Cause of Steering Issue(s)?

K

Knollie81

New member
Hey guys - hoping to get some feedback as the steering on my '06 4Runner is bothering me and the shop cannot seem to figure out the cause. Vehicle is @178k miles so some issues are to be expected but I am hoping to keep her running until at least 250k.

Here are the symptoms I am noticing:
1) Steering wheel seems to require more force than I remember to turn the wheel
2) Steering has a bit of delay in responsiveness from steering wheel
3) Steering wheel seems to require me to turn the wheel more than I remember (or possibly I am just thinking this because of #1 above)
4) I hear a sort of rubbing/grinding noise coming from behind the steering wheel in the steering column when slowly turning that sounds almost like sand rubbing or something

Suspension and power steering pump have been replaced within the last few years but neither of those have cured the problems. I do have a few ideas but I am no mechanic nor do I easily have the tools at any given moment to easily put it on a lift, etc.

Some theories I have are:
1) Steering rack may need replacement
2) Heard the steering rack bushings are rubber and wear out easily which may be the problem (as opposed to entire replacement of steering rack)
3) Also understand people seem to experience issues with the intermediate steering shaft rusting up and needing replacement

Any ideas what the culprits may be before I go into the black hole of throwing money at the shop guys to end up nowhere? Anyone experienced any of this on their T4Rs?
 
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A lot of people have different opinions on the transmission service do's and don'ts.
I think this video is pretty straight forward and can show the OP what he's getting into. I thought his ATF video was kind of overkill myself.
 
Thanks for the info guys! I saw the video from Eric the Car Guy a while back from a Google search.

Have you all had these symptoms from that part and have you replaced it?
 
Knollie81 said:
Thanks for the info guys! I saw the video from Eric the Car Guy a while back from a Google search.

Have you all had these symptoms from that part and have you replaced it?
Click to expand...

pull one end of that shaft loose and check the joints. you be able tell very quickly if one/both is bad.
 
I soaked mine down with white lithium grease spray to buy some time, until I get around to replacing it.
That helped out a lot
 
I am having the reverse issue with my '05 V6 4runner 225k miles. Steering feels loose in full range of motion from left to right stop. Looseness is about 1/2in each way and gives the feeling of bump steer when hitting bumps on road. Gravel roads and roads with pot holes are worse than good state paved roads. There is no clunking noise in steering.

I though it was probably suspension or steering rack bushings, but most of suspension is rebuilt now to fix noises and failing components (new lcas, new inner and outer tie rods, new cv axles with alignment). Steering rack bushings are still ok after prying rack and check rack for movement. Steering shaft U-joint is rusted, but not not total failing yet. Everything I have read says bad U-joint makes steering hard, not loose. Sway bar bushings and stablizer links are original, but look and feel ok. Steering rack is original but has no leaks.

Any ideas before I say it is the power steering rack?
 
The steering shaft is ridiculously expensive. I found a rust free one from out west on car-part.com for about $50.
 
I've been fighting steering issues on my 2WD V6 03 for a few years.

Its always felt super stiff occasionally to steer. But then on the interstate it would wander, and I could never get it in a straight line without correcting, to the point where it was still stiff to turn the wheel, but the steering itself felt loose and sloppy.

The wandering ended up being the steering rack, which Toyota replaced for $1k. They aligned it after, it stopped wandering but pulled hard to the left. A week after the new rack and alignment, I blew the right front tire off the rim by driving on a back road in South Carolina and hitting a deep pothole. Switched to the unmatched spare, and it fixed the left pull completely.

Got the original type re-glued back onto the rim, and realigned after taking that hit, and it was back to pulling to the left again.

Ujoint is completely rust free. Steering still feels stiff, and occasionally when turning quickly The steering will run outta power steering energy. Some days I swear its worse than other, especially if I'm braking at the same time.

Im at the point where I reckon its the power steering pump, possibly combined with a frozen caliper, possibly also combined with a bad set of tires (New a year ago), maybe a bad alignment, and even other worn components in the front end. Too hard...
 
Spray lube your steering ujoints and then see if its better my 03 had same problem and I just kept it lubed and it did the trick.
 
[MENTION=73674]kiwiyoda[/MENTION] - maybe the wheel is bent? But that would seem obvious if it were the case. Are you 100% sure the tire pressure is the same in all of the tires?

I had the issue where the steering was really loose but it seems fine now after I had a bunch of work done to it (replaced shocks/struts, brake calipers - since 1 was frozen, and new tires). The problem I am having now is it is a little tough to turn and I especially notice the difference when I switch back after driving my wife's car.
 
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Guys- can I access the u-joint to lubricate it without removing a bunch of stuff? Can it be easily accessed without too much effort?

Thinking of taking care of it this weekend if possible while changing the oil. Also, anybody ever use Seafoam in their engine oil just prior to an oil change? Was thinking of giving this a try to quiet some light valve ticking.
 
You've watched the Eric the car guy video...so all you have to do is spray down the u-joint with white lithium grease(or some other lubricant). I used a white lithium grease aerosol spray can with the little straw attachment on the spray nozzle. Soaked it down good a few months ago and my steering wheel doesn't take near as much effort to turn. It may take a few days of driving for the grease to work into the joint.
 
Thanks for the help all! I recently replaced the Michelin tires I had on there that had experienced some serious scalloping on the inside tread from the last shop I was going to. I won't get too worked up on that topic again as that is a long, painful story in and of itself...basically the AAA car care center mechanics I dealt with at that time were about as incompetent as they come.

Anyway, I replaced the old ones (believe they were Michelin Cross Terrains) with Michelin LTX MS2s and the steering is back to being smooth as butter. These were the identified replacement from the new shop I am going to so I cannot imagine they are too much different. I know the tread on tires affect the ride of the vehicle - which is also obviously drastically improved - but was a little surprised that they seemed to improve the perceived stiffness of the steering.
 
Update: I think I was dealing with 2 issues at the time of my original post and thought I would document for others that may run across this down the road.

1) The Intermediate Steering Shaft was making the steering too tight but I have been spraying the lower u-joint portion of this every once in a while with White Lithium grease and it is much, much better.

2) I was complaining about looseness/play in the steering as well. Sounds strange considering the details of #1 above but it I assure you this was the case. I have still not corrected this but it looks like a "tack weld", which I have seen alot of the 3rd Gen guys mention on here, would remedy this. Can anyone point me towards a write-up on doing this myself with a 4th gen? Is it the same approach/configuration as on the 3rd gen?

Thanks in advance.
 
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