Feels like my 2005 dodge ram

[hamdog]

I will be more than glad to let you know that imperfections in the road can and will cause vehicles to track. In my area lots of roadwork being done, so lots of cracks, potholes, repaired sections, patches, divets, filled in gouges. I don't notice it much in my 4Runner with 285/70R17's but the vehicles I work on tend to follow those imperfections more. Its not so much a matter of tire width as much as tire flex and squish. I notice that the stiffer and skinnier the sidewall, the more that car wants to dive into ruts, buck against any imperfection in the road, and overall not track right.

Camber and particularly caster can play important roles in the tracking of a vehicle. Think negative caster; like a shopping cart wheel, how it doesn't really track straight and wobbles when you push the cart, compared to positive caster like a bicycle.

Back to the OP; I have a couple questions. What tires are you running (size, make, what PSI are you running?), did you get a chance to look at all your bushings and linkages? Do you have any problems with your power steering? Also, how severely is the vehicle wanting to track? like pulling to the right or left sharply or almost turning the entire wheel a revolution or so? When it does occur, are you on rather rough bumpy roads going at a moderate speed? Is the Traction Control or ABS kicking in at all during these times?

Thanks everyone for the help. The tires I'm running are the stock dunlops, at the tire stamped psi I would assume. The dealer just put them back on on. The power steering works great. The abs does not come on. The vehicle wanders mostly while riding on rougher than normal roads. On good roads/interstate the vehicle rides great and does not wander, just a slight vibration which is due to tire balance I think and steering wheel shake/loose front end feel over bumps. The biggest problem is just when riding on rough roads which are most of Vermont paved roads. Going over rough roads the front end feels loose, wanders a little but definitely the biggest issue is the vibration and "loose feeling". My Tacoma never felt like this.

I will specifically ask the dealer to check the swaybar bushings, linkage, and suspension again. I would think that it being a certified pre-own toyota they would have checked all of this.

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[chaz]

im a bit confused, on one hand you say it rides great with no wandering when you are on the street/highway, then you say the steering is loose & it wanders when offroad/rough road? cant help you with the problem but i'd like to suggest unloading the stock dunflops in favor of a better tire, that at least may help offroad.

 

[hamdog]

Let me try and clarify exactly what is going on. I probably contradicted myself in my previous posts, but after driving it more and really observing what is going on, here it is:

Like I said before at all speeds the front end feels loose, it wanders, there is play int he steering wheel, when you hit a bump it wanders more and the steering wheel shakes and "jumps" around. On the interstate the steering wheel shakes, not bad like out of balance but a noticeable and annoying vibration/shake. I have had the dealer rebalance the tires twice now.

I just drove my friends 2003 4runner limited 1ith 120k miles on it and he drove my rig, and we came to the same conclusion that there must be something wrong with my rig. His 4runners steering is tight, no play, rides over bumps with out the loose front end feel, it feels like I would expect a toyota to feel.

Now could the feel be the difference in suspension packages? I'm just about ready to go test drive another used 4runner with sport package on the dealerships lot to see if there is a difference and prove to them that their is something wrong with mine........

thanks guys!

 

[sonerick]

I think that all of the things that could possibly cause the condition you describe have already been mentioned/discussed previously in this thread. If you check out all of those things, then you will probably find your problem:

-Shocks (maybe your XREAS system has a leak)
-Bushings (LCA, UCA, etc.)
-Ball joints
-Other suspension/steering linkage components
-Tires (doubt it though)
-Alignment (starting to doubt that as well)
-Steering rack?

And to answer your most recent question, no, a properly functioning Sport suspension package (XREAS) should not feel loose, should not wander, etc. It should feel the same as the SR5 suspension setup but should be a little bit firmer and flatter in the corners.

 

[hamdog]

Thanks Sonerick,

I really hate to think that the dealer is just "blowing" me off on this item because they are waiting for there one yr bumper to bumper warranty to expire before they admit to a problem they have to fix.

I guess the next step is to pay another shop to take a look and get their opinion?????

Thanks everyone!

 

[ghser7]

I'm curious about how this turned out for you. Mine feels the same way. I know I need to fix a few things already:
Cv axles(torn boots)
Calipers(frozen)

I know my tires, alignment and suspension are not to blame here. My idea was bushings, but wanted to see what you came across with yours. Maybe even bearings, but don't hear them at all. I was going to try and pin point it more once I got around to the other things I needed to fix first.

 

[aimus2]

Resolved?

I'm curious about how this turned out for you. Mine feels the same way. I know I need to fix a few things already:
Cv axles(torn boots)
Calipers(frozen)

I know my tires, alignment and suspension are not to blame here. My idea was bushings, but wanted to see what you came across with yours. Maybe even bearings, but don't hear them at all. I was going to try and pin point it more once I got around to the other things I needed to fix first.

Just wondering if you guys ever got this problem resolved and if so...how.
My 3rd gen tr4 is doing the same. Just had new shocks front and rear and sway bar end links installed. Helped a little but still not good. New sway bar bushings and steering rack bushings on the way and should be installed by end of next week. Hope this does it. Not only does it wander but th entire vehicle rocks back and forth like i'm driving on a big rubber ball. Scary when I hit bumps or rock the steering wheel back and forth. Hard to believe that a few rubber bushings would cause my rig to act this way. Guess we'll see. The old tried and true "keep throwing money at educated guesses technique".

 

[hamdog]

The dealership was not able to find anything and at $85/hr to diagnose I left it as is and been dealing with it. It has not gotten worst yet. Hopefully I can get some free time and jack it up and check everything myself. I was also going to wait till I put on new tires this winter on it to see if it makes a difference.

 

[xxaarraa]

Not sure if it applies to the T4R, but my 09 Tacoma had a very similar steering play issue on dirt roads. It was a well publicized "intermediate steering shaft" TSB. Worth a search on the TSB database to see if the T4R had anything sikilar.