How To: Replace your own steering rack (2 Viewers)

[PabloCruise]

Now up to $55, but still available while most are only selling it w/ the high pressure line:

Sunsong North America 3402991 Power Steering Return Hose | eBay

This delivered quickly and fit reasonably well. The threaded fastener is a little different than factory. I took some pictures that I will post up.

My advice to anyone getting ready to replace the rack - order one of these ahead of time and have on hand before you start. Not having this and looking for it delayed my project. If the return line fights you at all, just cut it and move on, because you have the replacement on hand.

 

[PabloCruise]

I just wrote up this long how to for member who PMed me so i figured I may as well share it with the masses.

98 LC 200k seemingly well cared for miles, but this is def its first rack. Its now strictly for off road use.

This is not a 1 banana job. But anyone can do it with a day, maybe a friend, and some 4 letter words.

My dad was there as well as a friend that owed me from a couple weekends of working on his Disco, if he wasnt a good friend and didn't owe me some time he surely would have left half way through.

Tools:
metric wrenches
2ft of extensions
univesal joint(s)
good socket set
creativity
a friend
beer

Supplies:
-New Rack-Got mine from Toyota through a friend for $530 brand spankin new. Retail was $700+
-I also went ahead and did the poly bushings
-1 gallon of coolant
-1/2 quart of oil
-2 quarts of power steering fluid

I also did my ball joints while i was in there, and after all the challenges and cursing i got a little over taking pictures. I will post what i have but as other people do this job, please take pictures.

I did the ball joints WITHOUT a press, it is possible to do without messing anything up as long as you have a good sized hammer, sacrificial nut and a good pry bar set.


Alright, from memory here is the order of operations that worked for me strictly for the rack.
1 car in the air, tires off skidplates off(duh)


2 stare at it a long time and get the lay of the land in there.



3 remove the oil filter and housing. Be ready to catch about a half quart of oil, and half gallon of coolant. It will get everywhere, and it sucks.- there is a 14mm bolt 2 12mm bolts and 1 12mm nut that hold this adapter bracket to the block. These are accessed through the frame hole that the steering rack threads through on the drivers side. I used extensions, shallow sockets and a universal joint to get these off. Be creative, these are not fun bolts but by going from outside the frame rail they seemed easier. Carefully remove from the area and be sure to preserve the rubber gasket in there. If it removes easily and is still pliable reuse it. [UPDATE: after a long road trip and 2 days of wheeling this gasket is seeping oil, i tightened the bolts and it had no effect so put some thought in getting a new gasket!]I did and it sealed great(at first). There is a coolant inlet and outlet on the housing there are simple compression clams that just get slid down, and the rubber line gets pulled off, check to make sure these aren’t cracked.


4 remove the 10mm bolt that connects the rack to the steering column. May need to put the key in the ignition and rotate the wheel for easy access from below.


5 using a 17mm(I think) socket and 3/8 drive ratchet remove the forward hard line from the rack. Be ready for some fluid.


6 using a 10mm and ¼ drive ratchet remove the little bracket that holds stationary the 2 lines as they run across the front of the rack. You will know what I’m talking about when you get there.


7 guide the line that you had just removed down so the remaining fluid can drain. At this point you should have some nice open space to get to the rear line. Don’t attempt to remove it yet.


8 remove the 2 bolts that thread vertical on the rack. There are nuts and they will need to be held to remove these bolts. Easy money


9 there is a u bracket that holds the other side of the rack. The front one should be relatively easy. Use the tools you have to back this long bolt out. The back one is…not strait forward. I had the best luck with about 2 foot of extensions and a universal joint to get it off. Im including a link to the few pictures I did take and you will see what I’m talking about. Once broken loose, it becomes an easy job of bolt removal

look close and you can see where the socket is connected, and the top left of the photo you can see an extension. Also isllistrated here is the frame hole that i accessed the oil filter housing bolts from on the other side.



