Subject: Buying a salvage yard steering box for 95 toy 4x4 pickup

Summary: Don't buy a salvage steering box

I had way too much slop in my toy steering. The slop was about 2.5 - 3 inches. A new steering box is $2,000 USD from Toyota dealership. Remanufactured was 600~800 USD. Salvage steering box was from 4-runner with 133k miles and was 135 USD. I bought the salvage and had a local mechanic install it. It cost me 471 USD (65 USD labor per hour). Salvage steering geer had about 1.25 inches of slop. Alot better feeling than before. A couple of days later and a few bumps later the steering has 2 inchs of slop (also known as play).

I should have known better but, greed got in the way. The Toyota Truck & Land Cruiser Bible by Moses Ludel said "don't do it." He was right.

Let this be a lesson to you and anyone you know might be considering swapping a worn steering gear box with a salvage steering box.

:pat:

 

NAPA, AutoZone & the PartsAmerica group are all carying rebuilts now. Range from 250 - 400 bucks.