Replace electric rack and pinion on a 2005 Toyota Prius?

[macarose]

The problem seems to be finding one that's worth using.

I feel a bit lukewarm about the remanufactured units. There's definitely some variance on the quality and durability of the components I'm finding on Amazon and Ebay versus a factory unit.

I also can get one for $75 at a local auto recycler that has about a half-dozen of them. It may be worth finding one with the lowest number of miles and no front end damage.

Of course Rockauto has a few too. But pretty much all of them seem like refurbs. I can get their Cardone unit for less on Bezos-Mart and with a guarantee.

I'm thinking that the lowest mileage unit from a recycler may be the best way to go. Any thoughts on this? I'm stuck in the weeds without a compass.

 

[D60]

Not electric but I had a Cardone reman fail in under a year on an '02 Taco.

I've never trusted them since

 

[macarose]

Not electric but I had a Cardone reman fail in under a year on an '02 Taco.

I've never trusted them since

I'm having the same trust issues which is exactly why I may be going straight to a Toyota factory unit.

 

[D60]

Are there not small scale boutique rebuilders? I've never even laid a wrench on a Prius so I wouldn't know but it's a popular, long-lived platform with a cult following.

 

[eljefino]

How do these go bad? I got 300k out of a factory one and the steering was still tight.

 

[macarose]

How do these go bad? I got 300k out of a factory one and the steering was still tight.

I believe the dealership that had this vehicle tightened the bolt between the rack and pinion and the passenger tie rod end and snapped it off. They were doing an alignment and used excessive force.

The force was enough to damage the tie rod end as well.

 

[Klutch9]

I believe the dealership that had this vehicle tightened the bolt between the rack and pinion and the passenger tie rod end and snapped it off. They were doing an alignment and used excessive force.

The force was enough to damage the tie rod end as well.

View attachment 266336

View attachment 266337

The whole rack is bad? Looks like you just need new inner and outer tie rods. The inside part that broke isn’t the rack, it’s the inner tie rod.

 

[macarose]

I believe if you look at the rack you'll see a small piece of it broke off as well. I may be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.

 

[Drifter]

Factory assembly for 75.00 at the parts yard sounds fair. Id go with that.

 

[brages]

Yeah, $75 for an electric rack sounds like a deal if you don't have to pick it.

I don't think these go bad very often.

I have replaced two Ford electric racks, one was $35 and I had to pick it. The other was $300 iirc and it was a BBB. Not impressed by the quality, but it's been working fine.

I rate it a several hour job, about equal to a timing belt in my book.

 

[Dadillac]

I believe if you look at the rack you'll see a small piece of it broke off as well. I may be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.

Can you point that out? It looks like the inner tie rod is broken and needs replacement. As well as the outer tie rod. The inner tie rod is not part of the rack. It is replaceable.

Don

 

[macarose]

Can you point that out? It looks like the inner tie rod is broken and needs replacement. As well as the outer tie rod. The inner tie rod is not part of the rack. It is replaceable.

Don

I'm going to get a closer look at both when I get it into the dealership.

 

[Nukeman7]

I believe if you look at the rack you'll see a small piece of it broke off as well. I may be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.

Can you point that out? It looks like the inner tie rod is broken and needs replacement. As well as the outer tie rod. The inner tie rod is not part of the rack. It is replaceable.

Don

Unless there is some additional damage not visible in your photo, you only need to replace the inner and outer tie rods, not the whole steering rack. In fact, it may be possible to save the outer tie rod ends by removing the jamb nut, but I'd change both. Watch the video and it shows how simple it is.

 

[brages]

On my son's Prius - which I believe is also a 2005 - the local shop wouldn't do an alignment on it because the tie rod adjustment was too rusted.

So we got inner and outer tie rods from Rockauto and switched them out. It was a much easier job than a rack replacement, and tie rods are cheap. There is a tie rod tool you can borrow from Autozone that makes the inners real easy to do.

For removing the old tie rods, I cut them with an angle grinder - they looked just like your broken rod when I got done with them!

 

[250SD_54V8]

On my 2004 Prius the rack is a manual rack and the electric power assist unit is in the steering column. I replaced my rack with a new unit from Advanced Auto Parts that they sourced from World Pac. It was cheaper than their reman one.

 

[macarose]

On my son's Prius - which I believe is also a 2005 - the local shop wouldn't do an alignment on it because the tie rod adjustment was too rusted.

So we got inner and outer tie rods from Rockauto and switched them out. It was a much easier job than a rack replacement, and tie rods are cheap. There is a tie rod tool you can borrow from Autozone that makes the inners real easy to do.

For removing the old tie rods, I cut them with an angle grinder - they looked just like your broken rod when I got done with them!

I ordered the outer and inner tie rod ends along with the sway bar links. Since I'm there I'll take care both sides. The unit has only 100,000 miles, but since it's also 20 years old this will be good preventative maintenance.