Tie Rod/Steering Rack Question

[djnapkin Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djnapkin]

So I'm tackling tie rod (inner & outer) replacement this arv. One side's inner has a bit of play. I've known it had a split boot for a while but it's only just starting to play up. Due to Toyota's exorbitant pricing but wanting to fit genuine, I ordered from amayama.com. For the price of only some of the parts on one side I've got everything I need to do both sides! For those wondering how to tackle this job themselves it's pretty easy. I am using the directions from here.

Now my issue is, I pulled off the faulty side first. All well and good, about to tighten it up but realised the stillsons I used to remove the old one, weren't going to do the job doing up the new one. So I decided to remove the other side as well & then go buy the spanner I need.

When I pull the boot off the 'good' side I find the rack covered in 'grease', where as the side with the split boot is dry. Now I'm concerned I've got more of an issue going on here! Is the faulty side dry because of the split boot, or is the 'good' side covered in this rather dirty looking grease because I've got an issue with the rack. Any advice?

Faulty Side


'Good' Side

[djnapkin Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djnapkin]

Ok this question might have been a bit silly. I now realise the RHS aka the 'good' side is where the teeth are on the rack. So of course they would be lubricated. I think it should be OK?

[raydes Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close raydes]

On the "faulty " side try and get that rust off the shaft. I am fairly sure there is a nylon bush just inside the rack that that shaft should be a good fit on, to stop it wobbling around as you turn left /right.

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

Make sure that locking tab on the rack end is locked over and be sure to get a wheel alignment done afterwards
The rust on the shaft can damage the seal in that end of the steering rack as well so be sure it is all cleaned up to

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

How much were the rack ends? My drivers side has a bit of play, been lazy.

The grease side should be cleaner, the boot may have been leaking & let in some water......?
The split boot side is clean & rusty because you cleaned your vehicle so well & has been split for a while.

Clean it all up & re lube& should be good.

[djnapkin Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djnapkin]

Thanks guys. Yeah I do suspect water has got in on the RHS aka 'good' side. I gave it a bit of a wipe got rid of the stuff that was basically dripping and there is still plenty of grease. Gave the other side a bit of a wipe with some grease as well before attaching the boot.

Me being a bloody idiot after doing that and doing it all up i decided to give it a lock to lock on the steering wheel to see how it felt. I hadn't attached the inside of one of the new boots yet. It pinched the new boot against the rack and split it! Bugger. So I had to pull one tie-rod apart to swap boots for the good old one. Can't see any holes or splits and had a very good look.

I measured as best I could the old rod and made the new one same length as best I could before installing. It's still out a fair bit. Will book her in for an alignment Monday.

Also FYI the bloody clips to do the inside of the boot are impossible! After an hour or more and lots of cursing and even getting the Mrs in for a second set of eyes, I gave up and use zip ties. Also I used the stillsons to do both sides up in the end. Worked fine and only barely scratched the end of the inner tie rod.

All the parts for both sides inner/outers and the boots, nuts and clips came to $310 delivered through amayama.com I used toyodiy to get the part numbers. I ordered from Japan as it's a little quicker and reliable than UAE (though a few bucks more expensive) and it took about 2 1/2 weeks to get to me.