I have the new bushing kit from wheeler's, and I tried to loosen the steering rack bolts today. I got every bolt loose except the upper bolt on the passenger side. I thought the vertical center bolt would have been the problem! This one won't budge even with an impact wrench. I poured some liquid wrench over the head of the bolt. Tomorrow I may buy a pipe to fit over my 1/2 inch socket wrench for more leverage. Any other ideas?

 

I just did this mod with a fellow yotatecher and i sprayed PB Blaster on the bolts a day before we did the mod. Had to use impact wrench but it came off with no busted heads!! It took a few tries with the impact wrench but it worked. PB blaster is amazing stuff! Good luck!

 

Did you just spray the PB blaster on the bolt head? I couldn't see any other part of the bolt that I could spray. Tough to see much while under the truck. Thanks

 

The top pass. side is a STUD, (actually the bolt head is welded to the crossmember) you remove only the NUT. The stud remains on the framework. You will have to slide the rack to the rear to get to the bushings.

 

Yeah what he said. I know the OP indicated it was hard to see under there - but get a shop light and some working room and check it out good. This is the easy part. Next step is getting the old bushing out and then getting the rack back in....

Good Luck!
G

 

Liquid Wrench finally kicked in, and I got the bolt loose. You're right gpcollen1. Getting the rack back in was very tough. The vertical bolt was such a pain. It's dark now, so I'll wait until tomorrow for the first test drive.

 

Uh, I believe it was the bottom pass. side that is the stud.

 

why do the bushing kit? Cause today I was just driving down the road and all of a sudden my steering wheel was turned to the left about half a turn and I was still going straight. The wheel felt very looses and sloppy, I pulled over and looked it over and had my buddy turn the wheel while i looked underneith and the entire steering rack would move. I tried to tighten all the bolts but the were very tight and I even used a prybar.. Would this be my problem, Bushings?

 

yeah those are your bushings

 

Ya I had a tough time with my bushings as well. I can't remember why, but, I ended up torching the rubber bushings out cause they were stuck or something.

Also, I couldn't get the nuts off the tie rods, where they connect to the spindle, so I ended up doing everything underneath the truck when the rack was still in place... hahha.

 

Definately!

You shouldn't need to completely remove the rack from the truck to change the bushings.

 

i just did the bushing today and i can't get Drivers Side Mount bolt out it's hitting the differenal.

 

Do you have a diff drop installed?

 

964runlim, this bolt should slide right out...

 

i just replaced my entire rack today. it's a really simple job, way easier than installing a lift.

about 6 months ago my steering started getting real loose, so i replaced the stock bushings with urethane bushings. it helped a little, but not much.

changing the rack did the trick.

a couple of tips for getting the rack back in. have the tires off the ground.it makes the rack a lot easier to move around. disconnecting the tie rods makes it even easier. getting the vertical mount back in was the hardest the first time. this time since i had the whole thing out, i slightly bent the top mounting tab up, making more room to slide the new uncompressed bushing in.

 

i don't have a diff drop i looked but it's hitting the differental. we end up cutting a little off the bolt and installing was not fun. i swap a motor in a few 4runner before and this seems to be harder. will for me anyways but got it in and it helps but steering wheel is off.

 

How did you know that the steering rack had to be replaced?

 

sloppy steering, wheels not tracking the same (i could hear the tires squealing), steering wheel off, etc. i tried the bushings and inner tie rod ends, and things still werent fixed, so i did the rack, and its good to go now. OR you could check to see if the rack is leaking fluid. on mine, it was a little wet cause the seals were shot

 

Mine is having the same sort of issues, the steering wheel is a little off and it just seems so sloppy. I don't know whether replacing the bushings is all it needs or what. Did you follow any sort of write-up on this or anything? What did this cost you?

 

well, you may want to try replacing the bushings first. if 30 bucks is all it takes to solve it, great. if its your rack, replace it, and have the added security that you know you have a good set of rack bushings in there along with it. try looking for that movement of the rack while someone else turns the wheel. theres a few writeups, and its an easy process to replace the bushings. ill look for links. for the rack, some say its easy, some dont. i had mine done at a shop, and they charged me 50 to change it. (i know the owner). might want to also look into a tacoma rack. another member has tacoma cv's and steering rack, and he said both are much beefier than the 4runner ones, and everything bolts right up