I've been chasing a vibration/wobble that feels much like an out of balance wheel except it's not an out of balance wheel. I just had my wife wiggle the steering wheel while I was underneath it and there is a very, very small amount of play in the rack at the bushings. I doubt that it's even a millimeter total. Is it supposed to be absolutely rigid?

Purchased my 4Runner used and it's always had a slight play in the steering. It really annoyed me at first but I've gotten used to it. There were a few others on here who had the same issue, I remember one guy replaced almost everything and still had slight play in his steering.

Mine has gotten noticeably worse in the 6 months that I've owned it. A little slop in the steering is acceptable, but this is a clear wobble at 60 to 65 mph just like a wheel that's out of balance. Brand new tires that have been balanced three times including by the dealer.

I'm curious to see any informed responses you get here because I think I've got this same issue. I get an intermittent shake or wobble that resembles an out-of-balance wheel at certain speeds in my truck, too, and during a recent garage visit the mechanic told me my steering rack needed to be replaced because there was play in it.

I told him not to touch it and have been driving it for about two months now since he said that, and other than the occasional wobble I honestly don't notice anything that would otherwise indicate my steering rack is shot. I found a video showing how to replace the bushings in the steering rack, however the video was filmed using a 3rd gen and I'm not sure the same service applies to the 4th gen. If it does, I'm definitely going to try that route first before dumping well over $1,000 into replacing a part that shouldn't be work out yet in the first place.

I have no comparison, but I would have to assume that 1mm or less in play would be normal for rubber bushings. Rubber flexes and there is a lot of pressure on them when turn the wheels while the vehicle is stationary. Right?

How much play does your rack have?

I can't say how much play there is in mine because I haven't put it up on stands since the mechanic told me about the alleged problem. I've got plans to do some work on it at some point in the next few weeks so I'll see if I can't figure out how much play I've got in my rack while I'm under there.

It's easier to test for play without lifting it, actually. When it's lifted, there is no resistance and the rack can move the wheels freely. I doubt that you'd find much deflection in the bushings. It is only when the rack is trying to turn the wheel in one direction and the friction between the concrete and the tire is trying to keep the wheel from turning that you can really see the deflection clearly.

Just have somebody rock the wheel back in forth and crawl under there with a flashlight and you should pretty quickly get a feel for how much movement is there.