Rack and Pinion problems

2006 tundra with high miles. I’ve put 218k and the last 6 k have been full of problems. I had a problem with my steering on September 2022. It led to a lot of replacements.
Of the problems, the rack and pinion blew fluid out from the inner tie rod area into the boots. I replaced the rack and pinion with cheap alternative on Amazon.
Last night, the 5 month old rack and pinion blew out leaking fluid like a water hose.
I am curious if I have to get the high dollar rack and pinion original Toyota parts or put another cheap one off Amazon. I think Amazon is $247 and cheapest I’m seeing original parts is @ $900 range…

im also interested if the pressure relief valve for the steering needs to be replaced. This one blew out where the rack and pinion meet… see picture.

 

First things first: Unless you like counterfeits and cheap Chinese garbage, don't buy parts off scAmazon, fleaBay, or WallyWorld.

Even when you buy OEM there, you're typically not getting OEM, you're getting counterfeits. They DO NOT verify their supply chain for fakes, too hard, and costs too much money. 60% of sellers on scAmazon as of Q4/2022 were based in China. That should speak volumes to you.

That said, general rule of thumb: Anything big that you want to last AS LONG as the original part, buy OEM, if not direct from Toyota, buy Denso or Aisin, whichever has that part.

You already saw what happens when you don't, and now you're out almost $300. Replacing the rack IS NOT an easy job, relatively speaking. Do you really want to be doing it every 5mo-15mo and spending ~$300 each time?

The answer is probably "no".

There are some racks out there members have had luck with. So it's not like you have to buy OEM/Denso/Aisin. But you're not going to find that from 95% of the parts you'll find at any of the three vendors I listed, and not at the local auto parts store brands (NAPA included).

My take? If you can do the work, use the money you saved and just buy OEM/Denso/Aisin so you're doing the job once and not dicking with it again.

Also, for your own benefit, bite the bullet and read this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Unfortunately, I recently purchased one of the cheap ones for the lower ball joint. That was during the October overhaul. I’ve been driving it since 100 miles on the truck and paid people to do work outside of regular service.
I now live in a mechanic desert so I’m forced to figure this out myself. I continue to try to find a legit mechanic locally Last week, I paid a garage to change timing belt and water pump and I had to get it towed back to the mechanic 2 times.
A few months ago, I carried one of my steering knuckles to a different mechanic with the replacement bearing and the dude tried to cut it out with a blowtorch. A quick google search shows it needs to be pressed out…. I digress… there are no qualified mechanics here… so I put the rack and pinion on it in October that failed last night. I’m not going to try the timing belt so I took it to another state to get worked on an still had to get it towed back twice.

I’ve conceded that I need to get OEM. My research since last night shows various options. Looks to be in the $700 range… any suggestions on where to buy?

thanks for your help. I don’t understand why it would fail at the location I shared. I have a theory that it could be the pressure / air relieve valve for the power steering so I bought a replacement. Any idea what would cause it to fail at the place I showed in the picture? I don’t want to pay for an OEM only to have it blow out because o haven’t fixed the problem that got me here.

 

Not sure on the failure. Haven't personally seen racks in any of the many cars I've owned fail at that spot, but faulty gasket, shit/pot metal, improper torque or failed fastener are a few things I can imagine. I could also see excess pressure right there contributing to that or full-on causing it.

Cheapest place to buy ...

Usually my process to follow with parts is this:

• Go to Denso's website and use the part finder to see if they offer anything. (link)
• They don't sell racks that I know of, so next I'd hit the Toyota Parts site. (link)

But here's the thing about the Toyota site, which that thread covers: Depending how you order, and when you order, you can get some steep ass discounts

Like, if you can stand to wait a bit, there are dealerships I've found, Serra Toyota of Birmingham, that not only don't charge tax, but give a solid 20-30% discount at times, and if you use the code FREESHIP on orders over $75, they ship for free too. Others like McGeorge Toyota, offer even deeper discounts, same FREESHIP code, but may charge tax (note: They have 3 parts websites, each has a diff't discount).

That said, if it's still too damn expensive, I'll go to RockAuto (link) and drill down to find the part for my truck, see what brands they offer, see if any are reputable. They give a 5% discount to forum members, if you can't find the code, hit RetailMeNot's site or other similar coupon sites. Like I said, others have swapped their racks out and didn't use OEM but had some luck. I don't remember who all, pretty sure @bmf4069 is one of them, maybe @Tundra2 did also, and can tell you what brand they used?

That's pretty much where I'm at.

Whatever I do though, unless it's a trusted brand, on any of the Toyotas we've owned, I don't hit the local auto parts store, and I've gotten burned too many times at the retailers I bolded above to bother going there anymore. The price is tempting, until you've felt the pain one too many times.

 

I have an OEM rack for crackie. I haven't installed it yet

 

Where did you get it. I’ve been looking and I can’t tell which ones are the assembly with inner tie rods and boots.

I already installed one that I installed the inner toe rods and it didn’t go well. I’m to the point of going with a lower quality one that I know has inner tie rods than one that requires boot and inner tie rod. (not bargain from scamazon [you got me saying it] but one from Rock auto)

I don’t know any of the brands on rock auto. Highest cost one is BBB brand. AAE, Lares in that order of price.

I think shifty is right but an OEM that I can’t be sure includes inner and boot is less preferred than one of these from Rock auto that I know has inner tie rod and boot.

