I did this over the last three days (kind of.)
I had a suspect inner tie rod on an original steering rack on my 2006 GX470 with 185000 miles, a filthy reservoir, and a desire to not touch the front end again for a long time. I recently replaced the LCA bushings with toyota ones, 555 lower ball joints, all Toyota KDSS bushings, and Dobinsons UCA. I did Dobinsons IMS front struts about 3 years ago and hope they have a lot of life in them yet.
I ordered the following parts:
www.toyotapartsdeal.com
90119-14138 Genuine Toyota Bolt, w/Washer - https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~bolt~w~washer~90119-14138.html x2
90178-A0058 Genuine Toyota Nut, FLANGE - https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~nut~flange~90178-a0058.html x2
www.toyotapartsdeal.com
You also need a 9/16 drill bit or reamer, and a 17mm or 11/16 crowsfoot. I might have never got the intermediate steering shaft off without my air hammer.
I did this on jack stands in my driveway. More than anything it was an exercise in being patient when trying to get the intermediate shaft off, and the rack in and out. Wheels off, KDSS sway removed.
I took both outer tie rods off from the start, the passenger one could probably stay but it took a minute and made things easier.
I removed the high pressure line first, this is probably the worst one. DO NOT try it with a normal wrench, you're way too likely to round it. Use the crowsfoot here. A flare nut wrench would not line up in my efforts.
Once the two lines were off, I went at the intermediate shaft. I used some heat, but I think the air hammer was what worked.
Then the two bolts. I put a bottle jack under the oil pan and relieved some pressure on the engine. I also unbolted the front diff supports and let it hang down some. I also removed the oil filter for room.
Turn the rack all the way to the passenger side, twist, pull, push it far enough over to pull the drivers side out of the tunnel, and that's the hardest part of the removal.
To replace, I unbolted a few metal wire clip points hanging down by the front of the engine, you may or may not find this useful. I think unbolting a motor mount or both to raise the motor would be the most effective.
The GX460 rack is slightly bigger all around, and the bolts are bigger. This is where you use your reamer or drill bit to open up the holes. My first expensive drill bit broke within seconds, the guy at the store said it was my fault as "it's impossible to drill mild steel out from 7/16 to 9/16 with a drill bit." But, I did it with a much cheaper dewalt bit from home depot, so I dunno. Lots of people on GXOR reported doing it with a normal drill bit too.
Getting the rack back in place was suuuuuper frustrating, but once you find just the right orientation it just kind of rolls in. The KDSS ram on my truck was a major obstacle that most of you won't have to contend with. Eventually I zap strapped it to the rad support and that helped a bit.
I drove the bolts up from the bottom after wasting some time trying to figure out how to tetris them in from the top.
Reassembly from there is just reverse, I did a toe alignment with the wheels in the air and piece of string ran front to back of the truck, index of the hubs with a micrometer to align. I think I got it pretty close. Certainly well enough to go get my alignment in a few days.
Given that the 460 rack can be found for around 700 bucks and is heavier duty all around I think it's worth doing. Perhaps worth paying someone, I was also chasing a squeak in my front end while doing this so I can't say the exact amount of time, but I think I was about 8 hours into it, that's including changing the reservoir. I've heard of people doing it in 3-4, and perhaps if you started with just lifting the motor to maximize space, you have really good spatial reasoning and essentially roll the rack in and out, and you don't run into miserably stuck parts like the intermediate steering shaft, it would be possible.
I've seen some bizarro videos with people disconnecting coolant lines, removing the driver's inner tie rod, etc but none of that is needed. I didn't really want to tear the inner tie rod off of a brand new toyota rack.
I had a suspect inner tie rod on an original steering rack on my 2006 GX470 with 185000 miles, a filthy reservoir, and a desire to not touch the front end again for a long time. I recently replaced the LCA bushings with toyota ones, 555 lower ball joints, all Toyota KDSS bushings, and Dobinsons UCA. I did Dobinsons IMS front struts about 3 years ago and hope they have a lot of life in them yet.
