Toyota Prius Mk2

Part five: We strip and rebuild the hybrid’s steering rack.

Including VAT, a new steering rack costs £1041.50,” the man from the West Riding Toyota Bradford parts department calmly told us over the telephone. We were astounded by the price, especially considering the assembly’s lack of sophistication – it doesn’t contain any hydraulic or electrical components.

We didn’t buy it, as it would have cost almost as much as the value of the vehicle. Instead, we removed the original steering rack on the ramp at MJ Motors, then took it to a local specialist, SRE Hydrasteer, to be stripped, checked and rebuilt. While this isn’t as good as buying a new steering rack, it’s a lot cheaper at £78. Most of the components could be reused or refurbished, and the reconditioned steering rack has eliminated the annoying knocking noise we could hear whenever we drove the Prius, particularly over rough surfaces.

There was just one worrying moment during the steering rack overhaul. When we came to refitting it, we realised we didn’t know where the middle of the steering rack was, which was essential to ensure everything was centralised, including the steering wheel and the road wheels. We could have marked the splines on the pinion, but there was no guarantee the pinion would be refitted in the same position. So with the steering rack on the floor, we turned it from lock-to-lock and counted the turns, which came to an estimated 3.75. Then we turned the steering from full lock back by half this amount (a little over 1.8 turns) to estimate a middle point.

After fitting the steering rack, we wound on the track rod ends and made sure the brake discs were pointing straight ahead, before reconnecting the track rod ends to the steering arms. We also fitted the steering column to the rack and checked that the steering wheel was in the correct position. Finally, we turned the steering from lock-to-lock from our calculated middle point, and it turned by equal amounts in both directions.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we carefully drove the Prius less than 100 metres to the local Wilco Motosave to have the tracking checked. When we arrived, the leading edge of both front tyres was clearly sticking out, but with everything being easy to adjust, the tracking was altered in minutes.

Other jobs have been much simpler, such as renewing the pollen filter, but we enjoyed the challenge of the steering rack and we’re relieved it has worked. We could never have justified spending more than £1000 on a component that should cost no more than £200.