Bad steering rack leak has anyone replaced the seal ?

My steering rack boot on my 2017 Tundra 4x4 with 14K miles got a tear in the boot at some point and now the seal is leaking badly. The dealer wants $2700 for new rack - insists the engine has to be removed . An independent Toy specialist shop is saying the same thing. Saw a utube on replacing just the seal on an early gen model. Has anyone done this with success? Alternatively I'm reading that it's possible to replace the rack without pulling the engine or dropping the differential ?

 

No warranty?

 

My entire steering rack was replaced around 30k and the motor did not have to be removed. If it was the tech and service manager did not inform me

 

They said the torn boot let dirt in which ruined the seal

 

The book says to pull the engine and the dealer will charge you for the hours that takes. They wanted $3k to do mine. Insurance paid for it and they did it in half the time the book quoted, but still charged the full amount. There are posts on here of people doing it in their driveway without pulling the engine. If you don’t have the time or tools, find another shop that’ll do it that way.

 

@papasmurf @osidepunker you guys have some knowledge on this

 

Engine doesn't have to be removed. The front diff has to be lowered and the oil filter adapter housing has to be removed also. Then the rack is unbolted and with the outer tie rods removed or just unscrewed from the inners you slide the rack to the passenger side till the left side can be slid out of the frame forward and out it comes

 

To pull them without removing the engine and diff you need to remove at least the passenger side inner tire rod. And even then it’s a stupid tight fit to sneak out

oil housing has to come off too

 

Might as well have them reseal the cam towers while they have the motor out.

 

Good god.

 

I think pulling the engine is what he's trying to avoid.... literally having them pull the engine is several thousand dollars vs the $1200 or whatever the steering rack costs and doing it yourself

 

I replaced the rack on my first Tundra, a 2010 Rock Warrior. I had a 7" BDS lift on it and I knew the rack had shit the bed on me. I decided to test out the dealership anyways and brought it in and pretended I didnt know exactly what was wrong. They called me and told me it was my power steering rack and due to the lift they would not be replacing it haha. I paid about 1,000 for a new power steering rack from the dealer and put it in myself in about 3 or 4 hours and most certainly did not need to remove the engine.

 

swap it yourself, pretty easy if you have basic garage mechanic skills. If you dont, take it to an independent toyota shop. BUT DO NOT PAY THE STEALERSHIP:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/the-truck-by-osidepunker.26649/page-7#post-1225433

 

Anyone have any experience with replacing the seal without removing the rack ? There's rebuild kits out there .

 

@bajatundra53 let me put this whole thing to bed, Ive done 8 steering racks on these trucks, pull the axles drop the diff. super easy, i can do the whole job in 6 hours.. where are you located??

I can either talk you through it, or you can come by and i can do it for you. That being said, you need an alignment afterward because you mess with the tie rods.

Shoot me a PM and I can give you my cell and help you out. The dealer is full of shit. you can tell them i said so.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

our racks are not rebuildable, you have to replace the whole rack sorry to tell ya that, im on my 5th on my truck...

 

oh and dont pay 1k$ for a rack, you can get them cheaper than that

have your local dealer price match..

https://toyotaparts.bochtoyotasouth.com/oem-parts/toyota-gear-assembly-442500c131

• List Price:$744.40
• You Save:$256.59 (34.50% off)
• Sale Price:$487.81

 

@papasmurf does this part number rack fit a 2011 as well? When I look up the 2011 rack it's a different part number and about $250 more expensive. For the 2011 I'm showing -0C160. It would be nice to spend less on a new rack and have the updated design.

 

Why would you need to replace the rack so many times? Is there a serious design flaw or is it because of some very rough use?

 

It's usually a result of a lift, bigger tires and off road use. Puts an increase load on the rack.

 

I was thinking that was the probably the issue. I personally dislike steering racks. I still have nightmares from a rack job I did on a 78 Audi back in 1983.

 

They are great if you leave the Tundra stock and very reliable with a good steering feel. When you lift, it angles the inner tie rods and with the larger tires exerts forces the rack was never designed to handle.

 

None of that is true. I've wheeled with literally hundreds of Tundras. Ive personally seen 3 or 4 rack failures on the trail and I have several close friends who have had rack failures. These failures have happens on all different kinds of suspension setups, including one stock 2016 that was only 2 years old.

Early on there were some batches of racks with bad seals. Then Toyota corrected that with new part numbers. Nowadays, the rack failures are less frequent. but they still happen. The problem is randomly some racks will have the inner tie rod seals manufactured improperly and they blow. This will fill the boot with fluid.

I have a 2013. The rack lasted 6 years and 70k hard off road mile on a 4" long travel lift. I had to replace it last year because I broke some rack teeth when I was wheeling. The new rack has a year of hard wheeling on it and so far so good.

 

Believe what you want. Its very rare at the dealership that we change out racks. The only ones that had issues were lifted with larger tires. You said it yourself, "had a 2013 that the rack lasted 6 years". If your truck wasn't lifted it would never had failed. I'm not saying it's a common problem but it does happen more often than a stock Tundra.

 

I've noticed a weered noice when steering to the left from being stop while tacking off. It sound rubber friction. Is this a sign of the rack failing? How can you actually tell is the rack you're having issue with? Thanks.

 

Dude. I told you why my rack failed. I was wheeling. Actually, I rolled the truck. That caused the teeth in the rack to break. It still steered but there was a pop in certain spots.

When the "bad" racks fail its the inner tie rod seals. Suspension has nothing to do with it

 

Have a nice day.

 

The first 3 were caused by BDS gen 1 spindles which had a back ackerman angle that put extra stress on the tie rods and seals(they have since fixed that issue). the 4th was because I crashed the truck into a wall on the freeway, the 5th was over 80k miles later, and had some issues with my pump, and resi and fluid which caused me to question the rack may have debris in it, and I wanted to upgrade to new poly bushings so I replaced the entire PS system.

The other three were on friends trucks

 

absolutely nothing to do with tires, a lift or offroad use.. sorry but you are wrong