Eliminate Steering Wheel "knock"

[JacksonRally]

I think a some point those who have taken their 4Runner off road have noticed a slight "knocking" in the steering wheel/column area. This has been discussed and a solution has been suggested. I finally looked into this as mine was starting to do it more and more and the previous solution to move up and re-adjust the connector in the engine bay does not do squat.

So I decided to check and see where all the play was coming from. I promptly checked under the dash and noticed that Toyota uses a rubber isolator in the connection of the column components. Simple fix, replace rubber with steel.

Rubber



Steel





No more knock and a much, much more responsive steering feel.

 

[NOVA46]

Very interesting fix, thanks for the post! I agree, the steering knocking can be unsettling while on the trail. I'd really like to see how your steering performs in the future. Are you not worried that the increased stiffness of the column may put too much stress or direct pressure onto the rack and pinion unit?

 

[hearno]

Are you not worried that the increased stiffness of the column may put too much stress or direct pressure onto the rack and pinion unit?

I'd be curious about the same. I'm guessing Toyota made it rubber for a reason.

 

[JacksonRally]

Very interesting fix, thanks for the post! I agree, the steering knocking can be unsettling while on the trail. I'd really like to see how your steering performs in the future. Are you not worried that the increased stiffness of the column may put too much stress or direct pressure onto the rack and pinion unit?

Our oversized tires are putting all of the stresses on the rack. The isolator or damper is purely a sunday drive comfort thing. If I were to go a step further I would double shear and solid mount the rack. But for a daily driver that is a bit much.

 

[hearno]

So how did you make the steel piece to fill in the gap?

 

[NOVA46]

Our oversized tires are putting all of the stresses on the rack. The isolator or damper is purely a sunday drive comfort thing. If I were to go a step further I would double shear and solid mount the rack. But for a daily driver that is a bit much.

This makes sense. Please keep this thread updated to its condition over the next few months.

 

[JB.]

The isolator or damper is purely a sunday drive comfort thing.

Trying to understand this.

So how does the rubber isolator make Sunday driving more comfortable and how does your Sunday driving feel now?

 

[Buckles]

So how did you make the steel piece to fill in the gap?

X2. What material did you use? Thickness? I work for a steel company so nothing should be hard to come by.

I also noticed that you replaced your bolts in backwards. did you do that on purpose or did you use new bolts?

 

[JacksonRally]

Trying to understand this.

So how does the rubber isolator make Sunday driving more comfortable and how does your Sunday driving feel now?

The isolator is there to reduce NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) Might reduce one, all or a combination. So lets say a nice new Scion FRS might not have this isolater versus a Camry would likely have a few items to make grandmas Sunday drive more comfortable. Similar to switching out factory sloppy bushings to a nice poly bushing. Better road feel and feedback.

 

[JacksonRally]

X2. What material did you use? Thickness? I work for a steel company so nothing should be hard to come by.

I also noticed that you replaced your bolts in backwards. did you do that on purpose or did you use new bolts?

I used 3/8'' plate and cut the profile to match the rubber isolator. The isolator had studs in it and I did not reuse them so I put in grade 10.9 8mmx1.25 to fasten the plate to the u-joint. The other 2 bolts are factory.

Please, please, please have a GOOD understanding of the entire steering system before attempting to modify it!! Use RED loctite on any fastener you remove. And use appropriate grade hardware (10.9)

I would also like to add that this does not affect the columns ability to collapse in a collision. All that good stuff will still function as intended.