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Changing Rack Ends on Prado 120

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  • Changing Rack Ends on Prado 120

    Hey all,

    I recently had a huge clunking noise whenever I was turning over an inclined gutter or backing up at full lock. After investigating on a shaker hoist, the passenger side rack end ball/cup had a lot of play in it. You can feel this by grabbing the ball and cup in your hand through the boot and you’ll feel the slop as the shaker moves side to side.

    It isn’t that big a job to change your rack ends at home, but unfortunately we can’t buy OEM rack ends by themselves from Toyota. Toyota will make you pay for an entire steering rack+rack ends+tie rods for around $1700.

    Fortunately we can get decent after-market 555 Japanese made rack ends for about $70, I used onlineautoparts.com.au here in Brisbane.

    The first step in changing the rack ends is to undo the tie rod, and then the inside OEM clip around the boot. This clip is very tight to get undone and done up again, and the working space is very limited, so you’ll need to be patient and careful with it. Some good long nose pliers will help a lot.

    Once you’ve got the clip undone, this is what the rack end looks like inside the boot;



    The next step is to beat the folding tabs of the lock washer back so you can undo the rack end. You can do this with a punch or a decent long drift. Once you’ve beaten the locking tabs back, then it’s just a matter of undoing the rack end and taking it off. There was no thread binder used on mine from factory, so all it took was a bit of a nudge to undo them with some large adjustable pliers.

    I pulled my rack ends off with the tie rods still in place, as shown below;



    The reason I pulled them off in the assembled state was to measure their length, so I can put the new rack ends and tie rods together at the same length. However, no matter how careful you are with measuring length and number of turns that the tie rod spins off/on, you’ll still need to check the toe-in after. My toe-in was out by +0.5mm even after careful measurements of length and turns.

    Inspection of the ball/cup assembly shows a significant wear pattern on the ball.



    Even though I’ve been through plenty of water and sand, dirt and dust, the OEM boot has worked very well, and everything inside was quite clean.

    The new 555 rack ends are shown below in comparison to the OEM rack ends.



    They both go to the same maximum angle of around 31.5 degrees. The 555’s also appear to be slightly beefier than the OEM diameter, and the ball/cup comes pre-greased.

    Once you’ve reassembled your new 555 rack ends with the old OEM tie rods (assuming they’re in good working order) to the same length, it’s then just a matter of threading on the new rack end. I used some red loctite, and you’ll need a big stilson or some large adjustable multi-grips to grip the rack end cup and tighten up the rack end to the steering rack, as shown below;



    Once you’re satisfied the rack end is tight, you can then fold down the locking tabs of the new locking washer. This is most easily done with a big pair of multi-grips. Then you’ll have to go through the pain of doing up the inside clip, patience required again, once that’s complete, reattach the outer tie rod to the hub, tighten up the tie rod castle nut, bang in a new split pin, put the rack end outside clip back to its normal position and you’re done. Then head down to the wheel alignment shop and get the toe-in sorted out.

    The geometry of the rack ends is also quite interesting, shown below;



    It turns out that the rack end ball/cup assembly binds up at 31.5 degrees, or 590mm open length. This is very close to the CV bind length of 585-590mm.

    After hitting the beach at Fraser again recently, I immediately noticed my problems in the steering had not disappeared. While there was no more noise from the rack ends, there was quite a rattle/shake coming through the steering wheel travelling through the inland rutted out tracks on Fraser. This is a relatively well known problem on the Prado steering;

    http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...steering-wheel

    The cause is the uni joint wearing out in the lower intermediate shaft. This uni joint is very close to the steering rack, and is exposed to the elements, and cops water, sand, dirt and dust.

    You can feel if this uni-joint is worn out by grabbing it while lying underneath the Prado, and getting a helper to rock the steering wheel back and forth. If you grip very tightly and resist the motion of the uni joint, you will feel the slop in it by hand. The uni joint bear is simply worn out.

    Unfortunately that lower shaft is very expensive through Toyota Oz, around $400, but you can get it through Amayama for around $130.

