1996 3.5 V6 4X4 4Runner
Need help on replacing the rack & pinion. Anyone done it?
Did not find any write ups in the tech section.
$1000 for a shop to swap, part is $550 for re-manufactured and $800 for new. OUCH!

Thanks!

 

Haven't done it myself but it should be a breeze. I replaced my bushings a few months back it the gear is so easy to access. Just crawl under your rig and you'll see it on the back end of the engine. 3 fastners on the gear (if I remember right), 2 tie rods, steering shaft, and a couple of fluid lines. I can't imagine it would take more than a couple of hours. The hardest part should be driving it to a shop for an alignment.

Good luck.

 

First and foremost, buy a factory service manual.
Search 'steering rack bushings'...you'll find many pics and write-ups that will help.

 

cool, thanks guy's.

 

I did a search for steering rack bushings and had no luck. If anyone could point me to those I would appreciate it.
Also, is one brand of remanufactured rack & pinion better than another?
Thanks

 

so my wife just calls me this morning said the wheel fell off.
So I rush home and the right front wheel, lower ball joint broke. Thank God she was just taking off out of the drive way when it failed. Could this have been the problem of steering issue? To be cont....

 

See post #2 https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/s...cement-146476/

 

cool thanks. Well, the story is, I had taken this truck to NTB the day before asking for them to do an alignment check as that's what I was told could be the problem for the hard steering. So NTB said the alignment was out but not that much to cause steering issues. So got the alignment and then the next day the rt front wheel falls off. Lower ball joint snaped. I called NTB and asked why they did not see that they were bad? So, the manager stepped up and took care of everything. Had to replace the lower ball joint and the axle at no charge. Since it was at the shop and the other ball joints were suspect went ahead and replaced all the ball joints on the runner.
So all is good, steering is back to normal. So, it was the ball joints after all that was causing the hard steering. No need for rack & pinion work.

Thanks

 

Wow, talk about gross negligence on the part of the alignment shop. The first step in doing an alignment is checking all of the suspension and steering components. It doesn't make sense to try to align a vehicle with bad ball joints. I have a very difficult time believing that the alignment was "out but good enough" with a ball joint on the verge of seperating. Maybe time for that shop to hire a new alignment tech.

I'm glad that when the ball joint let go it happened in the driveway and your wife is safe!

Just out of curiosity...Who told you to replace the rack and pinion?

 

NTB said it was rack & pinion.
Yea I would say gross negligence on the part of NTB. At least they man'd up and paid for the cost of repair.