Steering Rack Movement and Shimmy (1 Viewer)

[lexuslandcruiser]

Ah yeah that's right, it was a remanned rack at first. I can't remember if I ever got a new one installed or not, I don't think so..... but the second go around is holding up much better.

Can you source a new OEM unit or are they all remanufactured?

I know the feeling. My steering wheel has always had a little bit of slop and before I got alignment and everything dialed in it would pull pretty hard right. Like if you stop paying attention you'd be in the ditch.


>> Some good threads on how to clean it, all depends on your piggy bank. I think you can even swap the screen? This is one vehicle I'm pretty obsessed with and I throw new parts at it whenever I have the chance but depends on your shop space/time/budget.
Steering Flush & Cleaning - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/steering-flush-cleaning.917879/

Yeah it looks like I can get both reman and new from my preferred Toyota dealer, Springhill Toyota out of Mobile, AL. Ordered from their Lexus dealership many, many times and recently got my new OEM radiator and a few other bits and bobs from the Toyota side. Good guys and generally ship fast.

I love my truck too and am kind of an OEM parts addict lol. Plus, it doesn't feel right putting a brand new rack in the mix with 20 year old lines and an old reservoir with who knows what gunk down in it.

 

[lexuslandcruiser]

Updating this thread in hopes that it helps someone along the way. I decided to go with new OEM rack and then all news lines and reservoir. I bought the Sunsong 3401246 line kit from Amazon, as well as the other hose from the reservoir to the pump, OEM rubber D bushing, reservoir, and new tie rod ends from Amayama. Great price and arrived to me from Japan in about 10 days.

I've got everything removed from the truck and I decided to follow this guide: Steering rack replacement - labor hours - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/steering-rack-replacement-labor-hours.1295862/#post-14644121
Unbolting the motor mount and lifting the engine 2 inches or so is key for this job to go well I think.
This method also does not require you remove your oil filter housing which was good because I did not order the special gasket required for that. Just gotta remove the oil filter itself.

Also, I could not get the steering shaft to disconnect from the rack itself, it felt like it was seized in there despoite my truck having no rust. So I unbolted everything from the rack and fought it for a while until I accidently popped out the front bushing. Turned out to be good because I could get my pry bar in there and with a little pry action against the frame cross member, the shaft popped right out. Here's a visual once I was successful.

Will report back once I've got it all back together. I bet it's gonna be night and day difference.

 

[lexuslandcruiser]

I got everything changed and the steering feels tight, responsive and I'm happy overall.

But man... that job was terrible. For sure one of the worst, if not the worst job I've done on any car ever. I've pulled engines, done full rebuilds, did all the suspension on my Celsior and previous LX470, and nothing comes close to the annoyance and the frustration of this job. It's crazy because the Toyota book calls for 3 hours of labor I read and this took me probably 15 hours all said and done.

Yeah, I know... I've never done it before and a Toyota tech likely has, but it's roughhhh. People say the engine mounts on the Celsior / LS400 is a terrible job, which I did myself too, and it doesn't even come close to the steering rack on the 100.

Long story short - this job is worth it in the end. But, if you have the luxury of paying someone to do this, DO it. Or if you're like me and don't trust any shops nearby, get ready for lots and lots of pain, suffering, and swearing.

 

[FamilyCamper]

I got everything changed and the steering feels tight, responsive and I'm happy overall.

But man... that job was terrible. For sure one of the worst, if not the worst job I've done on any car ever. I've pulled engines, done full rebuilds, did all the suspension on my Celsior and previous LX470, and nothing comes close to the annoyance and the frustration of this job. It's crazy because the Toyota book calls for 3 hours of labor I read and this took me probably 15 hours all said and done.

Yeah, I know... I've never done it before and a Toyota tech likely has, but it's roughhhh. People say the engine mounts on the Celsior / LS400 is a terrible job, which I did myself too, and it doesn't even come close to the steering rack on the 100.

Long story short - this job is worth it in the end. But, if you have the luxury of paying someone to do this, DO it. Or if you're like me and don't trust any shops nearby, get ready for lots and lots of pain, suffering, and swearing.

Nice work! Did mine this winter. I think people have so many different experiences with this job. some not bad, some horrible. It wasnt too bad for me the hardest part was getting the column detached and reattached but having my wife hold the steering wheel helped a lot with reinstall and I also did a similar pry bar yank method to release the column.

 

[lexuslandcruiser]

Yeah, I also had a lot of trouble there. I couldn't figure out of the rubber bellow looking portion of the steering shaft should compress and allow me to push the column back a bit to slot it onto the rack. Mine definitely did not. I was expecting it to like on my BMW e46, but that wasn't the case.

Either way, pry bar trick for the win lol