Continual Steering Corrections

[craig77]

Last year I purchased a 2009 4Runner Limited with the XRES sport suspension. It had 31K mileage and brand new Toyo Spectrum tires. Upon driving the vehicle home, I noticed that I had to make constant (every 3 seconds or so) very slight steering corrections. This happens at all speeds over 30 mph and despite which side of the highway crown I am on. I wish I had noticed this on the test drive before I bought the car but, alas, I did not. I figured an alignment would correct the problem. I took it to Sears and they checked the alignment and it was spot on. They said in all fairness they could not make it any better than it was. Very decent of them. So I took it to a Toyota dealership and went on a test drive with a mechanic. He noticed the problem and said it needed an alignment and a super wheel alignment. $200 later - $100 for the alignment and $25 to balance each wheel - and it was no better. In fact, it was worse in that they didn't center the steering wheel. I requested the before and after print out which showed all they did was adjust the toe-in a slight amount. I like the vehicle but I'm ready to get rid of it because it is so tiresome to drive. I've been driving 50 years and have never encountered anything like this. Has anyone ever dealt with something like this?

 

[drewm]

First make sure you don't have a seized brake caliper. They have been known to do that. You'll notice one wheel and rotor will be much hotter than the others in that case.

If not that, because only the front alignment is adjustable, you may want to check all the rear suspension links to make sure they aren't bent, that could be throwing it off. Also check to make sure the axle housing is straight. Although if they give you the front and rear alignment readouts, it would show there.

 

[RobSinclair]

When this happened to me it was my inner Tie Rods. The boots had come loose and water and debris had gotten inside and ruined the joints. My LT295/70R17 Toyos probably didn't help either.

 

[nevada]

Last year I purchased a 2009 4Runner Limited with the XRES sport suspension. It had 31K mileage and brand new Toyo Spectrum tires. Upon driving the vehicle home, I noticed that I had to make constant (every 3 seconds or so) very slight steering corrections. This happens at all speeds over 30 mph and despite which side of the highway crown I am on. I wish I had noticed this on the test drive before I bought the car but, alas, I did not. I figured an alignment would correct the problem. I took it to Sears and they checked the alignment and it was spot on. They said in all fairness they could not make it any better than it was. Very decent of them. So I took it to a Toyota dealership and went on a test drive with a mechanic. He noticed the problem and said it needed an alignment and a super wheel alignment. $200 later - $100 for the alignment and $25 to balance each wheel - and it was no better. In fact, it was worse in that they didn't center the steering wheel. I requested the before and after print out which showed all they did was adjust the toe-in a slight amount. I like the vehicle but I'm ready to get rid of it because it is so tiresome to drive. I've been driving 50 years and have never encountered anything like this. Has anyone ever dealt with something like this?

what size are the tires?

you might see if someone(maybe the dealer?) will bolt on a different set of tire, and see how it drives.

 

[craig77]

I'll have the inner tie rods checked. My tires are stock size P265/60/R18. I've read that the Toyo Supremes are not that good and that they are the cheapest Toyos. I wonder if upgrading to a Michelin might help? What are you running now that you got rid of your Toyos?

 

[inscarguy]

i can honestly say tires have a huge difference on how a vehicle drives. i had bfg's for a few years on my 4runner. took them off and replaced them with michelin ms2's and it was a huge difference. the bfgs were still almost new when i took them off.

 

[DC runner]

You get a bad enough seized caliper and this could happen. 1 or 2 of the 4 pistons might not, but if you had 3 or all? Sure. Kinda shocked Toyota didn't check as this is a pretty well known issue with the 4th gens.

 

[Asmara]

i can honestly say tires have a huge difference on how a vehicle drives. i had bfg's for a few years on my 4runner. took them off and replaced them with michelin ms2's and it was a huge difference. the bfgs were still almost new when i took them off.

Tires and tire pressure. Make sure you are at 32lbs like the manual recommends. I had the same problem when I got the 4Runner and the pressure was at 35lbs. Makes a huge difference but is somewhat dependent on which tires.

 

[JB.]

Continual Steering Corrections

Lots of possibilities but just to add another -- sometimes a particular tire tread will just happen to match up badly with a particular road surface.

Keep testing on as many different road surfaces as you can to eliminate the possibility, and pressure adjustments may help.

Also, if it's a V6, try driving in 4hi. If that improves the tracking enough for you, you just found a cheap solution that should only cost you about $2 a month in gas.

Also, you might try getting an alignment tech to increase the positive caster to it's max.

 

[RobSinclair]

I didn't get rid of the Toyos. They are just a very large tire. They probably exacerbated the failure of my tie rods. Once I replaced the tie rods the issue was gone 100%.

Here is a video discussing how to check the Inner Tie Rod.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAazr7ocboo

 

[texana]

I just purchased a 2014 SR5 (2 wheel drive) with 15K miles and surprised to discover a very annoying steering drift above 65mph that requires constant steering wheel pressure and management. I will take it in for inspection of all factors mentioned in this thread, but all parts still appear brand new and my fear is that it is "normal", since a friend who owns a very similar Lexus has the same problem. A search brought me here, and also to a video of a guy who spot-welded the collapsable portion of the steering column (of a late 90's model) to remove any free play found there, and he said it worked wonders. A dealer won't do that since it is a safety issue, but I sure hope this is fixable.

 

[preacher35]

Also, make sure that you do not have any "play" in the steering gear, as this would CERTAINLY cause the problem that you are describing.

 

[superman3043]

I've always had this issue with mine, since I bought it at 32K miles. I've just accepted it as "normal" as well. I chased it forever when I first got it, with multiple alignments and such. When I drive my dads Tundra, it does not behave like this and I always wished my truck had the same steering feel as the Tundra.

No seized calipers, 5 different sets of tires, 3 different sets of wheels, multiple perfect alignments. I'm probably going to replace my lower control arms and tie rods in the near future to see if that helps. It's very annoying indeed, but I've just learned to live it. Maybe somebody will figure it out here. Good luck!

 

[texana]

I'm somewhat relieved, after an alignment. No longer a major bother to keep it between the stripes. Still gets blown around and easily lured by road undulations, but not bad. I'm a recent convert from the Pathfinder, and find the 4R lacking in just this one regard. Looking forward to some Michelins, and love the mileage... at a 1/4 tank left, already gone 400 miles!

 

[Gecko123]

My 4runner has the same issue and I have tried everything but I would say anything that affects suspension such as ties rods, struts, ball joints etc will impact this issue you are having. Read up or google tramline

I have stock wheels which are 18". When I switch to my winter set which are 17" rims the tramlining issue is lessen by quite a bit. This is because the "18 wheels have lower profile tires relative to my 17" wheels. Also the 18" wheels treads are less blocky tread which again increases tramlining

Again i would reading up traminlining


When I talked to a toyota mechanic he said this is quite common thing with 4runners so it's somewhat normal.

 

[superman3043]

I wanted to update and revisit this issue. I just rebuilt my lower control arms with fresh bushings and ball joints and replaced my outer tie rod ends. After alignment, still no real improvement. Could be because I added some wheel spacers and increased my offset.

I read up on tramlining. Thanks Gecko! Seems like you were spot on with that issue. I've got so many factors that would contribute to tramlining; Soft tread, stiff sidewalls, wide tires, large worn tread blocks, larger wheels and tires with increased offset. I've experienced the issue even on a stock setup, but it's definitely more pronounced with my current set up.

I'm going to play around with tire pressure to see if it helps any because I'm running pretty high pressure. Though, I've experimented with it before. We'll see.