I ordered the following parts:
44200-60223 Genuine Toyota Link Assembly, Power Ste
ToyotaPartsDeal.com offers the great deal for genuine Toyota parts 44200-60223 (4420060223) Link Assembly, Power Ste for $745.21. All parts are backed by the Toyota's warranty.
www.toyotapartsdeal.com
90119-14138 Genuine Toyota Bolt, w/Washer - https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~bolt~w~washer~90119-14138.html x2
90178-A0058 Genuine Toyota Nut, FLANGE - https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~nut~flange~90178-a0058.html x2
44360-35170 Genuine Toyota Reservoir Assy, Vane Pump Oil
ToyotaPartsDeal.com offers the great deal for genuine Toyota parts 44360-35170 (4436035170) Reservoir Assy, Vane Pump Oil for $156.23. All parts are backed by the Toyota's warranty.
www.toyotapartsdeal.com
You also need a 9/16 drill bit or reamer, and a 17mm or 11/16 crowsfoot. I might have never got the intermediate steering shaft off without my air hammer.
I did this on jack stands in my driveway. More than anything it was an exercise in being patient when trying to get the intermediate shaft off, and the rack in and out. Wheels off, KDSS sway removed.
I took both outer tie rods off from the start, the passenger one could probably stay but it took a minute and made things easier.
I removed the high pressure line first, this is probably the worst one. DO NOT try it with a normal wrench, you're way too likely to round it. Use the crowsfoot here. A flare nut wrench would not line up in my efforts.
Once the two lines were off, I went at the intermediate shaft. I used some heat, but I think the air hammer was what worked.
Then the two bolts. I put a bottle jack under the oil pan and relieved some pressure on the engine. I also unbolted the front diff supports and let it hang down some. I also removed the oil filter for room.
Turn the rack all the way to the passenger side, twist, pull, push it far enough over to pull the drivers side out of the tunnel, and that's the hardest part of the removal.
To replace, I unbolted a few metal wire clip points hanging down by the front of the engine, you may or may not find this useful. I think unbolting a motor mount or both to raise the motor would be the most effective.
The GX460 rack is slightly bigger all around, and the bolts are bigger. This is where you use your reamer or drill bit to open up the holes. My first expensive drill bit broke within seconds, the guy at the store said it was my fault as "it's impossible to drill mild steel out from 7/16 to 9/16 with a drill bit." But, I did it with a much cheaper dewalt bit from home depot, so I dunno. Lots of people on GXOR reported doing it with a normal drill bit too.
Getting the rack back in place was suuuuuper frustrating, but once you find just the right orientation it just kind of rolls in. The KDSS ram on my truck was a major obstacle that most of you won't have to contend with. Eventually I zap strapped it to the rad support and that helped a bit.
I drove the bolts up from the bottom after wasting some time trying to figure out how to tetris them in from the top.
Reassembly from there is just reverse, I did a toe alignment with the wheels in the air and piece of string ran front to back of the truck, index of the hubs with a micrometer to align. I think I got it pretty close. Certainly well enough to go get my alignment in a few days.
Given that the 460 rack can be found for around 700 bucks and is heavier duty all around I think it's worth doing. Perhaps worth paying someone, I was also chasing a squeak in my front end while doing this so I can't say the exact amount of time, but I think I was about 8 hours into it, that's including changing the reservoir. I've heard of people doing it in 3-4, and perhaps if you started with just lifting the motor to maximize space, you have really good spatial reasoning and essentially roll the rack in and out, and you don't run into miserably stuck parts like the intermediate steering shaft, it would be possible.
I've seen some bizarro videos with people disconnecting coolant lines, removing the driver's inner tie rod, etc but none of that is needed. I didn't really want to tear the inner tie rod off of a brand new toyota rack.