9a -remove the rear line with an open end wrench, this will take time, once it is broken loose it will be 1/4 turns

10 WITHOUT removing the tie rods from the upright, break the nut loose on the rack and twist the rack ends until it is no longer connected to the tie rod. Do this on both sides. With the rack still connected but loose from the steering wheel, turn the wheel all the way until it stops RIGHT. This will make the short end of the rack be on the drivers side.


11 Fenagle and disconnect the column from the rack, FORCE it passenger side with extreme prejudice until the end of the rack is out of its frame hole and the hard stuff is done.


12 go back in with the new rack again with it pushed all the way passenger to fit. Be sure to attach the old had line bracket to the new rack.



13 With the steering wheel strait, measure the rack from boot end to tip of the threaded end, make sure both ends are the same length and connect the steering column making sure the steering wheel is strait.


14 connect the rear line with the rack still loose. This will be a 17mm wrench doing 1/8 turns. With the rack loose, it makes things easier.


15 connect the front line


16 install the oil filter housing being sure not to pinch the gasket


17 bolt the rack down using the 4 bolts


18 connect the rack to the tie rods and make sure the flanged end of the nut is installed correctly that is used to tighten up the tie rods. Using your eyeball, make sure the toe is as close to 0 toe as possible and tighten nut down on tie rod


19 add steering fluid, add coolant at radiator, add ½ q of oil, start truck, add more steering fluid and coolant. Move the steering back and forth a few times. The pump will sound very unhappy but this will go away after a short drive when it works all the bubbles out.


20 skid plate


21 take it for an alignment AND ASK FOR 0 CAMBER, for some reason the book at the place I was taking it to required positive camber…nuts.

sorry for the lack of pictures, but this should get people going the right direction.

This thread inspired me to replace the rack in our 1999 LX470.
She has 167K miles on her.
The rack started leaking over the summer after we got back from the Black Hills Cruiser Classic. I saw the leak and then checked the front end for play. The DS inner end had quite a bit of play in it so I decided to replace the rack before the weather got cold.

I decided to replace the rack and the TREs. Total $ was $766.

I also replaced the oil filter as I always dent mine when I remove, plus a little bit of oil to top her off after I was finished.

After I failed to get the old low-pressure return line off, I bought a new one off eBay (see above) for ~$55. I think shipping was free. IMPORTANT - based on people's experience with this fitting, and my own personal experience, I would buy this at the same time you are buying the new rack. If the old line fights you at all, cut that mother off and save yourself the frustration I went through. Not being able to find a replacement locally caused delay in the job, and my wife had to drive something else. Save yourself the grief and just order this. If you do not need it - sell it in this thread and thank the stars for your great fortune!

I bought 1 quart of synthetic ATF and I will be darned if that entire quart wasn't the perfect amount for a new rack, new low-press hose and a completely cleaned and dry PS fluid reservoir - amazing.

Like I said this original work by @ENGINE er gave me the confidence to attempt this. That and reports of people paying $2k for the job. Since the original post lots of people have added to the wealth of information here. My only value-add are some photos and a fresh experience to write about.

1. IMPORTANT: the first thing to do is to drive the truck in a straight line and then tie off the steering wheel to the brake pedal so you can keep the cable reel straight and not worry about that. This makes it easier to get the new rack in centered.

 

[PabloCruise]

1. Chock a rear wheel.
2. Drop the front skid plate and belly pan.
3. Crack loose lug nuts on front wheels.
4. Lift the front with your floor jack, set her down on suitable jack stands.
5. Remove front wheel/tire assemblies
6. Put some penetrating oil on everything you will need to loosen:
   1. Jam nuts for TREs
   2. Low-pressure PS line fitting
   3. Steering column joint at the input shaft to the rack
   4. Castle nuts where TRE enters steering knuckle
7. Before you start taking things apart, count the number of threads on each side's inner end. This will help you get the toe-in close when you put the new rack and TREs on. I backed the jam nuts all the way off and counted threads between the jam nuts and the TRE. I counted about 10 threads on both sides. I was glad the thread count was the same on each side.

