Hey everyone. I have a 98 LX470. My steering rack bushings have gone bad again (yes again... I'll explain).
I bought this vehicle from my dad about 2.5 years ago. He owned it for 13 years before me. And way back in the day, he had a steering/death wobble problem that developed and we found that the rack bushings were shot. My dad searched and searched and found that Toyota/Lexus only sells the D-shaped bushing separately, not the two circle ones that we needed. So he got the aftermarket polyurethane bushings and we installed them, it did solve the problem, but he didn't like the harsh feel of the poly bushings, said that "you felt every bump and imperfection in the road". So he decided to bite the bullet and he bought a brand new OEM rack, but neither of us wanted to take on the brutal job that everyone was saying that replacing it is. So he just took the vehicle and rack to a local shop and paid them the labor to remove and replace it.
Everything was good for a while, but problems started developing in the front end again. It was eventually determined that the CV axles were shot. Once they were replaced... everything was good again (and has stayed good since), although the new rack seemed to have a slight bit of play in the bushings already after the CV axle replacement (this was roughly 5-10 years ago I think?)
Fast forward to today, and the bushings have a significant amount of play again. I'm assuming that when the rack was replaced back then...the bad CV axles probably caused rapid wear on the new bushings, hence why they've already failed so soon.
But anyway...now I have to deal with it again. I would really like to avoid replacing the rack if possible, but if I have to...is it really as bad as people say? Do you really have to raise the engine/drop the diff/etc. like I've been reading?
Also does anyone know where someone might find OEM bushings for sale? Maybe someone replaced a rack but immediately converted to poly bushings and has some new OEM bushings lying around that they could part with or sell? (I know... it's a long shot, but you never know 
)
So those seem to be my options...
1. Bite the bullet and replace the rack again (or pay someone else to replace it).
2. Get unbelievably lucky and hopefully find some new (or even slightly used) OEM bushings.
3. Or I may decide to try the poly bushings again (I think my dad still has them) and see if they feel tolerable to me. But I'm very particular about things feeling "right", and if my dad didn't like them... odds are I probably won't be a fan either :/
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
I bought this vehicle from my dad about 2.5 years ago. He owned it for 13 years before me. And way back in the day, he had a steering/death wobble problem that developed and we found that the rack bushings were shot. My dad searched and searched and found that Toyota/Lexus only sells the D-shaped bushing separately, not the two circle ones that we needed. So he got the aftermarket polyurethane bushings and we installed them, it did solve the problem, but he didn't like the harsh feel of the poly bushings, said that "you felt every bump and imperfection in the road". So he decided to bite the bullet and he bought a brand new OEM rack, but neither of us wanted to take on the brutal job that everyone was saying that replacing it is. So he just took the vehicle and rack to a local shop and paid them the labor to remove and replace it.
Everything was good for a while, but problems started developing in the front end again. It was eventually determined that the CV axles were shot. Once they were replaced... everything was good again (and has stayed good since), although the new rack seemed to have a slight bit of play in the bushings already after the CV axle replacement (this was roughly 5-10 years ago I think?)
Fast forward to today, and the bushings have a significant amount of play again. I'm assuming that when the rack was replaced back then...the bad CV axles probably caused rapid wear on the new bushings, hence why they've already failed so soon.
But anyway...now I have to deal with it again. I would really like to avoid replacing the rack if possible, but if I have to...is it really as bad as people say? Do you really have to raise the engine/drop the diff/etc. like I've been reading?
Also does anyone know where someone might find OEM bushings for sale? Maybe someone replaced a rack but immediately converted to poly bushings and has some new OEM bushings lying around that they could part with or sell? (I know... it's a long shot, but you never know )So those seem to be my options...
1. Bite the bullet and replace the rack again (or pay someone else to replace it).
2. Get unbelievably lucky and hopefully find some new (or even slightly used) OEM bushings.
3. Or I may decide to try the poly bushings again (I think my dad still has them) and see if they feel tolerable to me. But I'm very particular about things feeling "right", and if my dad didn't like them... odds are I probably won't be a fan either :/
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!