock tight on it. If it's a 3 year warranty, hold them to the work if it happens again.

Thank you for your reply. No, the paint mark did not indicate any movement, so they went back and put another uggah duggah to the bolts. Not sure if they added the Loctite, or not. Worth a call to them to double check. I s'pose if/when (I tend to be a cynic) it happens again, I may have them replace with OEM and pay the difference.

Plus, the tech who did most, if not all, of the work on the truck was not paying super close attention to detail; so I expect that may have had something to do with it.

 

[Jetboy]

It's unusual to have a steering rack move after being tightened. It's possible they didn't get it buttoned down well. But it could be half a dozen other suspension parts that are moving as well. I wouldn't be afraid to drive it. It would be pretty unusual to lose all steering even with a bolt coming loose on the rack.

I would be double checking the upper and lower control arm mounts and the ball joints as well for loose bolts. Those may all have been loosened while working on it. On my 5th Gen 4Runner the passenger side upper control arm through bolt had a tendency to want to work its way loose over time. I have no idea why, but it did that twice and developed a clunk before I finally added Loctite and swapped on a nylon locking nut to keep it from freeing up. I think the issue was having longer travel shocks ended up swinging the arm through a longer range of motion that then had enough torque on the bushings to slightly start spinning the through bolt. On the driver's side it was probably working to tighten it while it was loosening the pass side.

 

[cooziecup]

It's unusual to have a steering rack move after being tightened. It's possible they didn't get it buttoned down well. But it could be half a dozen other suspension parts that are moving as well. I wouldn't be afraid to drive it. It would be pretty unusual to lose all steering even with a bolt coming loose on the rack.

I would be double checking the upper and lower control arm mounts and the ball joints as well for loose bolts. Those may all have been loosened while working on it. On my 5th Gen 4Runner the passenger side upper control arm through bolt had a tendency to want to work its way loose over time. I have no idea why, but it did that twice and developed a clunk before I finally added Loctite and swapped on a nylon locking nut to keep it from freeing up. I think the issue was having longer travel shocks ended up swinging the arm through a longer range of motion that then had enough torque on the bushings to slightly start spinning the through bolt. On the driver's side it was probably working to tighten it while it was loosening the pass side.

That makes sense! Thank you for your insight. I will poke around and see what I can tighten (outside of the rack mounting bolts).

 

[Jetboy]

Probably also worth taking a look at the steering rod ends to make sure they haven't moved or come loose or something. It's possible that something was installed and worked loose there. There's basically the following possible places for a clunk to check;

Wheel bearing (unlikely but ??)
Something odd with the CV axles - also unusual for a clunk.
Upper and lower ball joints,
upper and lower control arm mounts - upper is a single long through bolt, lower has two cam mechanisms that need to be really tight - 250ft/lbs
Also take a look at the rubber bushings on those joints, they can wear out.
The front sway bar bushings and end links can make noise if they're worn out.
And the steering system from the rack mounting all the way out to the tie rod ends.
Shocks - are the lower shock eye bolts tight, are the bushings and whatever washers and spacers they use all installed correctly? Same at the top of the shocks - take a close look at the shock mounts on top. Just to make sure everything is tight.

I think that's probably about everything in there that would potentially make a clunking noise during cornering.

One other random outside thought is to look at the front differential. If they moved it for some reason it could be loose in its location and bounce around and make noise. I'd say it's very unlikely, but not impossible to happen.

 

[cooziecup]

Probably also worth taking a look at the steering rod ends to make sure they haven't moved or come loose or something. It's possible that something was installed and worked loose there. There's basically the following possible places for a clunk to check;

Wheel bearing (unlikely but ??)
Something odd with the CV axles - also unusual for a clunk.
Upper and lower ball joints,
upper and lower control arm mounts - upper is a single long through bolt, lower has two cam mechanisms that need to be really tight - 250ft/lbs
Also take a look at the rubber bushings on those joints, they can wear out.
The front sway bar bushings and end links can make noise if they're worn out.
And the steering system from the rack mounting all the way out to the tie rod ends.
Shocks - are the lower shock eye bolts tight, are the bushings and whatever washers and spacers they use all installed correctly? Same at the top of the shocks - take a close look at the shock mounts on top. Just to make sure everything is tight.

I think that's probably about everything in there that would potentially make a clunking noise during cornering.

One other random outside thought is to look at the front differential. If they moved it for some reason it could be loose in its location and bounce around and make noise. I'd say it's very unlikely, but not impossible to happen.

Some homework. Thank you for the insightful comment!

 

[cooziecup]

Long time lurker/member. Rarely a contributor...

I have looked and looked, here and elsewhere, and turn up little information outside of steering rack bushings... There's a question/request for insight coming. But first, let me explain my sitch...

Recently, I have a new to me 2012 Crewmax TRD Offroad. 130,xxx miles, really good shape (or so I thought). Immediately after purchase, I had 6112/5160 installed front/rear and lifted the front to the second position. Basically, it is leveled with a very slight forward rake. Stock wheels and 285/75/18 Open Country AT III. The truck drives great, tracks well, aligned pretty well perfectly.

Shortly after the lift was installed the original steering rack quite literally exploded and resulted in a failed power steering pump. Had the same shop that did the suspension install a new rack, pump (both Napa Gold), and 555 outer tie rods (all with a 3-year warranty that the shop will honor). All was well for about a week. Then, I started to hear/feel a mechanical 'clunk' at both ends of the steering range (does this make sense?). This was happening when the truck was stationary; like in a parking lot, etc. Took it back to the shop and it was determined that the mounting bolts were not buttoned down tight enough and the rack was shifting when turning left/right causing the 'clunk'. Anyways, the bolts got re-tightened, re-aligned, bolts paint-marked, and returned home. Not 10 days later, the damn mechanical 'clunk' returned! Took it back to the shop, checked the paint marks (they hadn't moved), tightened the mounting bolts (again), re-aligned, returned home. Now, I'm paranoid just waiting for the next instance of this 'clunk' to show up again. I'm afraid to turn the wheels much past 90º on either side.

The shop guys tell me torque spec for the bolts is something like, 89 ft/lbs, but that the bolts are awkwardly placed and getting a torque (or any) wrench in there to apply that amount of force is challenging. This last time around they told me that they really put their back into tightening the bolts. But, I'm hesitant to drive this truck for fear of ending up in a CHiPs-style fiery car wreck.

An aside: I understand that Toyota Service calls for removing the engine in order to replace the steering rack to the tune of somewhere around 13 to 14 hours of labor. The shop didn't do this and charged me somewhere around 6 hours, instead.

Now for questions/request for insight:

Would a faulty (new) aftermarket rack cause a mechanical 'clunk' within the range of steering from center to the left/right limit?
Could this 'clunk' be related to over or under tightened inner/outer tie rods? Or some other component?
Do I take the truck to another shop for a 2nd opinion? How do I describe/ask for help if I end up at another shop? (I really don't want to have to spend more time/money, but will if I have to...)

I think this covers my dilemma and hope that there might be someone out there with deeper knowledge to share. Thanks for reading and for any positive/constructive insight!

View attachment 3483693

UPDATE:

Found the source of one gremlin this morning... One of the techs left behind a 12mm ratcheting wrench in the driver's front bumper/fender liner. Discovered it while examining some unhappy tie rod ends (brand new 555s) which will be replaced under warranty. Pretty funny to crawl under the front end and notice a bright wrench poking through the drain hole of the fender liner! One "clunk" down - wonder if there are any others.