p1michaud

Well, I got the truck inspected (MVI) last tuesday and they found that the Power Steering Rack Rubber Bushing/Grommet was worn out. With the truck on the lift you could move the passenger side wheel and see the rack move arround quite a bit where it is held in place by a rubber bushing/grommet on the passenger side. The driver's side is held in place by two bolts.

I looked up my Factory Service Manual, no biggie I thought, 4 bolts to remove the factory skid plate (rear portion) then two 19mm bolts to remove the bracket, change the bushing/grommet and I'm home free. Not that easy!

For some reason the top nut was tack welded to the bracket, unfortunately I only realized this after breaking the tack weld off. Now I am left with a loose upper bolt with no way to remove the darn thing. The accessible end of the bolt is shaped to accept a 10mm socket or wrench so that you can hold it while turning the 19 mm nut. Tried this but broke my 10 mm socket since they 19 mm nut is seized on. Luckily the socket is life time warranty! Anyhow now I can't figure out a way to remove this nut because you can't get to the other end to hold it with anything since it is captive in the crossmember I can just touch the end throught a hole in the frame.

Has anybody changed this grommet/bushing? Any advice before I cut the bolt out? Can't believe Toyota would make somthing so darn hard to fix.
Thanks,
P

BajaTaco

Dang, I hate it when Murphy gets involved in a wrenching session

The nut was tack welded? And now it is seized on the bolt?? That is a double Murphy! I replaced all of those bushings on my rack, but for the life of me I can't remember what kind of procedure I had for that bolt. Have you tried soaking the nut with some liquid wrench (or any penetrant)? I would try that and let it soak overnight, and try again tomorrow. I would avoid cutting the bolt since it might be pain to get a new one and get it back in there.

Alin10123

I just recently replaced the bushings on my rack, then tonight i replaced the whole rack.
I basically followed the isntructions on this site:

http://www.keystonekrawlers.com/Mods...eeringBush.htm

It's for a tacoma, but the install is pretty much the same for a 4runner.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions. This stuff is still fresh in my mind.

p1michaud

Thanks for the link. Take a look at the picture for the passenger side mount. For some strange reason on my truck the upper stud is free to rotate in the cross member (no way to get at it) and the nut was tack welded to the bracket.
So now I have a seized nut on a stud that is free to rotate. I'll try what Baja Taco suggested wich was to soak the nut with some liquid penetrant and hope for the best. It might be enought to break it free using a 10 mm socket on the end of the stud.

BajaTaco

Did you have any luck? After reading that article, it almost sounds like someone at the factory welded the wrong piece (the nut instead of the bolt)!

p1michaud

It’s a bit long…
Well turns out the source of my frustration was a previously botched repair job.
By the looks of things, the passenger side bushing had been worn out for quite some time. We started by applying some penetrant oil and letting that work for a bit. No luck. We moved to using a torch to head up the nut in an attempt to break it free from the stud. We could hold the 19mm nut with a stubby wrench and twist the stud by using a 10mm socket on the end of the stud. No luck either, just broke the end of the stud off. Finally we removed the power steering line that was in the way. I held it plugged with my thumb while by friend used a grinder to cut the stud off. Being showered with sparks was not fun. To our surprise the saddle bracket would still not come off. Upon closer inspection we discovered that the bracket had been welded to the truck cross member.
So at some point in time, someone really messed things up during a failed repair attempt. To make things worse they tried covering it up by welding it to the frame! After a bit of grinding and prying we were able to remove the bracket and removed the cut off stud. We replaced the stud with a ½” bolt to which we welded a small piece of steel stock on the head. This allowed us to properly tighten it up (i.e. the welded piece of stock would not allow the bolt to turn once in place).
We then reconnected the power steering line and installed the new rubber bushing and bracket then the skid plate. Sat around and drank a few cold ones.

There is a noticeable difference in the truck steering, it is tighter.

Morale of the story, never under estimate a job and if you mess something up while attempting to repair it. Take the time to fix it right the first time!

BajaTaco

A great ending to a bizzare story!! some people are just so half azz... I can't believe they welded that bracket

Good job on coming up with a fix

rimpainter.com

For future searches and questions that people might have, I am going to link this thread also.