 

You need to replace that with OEM ASAP or you'll be joining the broke ball joint club as well.

 

I haven't even opened the box to tell you that it comes with boots or inner toe rods. I ordered from Serra toyota during one of their sales.

Here's the part number on the left.

 

When I get home I can open the box and check for you

 

Ayooo!





Toyota OEM. Inner tie rods with boots. All line inlets/outlets are plugged with soft caps.

Oh, and here's where I got it.

 

i ordered from McGeorge this morning. Based on NickB’s comment, I went ahead and ordered new lower ball joints from McGeorge since I’ve already got everything torn down but the knuckle, just going to go ahead and replace.


The part that is confusing me is the language used.
When ordering the cheap items, they call the assembly “Rack and pinion Assembly”
When ordering Toyota parts, they call it “Gear Assembly”
I also see the term “Supersession(s).

1. I called McGeorge and they tell me it’s the “Rack and Pinion,” I am a little concerned I’ll get it and it will be an internal part. They assure its the rack and pinion.
2. What is a supersession(s)?

 

where you at in “western Kentucky?” I’m near Paducah. Asking in the event you know a good mechanic.
I had a steering knuckle worked on in Murray and the guy ruined my ABS replacing a bearing. I think the tone ring isn’t set right so, no more ABS. Knuckle is @$600. I plan to get another one but not until I find someone who can work on them. Last guy tried to beat out the bearing with a hammer and ended up cutting it out with a torch.

 

Wasn't there a Detroit Axle option for the rack and pinion that has been fairly well regarded?

 

1. I'd trust McGeorge. rack and pinion is a generic term. If the Toyota Parts site says 'assembly' it usually means you're getting the whole shebang, ready to bolt in.
2. Supersession: "Version" of a part, i.e. that part number has been "superseded" (replaced) by the new number.

On #1 I can't even imagine they'd ship you something which required you to fill with fluid, prime, etc. That's a recipe for disaster. They'd want to give you as much of it intact and customer-proof as possible, I'd reckon.

 

That's what I have in mine.

 

x2
Even "Authorized Toyota" accounts peddle fake parts on Amazon. There is no regulation

 

I'm an hour and a half east of Paducah. I know a really good mechanic here in my home town. Any ways, I'm pretty decent at turning wrenches myself.

I'm not against coming to help you on a day off or something. Hell, I drove 6 hours one way to work on @FirstGenVol's truck, and @jpink's truck on two seperate occasions.

But either way, I'll pm you more info about that mechanic I use when I just can't figure something out. He's always given me fair prices, and has always been a straight shooter with me.

I've spoken about him a lot on here.

 

Don't forget bolts. Either new OEM or fancy ARP. You have an 06 so I'm not sure of the bolt part number but they are different than 00-03 or 04.

I'm in Elizabethtown. About 2 and a half hours away myself.

 

Bruce! Spoken about him so much I know his name. He's pinned down some pretty elusive problems, including that weird open loop O2 issue.

And @Angryvet you should know, @Tundra2 is good people. I'm saying that as someone who's actually met the guy in person, not just gabbed on the internet. Your a young'un, he's got his head on straight and heart in the right place.

 

Did we just become best friends

 

That's not even the final form:




That was a looooong weekend. @Mr.bee

 

That beer collection is Texas af

 

Update. I had to go out of town a few days and just got back at midnight. I
Began work on it at 1205 and was done at 0200 but had to make some adjustments this morning. The McGeorge Rack and Pinion replacement was uneventful. The shipping was great and they boxed it well and it arrived with no damage. Indeed, it is the rack and pinion with inner rod, boot assembly. I also bought new lower ball joints to replace the Samazon ones I installed. I was able to get the scamazon account to give me store credit. Now I just need to find what junk they have that might help me. I’m gonna post some things that I found helpful.

I counted revolutions and measured but more on that later.
I took the new rack out of the box and covered the spline with cloth and hard plastic. Then used some vice grips to gently run it through the full motion so I could find center. Then returned outer tie rods to same spot.

1. Ensure you have locktight.
2. Look up all the torque specs ahead of time and follow them.
Lower ball joint: 103ft lbs
Outer tie rod 67
3. I recommend removing the bolts that hold the steering shaft to the rack and pinion. There are 3 pinch points. I took out all three bolts and replaced them to spec. I found literature that says these are 26 ft lbs. I’d be concerned going any higher. However, this seems to be the Jesus linkage that if fails, you get to meet Jesus.

replaced everything and returned fluid.
perhaps someone can explain to me how the alignment could be off by replacing exactly the same measurement of equipment….but it was off by 2.75 inches front of tire to back of tire. I had it aligned after I installed the last shitty rack and that guy I know did it right. No idea why it was that far off.

I got one of my kids to hold a 2X4 against one tire while I held one on the other wheel. I was 2.75 off front to back of the tire so I started splitting the difference on each side cranking in the inner tie rod. I have it to within 1/16. That will do until I can get it to a real mechanic that can align.

I hope this helps someone.
FWIW, it bump steered when it was off by 2.75. If you get in it after doing this rack and pinion and it acts like a speed wobble when you hit a bump, your alignment is way off. I used the farmer technique measuring the distance of the front tires across the truck.


I’d love some intel as to why installing replacement would be that far off. But both installs were like this.

 

I probably need to meet the mechanic. I have an illusive noise in the right side that I can’t seem to figure out. It’s been there a while.
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