Just took my 2007 GX-470 with 133,000 miles in for an oil change and the tech told me that my rack assembly is leaking and needs to be replaced to the tune of a little over $1000.

Is this something fairly common? I haven't been able to find a whole lot of information on this forum pointing to problem with GXs..

 

just replaced mine with a Lexus part, it was not a fun job, major pain in the butt, i have 07 with 130,000 miles

Seth

 

Not that I would normally recommend this as a fix, but before you drop $1000 on a leaking rack replacement, try some power steering fluid with stop leak. PS with stop leak has seal conditioners and you may just be able to swell the seals enough to get the leak to stop. You can also try to just flush the system with ATF Dexrom II with seal conditioners as well. It is straightforward fairly easy procedure. If this doesn't work and it's starting to affect your steering (ex. binding wheel, etc), go ahead and replace the rack. If you're not going to do it yourself, an independent shop may offer a better price point for you. Whatever you do, try and get a new rack, not a reman.

If you want more info on the rack replacement, try searching on http://t4r.org. 4th gen 4Runners are the same platform as the GX470 and share many of the same parts. The procedure for replacing it will probably be the same.