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Steering rack installation notes
Hi,
Over the weekend I installed a new steering rack on my 99 Camry 4 cyl, and I'd like to share my experience. Both of the inner tie rod ends on my old rack were bad (after 113K miles) and instead of replacing them I decided to get a new rack, since it was only $20 more ($170 from Advance Auto parts). The rack comes with a lifetime warranty and if it ever goes bad (including inner tie rods) it'll be replaced for free.
I followed the instructions in Haynes and Toyota manuals and they are pretty good. Here are important points to pay attention to
1. Jack the front end as high as possible. It's make your like easier when removing the rack, trust me. Keep the rear end on the ground. Place the jack stands on the sides.
2. Spray sway bar bolts with lots of penetrating oil of your choice both from top and bottom. You do not want them to snap. If they do, it'll be VERY difficult to drill them out due to the lack of space.
3. I did not remove outer tie rod ends from the hub. I simply disconnected them from the rack.
4. I did not drop the subframe like some people here suggest. There is enough room to remove sway bar w/o doing it.
5. Do not touch exhaust, no need
6. Remove the plastic shield covering fuel lines like the manual suggests. It'll make your life much easier when trying to access steering rack left bolt.
7. You'll need a breaker bar or air impact to remove main bolts. My electric 200lb impact did not work.
8. Separating the rack from the intermediate shaft took a while. I used a pry bar with some washers to push it out. Once you figure out how to do it, it's actually pretty easy.
9. Pull the rack out from the left.
10. Install the new rack and reconnect everything. Before installing the new rack, make sure that the distance between the mounting holes on the new rack is EXACTLY the same as on the old one. Otherwise, it wont fit. All the new racks I've seen required adjustment for one of the brackets to make it fit. Right bracket on the rack CAN be adjusted. Just loosen it up, move it where it need to be, and clamp it back
11. Reconnect all the lines and bleed the system.
All together it took me 2 days, 3-4 hours each day. Second time will be faster. Special tools needed: torque wrenches, line wrenches.
Enjoy,
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99 Camry 2.2L
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Linear Mode
