So I was driving to practice today, and noticed that when I got on the freeway and got going, my steering wheel started to rotate back and forth a tiny distance at a fairly high frequency. Made my arm start to shake, and I got a little concerned. It also isn't constant comes and goes and seems to be generally related to speed, and the intensity varies as well.
I did some searching here to see if I could find someone with a similar issue, but all I was able to find were stories about the entire front end wobbling. I'd like to be optimistic and hope that it's just the resonance frequency of the car, but somehow I feel that isn't the case. Anybody have any ideas what might be up? Or point me to a thread that I may have missed. Thanks in advance and I'm sorry if I missed an obvious thread that answers this.

Could be alignment, wheel balance issue, worn steering rack bushings, or a few other things. Look on your tires (on the inside and outside) for a clean spot where a weight may have fallen off. Look under your truck as a friend turns the steering wheel and see if the rack has any play in it (if it moves more than a tiny bit, the bushings are wearing out). Look at all your ball joints and tie rod ends and make sure none of the rubber is cracked or leaking grease. You could jack the front up also and shake the tires to see if they wobble, that may indicate a bad wheel bearing. Just some thoughts..

Thanks for the help. I realize it can't be diagnosed via the internet, but those sounds like good places to start. My cousin is a mechanic and his favorite story is how his friend held the phone up to his truck's engine so my cousin could tell him what was wrong. I guess this is the modern-day equivalent?

i have the same exact freaking issue. rotating and balancing and installing poly bushings made it a lot better. shocks are next and we'll go from there. i have an 02 with 84k miles btw. the tires being rotated and balanced have had the biggest impact. good luck

Sorry, I'm relatively new to most of this stuff, what do you mean by "poly bushings"? Sounds like I might want to start with rotation and alignment, I need two new tires anyway...

Nine times out of ten, it's a wheel balance problem. Many shops can't do a decent balance and sometimes it's a out of round tire or wheel and the shop can't fix that. It must be replaced.

Edit to add:

You can isolate to the wheels or even the exact wheel by rotating. First move fronts to back. Problem goes away confirms it's wheel balance. Then move one wheel at a time to front to find exactly which wheel.

That's good news, better than something wrong with the steering mechanism to be sure.
I need two new tires anyway so I'll probably just have them do a rotate/align/balance when they put the tires on.

Thanks for all the help guys, this is the one of the most helpful forums I've ever been on.

Poly bushings like these...

Power Steering Rack Bushing Kit (95.5-04 Tacoma) - Toytec Lifts: Toyota Lift Kits: FJ Cruiser Lift Kits, Tacoma Lift Kits, Tundra Lift Kits, 4 Runner Lift Kits, Sequoia Lift Kits, Toyota Truck Lift Kits

I need some new ones too... I actually have them, just havent put them on...

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the link!

Hi, New to this forum. Have just bought a 98 4runner. When stationary, there is about an inch of free movement in the steering wheel before it meets resistance. This causes kickback on rough CA freeways. Any advice? Installed new tires, balanced, alignment, new KYB struts, no play in the rack. What else???

I'll try to remember to check when I get to my car tomorrow, but I know mine has at least some play in the wheel when parked. As far as I know it's nothing to worry about, my dad's suburban has the same sort of thing, my suspicion is that it has something to do with the number of linkages and the distance between the steering wheel and the wheels themselves. If each joint has a little bit of slop those little bits tend to add up real quick. If you're worried about it you could probably call a mechanic and just ask them if the amount is normal. Depending on where you are in socal there are a few shops I've talked to (never taken my 4runner to though) here in LA and I can give you the names.

have you had the lower ball joints fixed. their was a recal on 01 and 02

Hello,

I have a problem with my steering wheel wobbling over 60 mph when i let go of the accelerator. Is this problem due to wheel balance or alignment? Also I just recently changed my rotors and change all 4 tires. You recommend me do a wheel alignment on all tires? I never done a wheel alignment on my 2004 4 runner. any advices would be helpful? thanks!

Rotate and balance along with an alignment

Thanks John for the response. How much does it usually cost for the 4-wheel alignment? Do you recommend any good places who does it in the NY metro area? What is the name of alignment machine company? Have you ever heard of John Bean or Hunter something like that? Thanks!