    My impression is that if the rack ends have worn out, it is also quite likely that the uni joint in the lower intermediate shaft has worn out as well. The vibration from terrain that is passed through the steering system is being pounded through all of the moving components.

    If you have worn out rack ends, it’s advisable to get everything in your steering checked over carefully. Shafts, uni joints, rack ends, tie rod ball joints, and also steering rack bushes can all be common points of failure.

    My rack ends and uni joint were worn out by 150,000km, others have reported rack ends failing as early as 45,000km, see here;

    http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...ed-at-82-000km

    If you can hear noises from your steering, get it checked out on a shaker hoist asap!

    Best

    Mark
    Whitey
    Shockie Maker of the Month Award
    Last edited by Whitey; 20-09-2017, 07:25 PM.
    2006 GXL petrol auto. ARB deluxe bar x3 HID IPF's, ARB alloy roofrack, ARB awning, BFG A/T, Safari snorkel, Piranha breathers, Pacemaker extractors, custom Ironman 45710FE 436-569mm with Dobinsons 350, custom Ironman 45682FE 383-618mm with Dobinsons 487, Firestone kevlar 60psi airbags, 30mm extended Roadsafe links, AMTS bashplate and recovery points, ABR Flyer with Powersonic AGM.

  • #2
    Jeez Mark you have been busy with some good posts lately.
    Another good one.

    Those rack ends normally last longer, I often see them 200-300,000k & ok.
    But your correct they do fail, another cheap fix.

    Good work!

    Comment


    • #3
      Hey ####,

      Thanks, plenty more to come as well!

      200-300K is awesome km's for rack ends! Luckily for us when they do pack it in the rack ends and tie rods are the cheapest components in the steering assembly.

      I wasn't at all impressed with the $400 Toyota Oz want for the lower steering shaft!

      I'm guessing my steering rack bushes will go next if my rack ends and uni joint have already packed it in!

      Best

      Mark
      2006 GXL petrol auto. ARB deluxe bar x3 HID IPF's, ARB alloy roofrack, ARB awning, BFG A/T, Safari snorkel, Piranha breathers, Pacemaker extractors, custom Ironman 45710FE 436-569mm with Dobinsons 350, custom Ironman 45682FE 383-618mm with Dobinsons 487, Firestone kevlar 60psi airbags, 30mm extended Roadsafe links, AMTS bashplate and recovery points, ABR Flyer with Powersonic AGM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Great post and thank you for going to so much detail Mark.

        I will be sticking the car on the hoist tonight and having a look at all my steering. I have noticed the play getting worse over the last 30000km so might be time for a full refresh I think.
        [B][2007 GXL 120 3.0L D4[COLOR="#FF0000"]D[/COLOR] Auto][/B] [I]Mods:[/I] [COLOR="#DAA520"]Bilstein [/COLOR][COLOR="#0000FF"]Shocks [/COLOR]& [COLOR="#DAA520"]King [/COLOR]2" Lift Springs - 265/70/17 [COLOR="#3366ff"]Cooper [/COLOR]AT/3s Tyres - [COLOR="#FF0000"]ARB [/COLOR]Deluxe bullbar - LED Spotlights & Worklights - Snorkel - [COLOR="#008000"]BushSkinz [/COLOR]bash plates - 2.2m Alloy Overlander Full Rack - 2.5m [COLOR="#8B4513"]Wanderer [/COLOR]Awning - [COLOR="#FF0000"]GME [/COLOR]TX3120S UHF & [COLOR="#FF0000"]GME [/COLOR]AE4703 6.6dBi - [COLOR="#FF8C00"]Milford [/COLOR]Cargo Barrier - [COLOR="#FF0000"]JVC [/COLOR]indash DVD - [COLOR="#FF8C00"]Maxtrax [/COLOR]- Pulling a heavily modified [COLOR="#3366ff"]Jayco [/COLOR]Dove Pop Top Camper

        Comment


        • #5
          I replaced my drivers side rack end around 6 months ago and have booked to get the passenger side done on Friday as I couldn't get it off.
          Hopefully this sorts out the rattle in my steering. Next will be the uni as Mark has mentioned if the rattle is still there.

          Comment

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