Steering rack?

bear1

I was driving the wife's toyota yesterday and noticed that the steering felt quite wayward.
Road got a bit bumpier and the rattles coming from the suspension and vibrations at higher speed. Amazed the wife said nothing..
Anyway I brought it to the mechanic and he said it appears the rack is failing and it ain't a cheap job at all. Yippee.
Does this sound plausible? I've no leaking power steering and no numb spot while driving.
And is it advisable to recondition the rack instead of buying a new one?

Wanderer78

Yea it maybe the rack alright, I've gone through a couple of reconditioned ones in the last couple of years, the effect was similar to your experience. Is it advisable to get a new one or recon, well that's your call, I was quoted nearly a grand for a new one, for a 10 year old car, ta hell with that. But I did have a couple of recons fail within a few months so...... Thankfully my supplier replaced them all free of charge, a lot of hassle though for everyone involved

bear1

Ours in 10 years old as well so I'm more inclined to go for a recon unit with a guarantee than shelling out for a new unit.
Waiting for quotes to come through now.

Wanderer78

bear1 wrote:

Ours in 10 years old as well so I'm more inclined to go for a recon unit with a guarantee than shelling out for a new unit. Waiting for quotes to come through now.

Think I paid around 200 for the recon with a 2 year/20 odd k guarantee

bear1

Just to update this.
After being away for a while I finally got around to having the car checked.
Brought it to one mechanic who said the suspension is fine and can't find anything in the general area which could cause the issue.
After reading quite a bit I was sure this wasnt a steering rack issue.
So I brought it to the local tyre place and fcuk me.
3 bent alloys which then had 3 uneven tyres attached to them.
You could see the tyres going up and down when they were spinning it.
Car will be ready tomorrow so I'll be able to say it was the problem for sure.

mickdw

bear1 wrote: »

.... .. and fcuk me.
3 bent alloys which then had 3 uneven tyres attached........

Well at least you know why the wife said nothing now.

bear1

mickdw wrote: »

Well at least you know why the wife said nothing now.

I said nothing to her but to be careful in the future.
The risks of it are beyond stupid.
Got 4 continentals with the job so should be quite grippy.
Amazing to think the effects a bad tyre can have.
Saved myself a small fortune digging into the issue.

JohnBoy26

Steering racks giving issues is not really a common issue on most toyotas.

sundodger5

F.Y.I. Used to find a lot of what we called twisted tyres i.e where the steel belt underneath the tread had failed was usually caused by a poor puncture repair. If just a patch was used rarher than a plug patch it allows water to get into the area the belts are. Causes damage.
Other reasons as well but that was the most common.

bear1

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Steering racks giving issues is not really a common issue on most toyotas.

I mostly didn't agree with the rack diagnosis as it simply didn't fit the criteria.
No lose of fluid, easy to turn the wheel and no grinding noises.
Let's see tonight if it's finally cured.

bear1

So yeah steering rack = ****e alloys and tyres.
No more vibrations, maybe a slight one at around 140 but I'm putting that down to the repair of the alloys.
All in all I'm happy cause I saved a small fortune and if I had listened to the mechanic I would have replaced a perfectly good rack for no reason.
The idea of it annoys me even though it didn't happen.