I just saw the steering recall on the archive. I received a letter. Is it worth it to have the steering damper replaced during the repair?

The stock damper sucks, if you really think you need one get an aftermarket one.

what exactly is this steering relay recall ,,i got a letter in the mail about it bout do not know what it is

Diagram showed that it had to be removed and practically free labor. Any suggestions as far as brand?

The relay rod has the possibility of cracking and breaking, causing loss of control of vehicle. Mine broke while driving down the road causing me to side swipe a row of trees. Its the main reason I now have a flatbed.

x2, mine broke just after entering a trail in '05. Mine had suffered a crack about 1/2 way through it and had been there long enough to age. Had it broke anywhere else but where it did, I probably wouldn't have survived, i.e highway then twisty mountain pass to the trail head.

When they break they tend to break right at the pitman arm.

I wouldn't pay to have the steering stabilizer replaced, just pick up a $20 aftermarket one from a parts store.

Also make sure that the shop does an alignement as well.

Writeup in the Toyota Tech Archive

The crack on my relay rod had also been there awhile. Looking at the cross section of the break, halfway through the surface was rusted and weathered.
Toyota sent out an inspector who checked it out and took a bunch of pictures. They eneded up paying me a lump sum equal to the value of the vehicle, based on the large amount of damage.

I would imagine there are quite a few legal claims comming about since the recall for those that wrecked their rigs and blamed it on fatigue from wheeling. That is all I thought it was until I went to the wrecking yard, and found one broken exactly like mine on a stock '90+ 4runner. Then it was obvious that it wasn't from wheeling, but faulty manufacturing/design. I had considered contacting Toyota, but since I found a replacement(off a 2nd gen) for $20 and I didn't sufer any propery/personal injury from the break, I didn't think it was worth the effort. Of course had I been injured I certainly would have persued legal action.

Be aware that your shop will probably find that your idler arm bushing needs to be replaced. A friend of mine had his '90 recalled, the shop told him his idler arm had to be replaced... for $300! He spoke to me immediately after the shop called him, so I called AutoZone and got the cost of a bushing only ($2.50). I advised my friend that we could rebuild his idler arm in about 20 minutes for $2.50. (Very simple job)

He called the dealership back, not 10 minutes after they had called him, and the work was already done. $300 for a 10 minute job.

When his son's truck got recalled, he pulled the idler arm and put bronze bushings in it, which is what I had done to mine.