Advice : noise in suspension?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by Slanoie

Hi guys,

As summer is coming, I did some maintenance on my Yaris and I have a strange noise on it. When I turn the steering wheel, I hear a "TOC" when I go from left to right / right to left. The same sound that I was used to with a tie rod end failure on my (two!) previous dodge neon.

Checked the tie rod end, ball joint, every suspension linkage, bushings, also the springs, everything seems fine. Went to the dealer and they told me it was the steering gear (!)...

My question : is it safe to drive with too much play in the steering gear? I don't see how it could fail, and I would like to have it repair (I'll do if it's unsafe), but it's not a cheap thing...

The worst case failure mode is jamming, but I don't think that is a likely failure.

I have a spare and tight steering rack assembly if you are interested.