Should the Steering Gear have play in it?

[Milan]

01 Double Cab V6 4X4

I have the dreaded front end clunk and as I was trying to find the culprit I found out the my steering gear/rack has play in it. With the front end jacked up, I can grab the tire at 12 and 6 and get no play whatsoever but if I grab it at 3 and 9 I can wiggle it back and forth about a 1/4 inch and it makes a clunking sound that I traced it back to the steering gear and where I put the yellow arrow, it rotates about 1/8 turn. It that normal?

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i241/ridinghi/IMG00036-20090823-1423.jpg

[Albino]

I don't have the answer to your question but mine does the same thing.

[cornbread]

Mine too (04 dbl cab 4x4).

I don't have the clunk, but I've had steering play since I bought it and my truck only has 16k miles on it (it's bone stock).

[hoist00]

I'm not 100% sure but I think thay are suppose to have a little bit of play in them.

[darwink1]

pull back the boot on the rack and then jiggle the wheel. could be an inner tre or the rack itself. theres a bushing in the rack that wears out.

D

[Milan]

Thanks for the responses. So it seems normal. I really need to figure out what the culprit is to this front end clunking. It seems to be getting worse by the day. I am convinced that it has something to do with the steering rack/gear or whatever it is called.

[tacomasr4me]

Its in the booted area. If you pull back the big end off the rack you will see were the slack is. You will have to turn the wheel all the way to one side to see it but the ones i worked on have a big nut and it was loose. Tighten it up and the slack goes away. May be due to the bushing wearing out. But the area your arrow is pointing is suppose to have slack. Has to do with the power steering not being powered with engine off.

[tacomasr4me]

If you go to that site that has the FSM you can download it and see how all the parts fit and how to inspect them

[tacomasr4me]

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i91/merace19/rack.jpg

[Maxx]

im having the same exact problem. Mine wasnt too bad but not i turn the wheel and it clanks through out the whole turn. But thats only when driving slow. Im convinced that its the rack.

[NorCalTaco]

http://www.energysuspension.com/search-result-details.html?id=2128&make=34&year=2000&model=491&partNumSearch=

[tacomasr4me]

http://www.energysuspension.com/search-result-details.html?id=2128&make=34&year=2000&model=491&partNumSearch=

The rack itself is not moving. Its the internal parts, that link listed is the mounting bushings. I had the same problem. I replaced the internal bushing and fixed it.

[hossmaster]

I had this type of rattle before. I replaced my rack bushings and other then being a bet more responsive i still had this slight tink and rattle. turned out to be my lower control arm bolts (eccentrics) were a bit loose and causing the sound.