 

[PabloCruise]

Next up - remove the oil filter. With the engine lifting method you can leave the oil filter adapter on the engine and not mess with the o-ring or any loss of coolant.

 

[PabloCruise]

Now get yourself some room to work and remove the bolts from the DS engine mount. On my '99 LX, my mount sounded different than others. The rear nut spun loose, while the forward nut was welded to the mount.

I had to reach above the front part of the mount (from below) with a ratcheting 14mm wrench and remove the bolt. The rear nut could be spun loose from below - 14mm.

Once I had the bolts out, I used a scrap of 2x2 to lift the DS of the engine up. I used the floor jack and lifted right near the engine mount on the lip of the oil pan. Once I had the engine up high enough, I slipped a scrap of 2x2 in between the two halves of the engine mount. This way the jack was not supporting the engine weight.

 

[PabloCruise]

Now it is time to get to work.

Try not to break this plastic clip holding the tranny cooler line to the high-press steering line. I broke mine and will use a zip tie to get them secured to each other.

 

[PabloCruise]

On my truck, with the steering wheel in the straight ahead orientation, the bolt for the steering column was inserted from the top of the joint. The easiest thing will be to get the high and low pressure lines out of your way and remove this bolt from the top. With the engine lifted up you will have nice access from the front.

In this picture you can see that my rack was leaking from the input shaft. This may have helped me when separating the column from the rack?

 

[PabloCruise]

Loosening the high-pressure line was nice and easy - 17 mm socket on here and she loosens right up:

 

[PabloCruise]

Have your catch pan ready for the PS fluid ready when you remove the fitting for the high-press line.

Then disconnect the bracket that routes the high and low pressure lines so you can swing the high pressure line out of the way. 10mm bolt. More fluid will drain - be ready.

If your projects go like mine, at some point the catch pan for fluids will somehow get pushed out of the way and all the PS fluid will be on the driveway. Then you will wonder why you even bothered trying to catch the fluids.

 

[PabloCruise]

At this point you will want to be able to move the rack around to get your best shot at the low-pressure line fitting where it goes into the rack, so you must remove the rack mount bolts. The FSM says these are single use items. Perhaps they are torque-to-yield? I have read where others cleaned these up and put loctite on them as the new bolts have a thread coating.

In the first picture, you can see the vicinity of the front bolt that mount the rack to the crossmember on the driver side. The bolts are inserted from the bottom of the crossmember. There is a washer and nut on top. I think these were 17mm, or maybe 19mm...

On the passenger side of my '99, there is a U-shaped clamp that clamps down on the rack that you must loosen. With the lines removed from the bracket that routes them you can reach the front and rear bolt. The second picture shows me reaching the rear bolt with a breaker bar by reaching under the low-press hard line.

Design changed in 2003 I think, so those mount differently on the passenger side.

 

[PabloCruise]

Now the rack should move around on the top of the cross-member. And now it is time to deal with the low-press fitting. You will prevail, one way or another.

IF your efforts are thwarted, and you already ordered a replacement hose, then do not even slow down - grab the hacksaw and cut that little f'er right at the top of the fitting. If you didn't, I will show you what I attempted before I gave up in frustration.

First, I tried a crow's foot on the fitting. I had ran extensions up to the top, coming out between the radiator and the battery and tried a breaker bar. All I did was round the fittings. A crow's foot tubing wrench might have been my path to honor and victory. Alas, I did not have one.

You might also try removing the rubber hose from the hard line and slipping a closed end wrench (17mm) over the line. A ratcheting wrench might be even better.

Like I said, I ended up ordering a new line and waiting for it to arive. Once I had the replacement line in place, I cut the hard line at the fitting and pounded a 6-point socket on the fitting and twisted that little darling right off.

