How To: Replace your own steering rack (3 Viewers)

[Eyedaho]

View attachment 2802078

Toyota Genuine Parts - Toyota Salinas

At Toyota Salinas we stock Toyota Genuine Parts designed specifically for your vehicle. Whether you are looking for wiper blades for your Toyota, cabin air filters for a Camry or timing belts for older Toyota vehicles, our team of trained Toyota parts experts are ready to help you find the right...

www.salinastoyota.com

See post directly above. It looks to me like that's not their online store, and it looks like that part number is superceded. It doesn't matter at all to me, but I'm trying to help someone save a few hundred bucks.

OP, cancel your order and look at the post above.

 

[medtro]

See post directly above. It looks to me like that's not their online store, and it looks like that part number is superceded. It doesn't matter at all to me, but I'm trying to help someone save a few hundred bucks.

OP, cancel your order and look at the post above.

Just wanted to show where I got the number. I didn't want you to think I made that up.

 

[Eyedaho]

Just wanted to show where I got the number. I didn't want you to think I made that up.

Oh, haha. Fair enough. Sorry for being grumpy!

 

[Eyedaho]

Oh, haha. Fair enough. Sorry for being grumpy!

I know my local car dealers seem to have outward facing websites with cheeper prices, but I can't order from them and pick it up there. It seems like they firewall the inward and outward facing prices so people can't get a discount when they're buying parts in the service department, but they can still get a slice of the online market.

 

[MarkTR]

View attachment 2802078

Toyota Genuine Parts - Toyota Salinas

At Toyota Salinas we stock Toyota Genuine Parts designed specifically for your vehicle. Whether you are looking for wiper blades for your Toyota, cabin air filters for a Camry or timing belts for older Toyota vehicles, our team of trained Toyota parts experts are ready to help you find the right...

www.salinastoyota.com

When I bought my cooling hoses and Tee last month, they were running Free Shipping over $75--- checked their website today to buy my rack and the free shipping was gone. Timing is everything.

 

[Eyedaho]

.

 

[Eyedaho]

Make sure you're on the parts.salinastoyoya.com site. That's what I see right now when I look at it

 

[xenon]

Finally got the rack installed. Everything went pretty much textbook, even to breaking the old T's. Test drove it and steering wheel is about 20 degrees of center to the left. Checked the lock to lock, and I have 1 & 3/4 to the left, and 2 & 1/4 to the right.
Can this be corrected by taking out all three intermediate shaft bolts, removing the bottom joint, turn to the right and reinstall? I could not get the shaft to turn when I did the original install.

 

[Eyedaho]

Finally got the rack installed. Everything went pretty much textbook, even to breaking the old T's. Test drove it and steering wheel is about 20 degrees of center to the left. Checked the lock to lock, and I have 1 & 3/4 to the left, and 2 & 1/4 to the right.
Can this be corrected by taking out all three intermediate shaft bolts, removing the bottom joint, turn to the right and reinstall? I could not get the shaft to turn when I did the original install.

I don't know what year your rig is, but on my non-VGRS '99 LC, all I had to do was pull the steering wheel off, recenter it, and follow the directions printed on the airbag clock spring to align it. It took me maybe ten minutes tops, and only because my GF was distracting me. I imagine it's more complicated on a newer rig, if the work that I have done on my GF's newer 4Runner is any indication.

 

[Red Beard]

Finally got the rack installed. Everything went pretty much textbook, even to breaking the old T's. Test drove it and steering wheel is about 20 degrees of center to the left. Checked the lock to lock, and I have 1 & 3/4 to the left, and 2 & 1/4 to the right.
Can this be corrected by taking out all three intermediate shaft bolts, removing the bottom joint, turn to the right and reinstall? I could not get the shaft to turn when I did the original install.

I removed the shaft at the rack, turned the shaft very very slowly either clockwise or counter clockwise and reattached to the rack.

Put a paper towel over my hands and then checked the turns at the wheel to make sure it was equal. I think this method took me all of 5 minutes until I got it.

 

[xenon]

Thanks for the responses. My concern was that in order to remove the shaft I would have to go back and unbolt the rack or raise the engine. Probably better to work with the shaft as I would be less prone to breaking something than if I attacked the steering wheel.

 

[Trukdiver]

I have to do this job on a 99 and an 04. I fear it. Thank you for the instructions.

 

[PabloCruise]

Finally got the rack installed. Everything went pretty much textbook, even to breaking the old T's. Test drove it and steering wheel is about 20 degrees of center to the left. Checked the lock to lock, and I have 1 & 3/4 to the left, and 2 & 1/4 to the right.
Can this be corrected by taking out all three intermediate shaft bolts, removing the bottom joint, turn to the right and reinstall? I could not get the shaft to turn when I did the original install.

Your best bet is to center the rack before you reconnect the steering column.
Just takes an extra minute…

 

[PabloCruise]

I have to do this job on a 99 and an 04. I fear it. Thank you for the instructions.

No man, you got this.
The worst part will be reading through this thread!

 

[Trukdiver]

No man, you got this.
The worst part will be reading through this thread!

Thanks for the encouragement! But first LBJs.

Noticed you're in Northern CO. We're trying to decide which of the 100s to drive from NJ to WY for a month long stay in WY. 11/21-12/21.
2004 with leaking steering rack (not horrible yet) - 225K miles
1999 with a steering rack thats thinking about leaking (AT-205 seems to have worked for now) - 243K miles

 

[PabloCruise]

I know my rack was leaking for a while (out the sector shaft) before I replaced it.

Which one is more comfy? That sounds like a long trip!

Does the '04 have 5-speed tranny? I might be tempted to go that route, unless you like the '99 better!

Where are you going in Wyo?

 

[jbee]

OEM racks are 800 now? I think I paid ~550. I can answer you this way: I have a reman'd sitting in my garage because I bought one then decided against it. This is the worst thing I have replaced on the entire vehicle, if it died in a yr and I had to do it again because of the reman'd rack I'd want to murder someone.

Which leads me to the second part. I'd pay 700 FOR SURE.

Reman toyota rack is still $335 several places on the web. Here's one.

Genuine OEM Gear Assembly Power Ste Part# 44250-60050-84 Fits Earnhardt Toyota Scion Parts

44250-60050-84 - Gear Assembly Power Ste

parts.earnhardttoyota.com

 

[90WT]

FWIW
Priced one for my 06 LX470. Part number 44250 60120. MSRP is $1303. Dealer mentioned a new part number for this rig which required new outer tire rod ends to be replaced with the rack. MSRP $81.70 each for TREs.

Guess I'll figure out which arm or which leg I don't need...

 

[MarkTR]

FWIW
Priced one for my 06 LX470. Part number 44250 60120. MSRP is $1303. Dealer mentioned a new part number for this rig which required new outer tire rod ends to be replaced with the rack. MSRP $81.70 each for TREs.

Guess I'll figure out which arm or which leg I don't need...

Did he mention what was different about the newer TRE? Do you have the new part numbers? I just bought 45047-69115 and 45046-69205 in anticipation of having to install a new steering rack (44250-60120) in my '5 LX470.

 

[90WT]

Did he mention what was different about the newer TRE? Do you have the new part numbers? I just bought 45047-69115 and 45046-69205 in anticipation of having to install a new steering rack (44250-60120) in my '5 LX470.

He didn't know what the actual difference was in the two racks to require the new part number and new TREs.
The part numbers you list for TREs are the same I got.