Steering column telescopic gear broken
- Thread starter Terry974
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Thing is it sounds like a lot of the stripped ones are in the Middle East.. so @NLXTACY will need to figure out how to market to those guys.
It's probably easy enough to just partner with a similar local vendor and sell them a box of parts they can resell. Or in this case given it's a lightweight piece of plastic or metal just ship it DHL.
There are a lot of DIYers on the forum and in truth it would be great if Wits End or another similar vendor was interested in 3D printing or machining the random parts that people come up with. Case in point:
- @TeCKis300 has designed a pretty cool cupholder insert, but not all of us have easy access to a 3D printer.
- @Oakleyguy has designed (and is still testing) a potential repair for the infamous broken cabin door arm that's inexpensive and easy to install.
- Obviously this particular plastic part has to be scanned first, which means not just needing a 3D printer or CNC mill but also the tools to get a high resolution scan.
I could be wrong, but I don't think Wit's End uses 3D printing except to prototype.
I'm not sure that matters to the gear - if it was me I'd rather have a machined one anyway.
It's always good to have a high quality option, since it is probably only a matter of time before we see the issue pop up more here.
My guess is that the prevalance of the issue in other parts of the world is probably related to sales volume of the LC. There are a lot more of them in general, so the volume of failed units is probably higher.
I'm not sure that matters to the gear - if it was me I'd rather have a machined one anyway.
It's always good to have a high quality option, since it is probably only a matter of time before we see the issue pop up more here.
My guess is that the prevalance of the issue in other parts of the world is probably related to sales volume of the LC. There are a lot more of them in general, so the volume of failed units is probably higher.
I will never sell a 3D printed part ever. Machined only.
The gear should absolutely positively NOT be made from metal.
My whole business is based around small batch issues
Did anyone ever end up making some of these gears? Having the same problem with my 2013 LX. Thanks!
I know this is an old thread, but I had the same issue on my LX570. Telescopic adjustment stoped working. Dealer quoted $3700 for steering wheel column replacement. Lol.
I ended up 3D printing a couple of gears for it and finally replaced it today. One gear was printed using a reinforced nylon and the second one was made out of titanium. It’s held in place by a 7mm nut. There are a couple of videos on youtube on how to install it.
I ended up 3D printing a couple of gears for it and finally replaced it today. One gear was printed using a reinforced nylon and the second one was made out of titanium. It’s held in place by a 7mm nut. There are a couple of videos on youtube on how to install it.
You can download the gear file from here:
cults3d.com
Install video:
Gear for adjusting the tilt and height of the steering column Toyota, Land Cruiser
Gear for adjusting the tilt and height of the steering wheel. Suitable for: Toyota Camry XV50, XV55 Land Cruiser LC 200
Install video:
Yes, you can 3D print this gear as long as you are willing to install it yourself. The installation is fairly simple. It took me around 40 minutes to install it.
Just attempted this repair, unfortunately it ended up not going so well.
After some struggling I eventually removed the panels under the steering wheel / disconnected the wires and moved the knee airbag out of the way. None of the videos regarding this repair are in English and they all seem to skip this step.
Anyways I figured it out and sure enough it was the same little gear that had broken into 3 pieces to undid the 7mm nut and got the broken remnants out. I initially 3d printed an ABS gear using the previously linked file and unfortunately that broke almost instantly to my surprise (the teeth broke off specifically). So I ended up upgrading my Bambu p1s extruder in order to print more abrasive but far stronger filaments and got a roll of carbon fiber reinforced nylon (Pa6-CF). That printed out with no issue.
I went back and installed the new gear and it seemed to be working more or less, but the telescoping would only extend if I had first run the motor all the way inwards first. So I couldn’t extend a bit, pause, and extend more. I would have to put it all the way forward before it would come out again.
So I removed the gear to check it and it was undamaged, but I didn’t notice that there was somehow still a broken remnant of the original factory gear that was still stuck deep in there, so I fished that out after a lot of struggling to get a hold of it.
Now finally I install the newly 3d printed nylon gear, tighten the nut down some, it’s functioning again but still acting funny and doesn’t seem to be getting full travel on the telescoping. It would stop moving at some points but the motor would still want to run a bit more before finally disengaging. I figured let me tighten the nut just a bit more and make sure the gear is making good contact and not slipping off. So I tighten it a bit more… run the telescoping and it seems to be working at least for the moment. I fully retract the steering wheel and and all of a sudden hear a metal clank of something falling onto the tools on the floorboard.
Well, the 7mm nut fell off along with a nice chunk of the entire bolt that it screws onto which sheared off inside it. Now there isn’t enough bolt left beyond the 3d printed gear to even secure the nut to, the gear is still stuck in place and won’t even come out off the sheared end of the bolt. But it does spin freely when the motor is activated, but of course isn’t grabbing the entire bolt tight enough without the nut being there to actually spin the bolt and move the steering wheel in/out.
So basically I ended up manually twisting the bolt further up with pliers and extend it to my driving position and it will at least for the time being stay there. My original plan was to fix the gear and then disable the auto-retract in tech stream anyways. So the steering column distance now being forever stuck is not that big of deal since I wasn’t planning on moving it anyways. But yeah it was a lot of fussing around in there trying to fix it for nothing at the end for eh day.
After some struggling I eventually removed the panels under the steering wheel / disconnected the wires and moved the knee airbag out of the way. None of the videos regarding this repair are in English and they all seem to skip this step.
Anyways I figured it out and sure enough it was the same little gear that had broken into 3 pieces to undid the 7mm nut and got the broken remnants out. I initially 3d printed an ABS gear using the previously linked file and unfortunately that broke almost instantly to my surprise (the teeth broke off specifically). So I ended up upgrading my Bambu p1s extruder in order to print more abrasive but far stronger filaments and got a roll of carbon fiber reinforced nylon (Pa6-CF). That printed out with no issue.
I went back and installed the new gear and it seemed to be working more or less, but the telescoping would only extend if I had first run the motor all the way inwards first. So I couldn’t extend a bit, pause, and extend more. I would have to put it all the way forward before it would come out again.
So I removed the gear to check it and it was undamaged, but I didn’t notice that there was somehow still a broken remnant of the original factory gear that was still stuck deep in there, so I fished that out after a lot of struggling to get a hold of it.
Now finally I install the newly 3d printed nylon gear, tighten the nut down some, it’s functioning again but still acting funny and doesn’t seem to be getting full travel on the telescoping. It would stop moving at some points but the motor would still want to run a bit more before finally disengaging. I figured let me tighten the nut just a bit more and make sure the gear is making good contact and not slipping off. So I tighten it a bit more… run the telescoping and it seems to be working at least for the moment. I fully retract the steering wheel and and all of a sudden hear a metal clank of something falling onto the tools on the floorboard.
Well, the 7mm nut fell off along with a nice chunk of the entire bolt that it screws onto which sheared off inside it. Now there isn’t enough bolt left beyond the 3d printed gear to even secure the nut to, the gear is still stuck in place and won’t even come out off the sheared end of the bolt. But it does spin freely when the motor is activated, but of course isn’t grabbing the entire bolt tight enough without the nut being there to actually spin the bolt and move the steering wheel in/out.
So basically I ended up manually twisting the bolt further up with pliers and extend it to my driving position and it will at least for the time being stay there. My original plan was to fix the gear and then disable the auto-retract in tech stream anyways. So the steering column distance now being forever stuck is not that big of deal since I wasn’t planning on moving it anyways. But yeah it was a lot of fussing around in there trying to fix it for nothing at the end for eh day.