Originally I was wondering if you could get the rack out with the low-press hard line in place - I do not think you can. The factory fitting is pretty tall and sticks up. I think it interferes. Plus once you get this off you can reach behind the rack and disconnect the column from the front.

Second image shows where the low-press line transitions from hard line to rubber.

Remember, you will have to deal with the rubber line at the PS fluid reservoir if you are replacing the line.

 

[PabloCruise]

Now is a great time to remove the bolt for the steering column u-joint at the input shaft - 12mm.

You must get the bolt all the way out as the shaft has a groove in it that the bolt occupies.

The bolt looks like specialty hardware with a knurled portion - keep track of this!

Then I went underneath and pried on the column u-joint with my pickle fork, when I ran out of advantage with that I got a screw driver and just pounded that u-joint back until she was free. Being able to move the rack to the passenger side will give you some room to get the column u-joint off at the rack.

Once I had the joint free, I saw the corrosion in the splines. A battery clamp cleaning brush fits in there nicely and can clean the splines with an in-and-out movement, not twisting.

 

[PabloCruise]

Now you have to separate the TREs from the inner ends of the rack. The inner ends take a 20mm wrench. The TREs take a 25mm or 1".

Mine were stuck pretty tight. I was able to spin the DS loose, the passenger side did not. I rounded the hex off the inner end on the pass side. I did not think this was going to prevent me from getting the old rack out though.

This meant I did have to separate the TRE from the steering knuckle. I know some folks re-used TREs. If I am replacing the rack, I am doing TREs. Just my preference. I struggled to separate the knuckle from the TRE - just about this entire project pissed me off. I could not get them loose with the BFH. Pickle fork FTW:

 

[PabloCruise]

You need the DS of the rack to be as short as possible to get this mother out. So push on the DS inner end of the rack until it cannot go in any further.

The engine will need to go higher than the 2x2 I had wedged in between the two halves of the engine mount. Jack the DS of the engine a little higher and all of the sudden - she is out! Amazing...

 

[PabloCruise]

Shiny new parts!

 

[PabloCruise]

While the engine is still lifted off the 2x2, press the DS inner end of your new rack all the way in, and stuff that mother in!

Then you can lower the engine down until the engine mount halves are resting on the 2x2 you have in between the 2 halves.

 

[PabloCruise]

Now the rack is still loose. Center it by measuring both ends until you are satisfied you cannot get it any closer.

The factory manual says you must center the rack w/in 3mm (or 1/8th"). I got mine w/in 1/16th". I measured from the end of the boot to the tip of the inner end. For my rack I was centered when both sides were a 16th short of 10.5 inches. I guess that would be 10 & 7/16ths...

 

[PabloCruise]

With the rack still loose, and your steering wheel straight, connect the column u-joint to the input shaft on your new rack! Tighten up.

Again, take the time to center that rack! My friend did not have his centered and had to true things up at the TREs. His alignment shop did not like this, but he got it done. Now he can turn more one side then the other. Also, make sure the wheel is straight ahead after you put all that work into centering the rack. I had my sit in the truck and hold the wheel in the straight ahead position. If you have no significant other (SO) to help, maybe your dog can? If you have no SO and no dog, pause and reflect on your life...

Now you can install your low-press return line - either the old one you removed successfully, or the new one.

The $55 version was fine. The fitting is a little different, but the hard line was close enough:

 

[PabloCruise]

1. Now tighten the rack down before the high pressure line.
2. The manual states the bolts must be replaced. I put blue loctite on them and tightened them up to torque spec. The manual says torque to 74 ft-lbs.
3. I used a poly bushing at the U-clamp. The old bushings were fine in my rack, so I just left the OEM bushings in the new rack.
4. Then install the high pressure line. I flipped the little washer assembly over to get a better crush - sorry no picture.
5. Secure the high and low pressure lines with the locating bracket pictured earlier.

 

[PabloCruise]

Since I did not get the pass side TRE off, I needed a new jam nut for that side. Toyota sells a set: