Rack and Pinion or Alignment?

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CWR33

CWR33

10 Year
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Threads
41
Messages
451
Location
Dallas Texas
So I'm feeling a lot of play in my steering. A mechanic who hadn't even driven the car listened to my description and suggested that it could be the rack. Hopefully it's just an
alignment . But has anybody had any problems with there rack and pinion on a 100 series?
 
Shotts went through three or four of them but he did things with his 100 that are superhuman and all his buddies agreed that he was the best offroad driver in the history of motor vehicles.

But seriously, he did go through a few racks. I have heard spotted reports of them failing but those were from people who really pushed their vehicles. From what I know about your rig, I will take a wild stab in the dark and say it is not your steering rack.

Start with bushings and alignment. Probably be a good idea to purchase a lifetime alignment as these rigs tend to be a little sensitive up front and as you start changing the front end, an alignment is a good thing to do just about every step of the way.
 
Funny, I had the same questions until I went to the shop. He put my rig on the rack and turned the wheel back and forth while I watched the Rack & Pinion move back and forth about 1/4" or more.

I need to change out the bushings that hold the rack in place, BEFORE I get it aligned.

Have a buddy turn the wheel and look at your R&P and see if there is play.
 
wesel123 said:
Funny, I had the same questions until I went to the shop. He put my rig on the rack and turned the wheel back and forth while I watched the Rack & Pinion move back and forth about 1/4" or more.

I need to change out the bushings that hold the rack in place, BEFORE I get it aligned.

Have a buddy turn the wheel and look at your R&P and see if there is play.
Click to expand...

This is common on tundras as well. I had to do mine because the rack would shift back n forth.
 
CWR33 said:
So I'm feeling a lot of play in my steering. A mechanic who hadn't even driven the car listened to my description and suggested that it could be the rack. Hopefully it's just an
alignment . But has anybody had any problems with there rack and pinion on a 100 series?
Click to expand...

wesel123 said:
Funny, I had the same questions until I went to the shop. He put my rig on the rack and turned the wheel back and forth while I watched the Rack & Pinion move back and forth about 1/4" or more.

I need to change out the bushings that hold the rack in place, BEFORE I get it aligned.

Have a buddy turn the wheel and look at your R&P and see if there is play.
Click to expand...

I am getting ready to replace mine. I have the same issue as you CWR33. The bushings are definitely shot. But here is the kicker.... On the older 100 series (98-?? not sure which year mine is a 00) the bushing design is such that you have to pull the entire rack to change the bushings. With that being what it is, far more benifitial to just replace the rack with new OEM and Poly bushings. You already have the rack out. Some time between 01-03 they changed the bushing design and I have seen a couple of people that were able to change the bushings without pulling the entire rack.

If you want to, you can change out the big D bushing on the PS. It is pretty easy to do and can be done in a couple hours. It can often time have the biggest impact along with rear control arms...I tried this first but it didnt help. I can actually pull chunks out of the DS bushings. The decision for me was pretty easy although not easy on the wallet. I am not sure if this is my first rack or not. Some one hit my car while it was parked a few years ago and the front DS wheel took most of the hit. Looking through the paper work, I cant tell for sure but it looks like they put in a reman rack.

Oh, one more thing... I ordered my rack from Beno. I have been waiting a few weeks for it now. It was on back order for over a month...
 
For future reference, what are the odds of actually breaking a rack on a daily driver slash occasional weekend warrior type of use? I mean do these things ever actually break down aside from leaking.

(now I know there could be a extremes with the weekend stuff but I'm not to crazy with my off roading right now due to a lack of armor)
 
I am by no means an expert on this. But with a stock rig and on road most of the time, I would expect the rack to last almost as long as the truck. These racks are really well built. Once you start lifting and venturing off road you will put more wear and tear on it. The higher you go up front the more wear. Something actually breaking is not that common. But you will get wear. Shotts went through 3-4 racks. But there is a lot more to it then that. He has his front in up to almost three inches and supposedly wheels it harder than most (I havnt wheeled with him personally to vouch for that). and probably other factors we are not aware of...

For reference I am at almost 150K on my rack and as I noted above, may have a reman rack in due to a front end accident. Is my rack shot??? I really cant say. But, it doesnt make sense to me to pull my rack, install the poly bushings, reinstall everything only to find out the rack is bad too and have to do it all over. This is the worst job on our rigs.
 
So I took it over to my friends shops and he drove it, said it was fine and that thats the way lifted vehicles handle. So I left and on the way home I mashed on the gas and it pulled me hard right. Other times I have had it pull me to the left, so im thinking its those bushings. Any one know where to get the instructions? I'll look for a previous thread.
 
CWR33 said:
So I took it over to my friends shops and he drove it, said it was fine and that thats the way lifted vehicles handle. So I left and on the way home I mashed on the gas and it pulled me hard right. Other times I have had it pull me to the left, so im thinking its those bushings. Any one know where to get the instructions? I'll look for a previous thread.
Click to expand...

Lower your front end. You don't have enough droop, this is causing the torque steer.
 
^Bingo! Whats your center of hub to bottom of fender measurement? Just for grins, did you check the outer tie rods?
 
CWR33 said:
So I took it over to my friends shops and he drove it, said it was fine and that thats the way lifted vehicles handle. So I left and on the way home I mashed on the gas and it pulled me hard right. Other times I have had it pull me to the left, so im thinking its those bushings. Any one know where to get the instructions? I'll look for a previous thread.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you may be lifted too high in the front. What are your center of hub to fender measurements? Once you start going over 2.5" up front, the handling and overall feel starts degrading at an exponential rate. Just to note, I also saw a torn CV boot a couple of days ago that resulted from a guy running the front way too high.

It may look cool up high but if you drop the front to 2.5" of lift or less, you will notice improvements all over the place in the front.
 
We just lowered the torsion bars last sunday by two turns on each side. I'll go measure it in a minute.
 
So i just ran out an measured, it was 21 inches from the center of the hub to the top of the wheel well, and only a half inch taller in the back. Ill make sure and crank it down some more before i leave for the jamboree tommorow. Thanks
 
You should be OK at those measurements. Many seem to think that 20.5" is about as high as you should safely go. My truck was pulling as you described until I got the front down to that measurement and it has been very stable ever since.

If it is still pulling you to the left and right, I am going back to bushings as a possible culprit.

Edit: I just checked a couple threads and the magic number appears to be 20.5" in the front. Sorry for the missinformation. If you ran 20.5" up front the rear would be at 21.5" giving you ideal rake. Even though it is just half and inch, it could go a long way in addressing your current situation.
 
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You want the front about 1" lower than the rear. You should also get an alignment after adjusting. To check the rack, lift the front tires off the ground. Have a friend grab at 3&9 and see if there play. Watch the rod ends and rack for movement.
 
Mxndrnks said:
You want the front about 1" lower than the rear. You should also get an alignment after adjusting. To check the rack, lift the front tires off the ground. Have a friend grab at 3&9 and see if there play. Watch the rod ends and rack for movement.
Click to expand...

Sounds good ill try it tommorow. Also big thanks Pfran. Ill keep you guys updated with a post tommorw after i make the adjustments.
 
No prob. Drop it a couple of turns, drive it around for a few miles doing hard stops to make the front dive, go over some speed bumps, come back and re-measure at all wheels. Keep doing this for a couple of days and fill the tank during this time if possible. You'll find that you get different measurements depending on fuel weight, what "level" surface you are on during the measurements, etc. I think I had around four different sets of measurements over the 2 days that I was dialing in the front. Eventually I started figuring out an "average" measurement at each wheel. My goal was to have the front measurements at 20.5" and I came within 1/8-1/4' of the target measurement.

I was a little bummed at the loss in height (compared to to my way-too-high 1st attempt at lifting the front), but the handling and geometry was so much better that I was pleased with the end result. Don't forget to get an alignment after you are finished playing around with 30mm sockets and tape measures. I prolonged my dial-in phase and completely blew right through a brand new set of very expensive tires. I basically flushed $600 worth of rubber down the drain.
 
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Alright sorry for the delay just got back from a weekend at the Lonestar Jamboree and i forgot to follow up, but we did adjust my t-bars and the problem went away. Big Thanks Guys!
 
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