Jitters on bumps

I've been following this thread due to having the same issues as OP. I ordered the steering rack bushings from wheelers and it didn't help, although my steering rack is tighter than before.

I also ordered new brakes and rotors for the front (brembo blanks and hawk pads), shocks all around (tokico trekmasters), and sway bar links (moog from Advance auto). Once I had everything replaced my jitters are gone and it drives like new again.

So, you may want to check if your shocks are still good. I'm pretty sure thats what my problem was. Now I can take bumps and not worry about losing control of the steering wheel.
 
For everyone who followed this thread and helped me out, thanks. Heres an update. When I had my new rear coils installed at a Toyota service center about two weeks ago I had them look at my front end since I couldnt seem to find the source of the front end jitters. In the past three months I had three other shops tell me they didnt see any issues in the front end. Everything looked good. But the Toyota center discovered that the left inner tie rod was loose. Obviously the previous three shops didnt spent the ten seconds it takes to remove the boot and look at the inner rod. I never really considered the tie rods cause you feel much play in the steering wheel. That may be because the right side is still tight. Anyway, I found the article in the tutorial section about the bearing (which the inner tie rod slides against) wearing out, allowing that unwanted play in the rod. Theres a short clip on the tutorial page that shows the play in the tie rod when moving the steering wheel. So I removed the boot on my driver side inner tie rod and watched it as I tured the wheel back and forth. Sure enough, it had the exact same play that the clip showed. So i ordered the new parts today. I imagine that slack in the tie rod translates into my "jittery" feeling front end when hitting little bumps. At least thats what im hopeing for. Will update after I make the repair.
 
Good thread

Op....Seems that this is a problem with many older 3gens. I hope you track this problem with success.
 
1985taylor1925 said:
For everyone who followed this thread and helped me out, thanks. Heres an update. When I had my new rear coils installed at a Toyota service center about two weeks ago I had them look at my front end since I couldnt seem to find the source of the front end jitters. In the past three months I had three other shops tell me they didnt see any issues in the front end. Everything looked good. But the Toyota center discovered that the left inner tie rod was loose. Obviously the previous three shops didnt spent the ten seconds it takes to remove the boot and look at the inner rod. I never really considered the tie rods cause you feel much play in the steering wheel. That may be because the right side is still tight. Anyway, I found the article in the tutorial section about the bearing (which the inner tie rod slides against) wearing out, allowing that unwanted play in the rod. Theres a short clip on the tutorial page that shows the play in the tie rod when moving the steering wheel. So I removed the boot on my driver side inner tie rod and watched it as I tured the wheel back and forth. Sure enough, it had the exact same play that the clip showed. So i ordered the new parts today. I imagine that slack in the tie rod translates into my "jittery" feeling front end when hitting little bumps. At least thats what im hopeing for. Will update after I make the repair.
Click to expand...
Cool! I hope that fixes it if so I'm doing this fix pronto! Thanks 1985Taylor1925! Keep us all posted...
 
Here is another update on figuring out my front end jitter issue. I just replaced the old bearing with the newer slider which guides the inner tie rod. It tightened the drivers side tie rod as expected, but did not fix my front end jitters. I wondered about it since it has no effect on the passenger side tie rod. There is no guide to replace on that side. Im going to assume at this point that like the Toyota service center told me, I just need a new steering rack, which really sucks considering the price. Although ball joints may also be part of my jitter problem.

Question . . .

has anyone here changed their inner tie rods? Im just wondering if that may fix my problem. The service center said it was the inner tie rods that were loose. The leak in my steering rack is very minor, so Im wondering if I can just replace the inner tie rods and bypass getting an entire new steering rack? Any advice is appreciated
 
1985taylor1925 said:
Question . . .
has anyone here changed their inner tie rods? Im just wondering if that may fix my problem. The service center said it was the inner tie rods that were loose. The leak in my steering rack is very minor, so Im wondering if I can just replace the inner tie rods and bypass getting an entire new steering rack? Any advice is appreciated
Click to expand...

I would definitely try to replace the inners before replacing the entire rack but only if it is not leaking. And especially since a shop already told you they were bad.

Search for 4runner turned up nothing so I searched Tacoma and found this....
http://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech/jowie_psboot/jowie.htm
The two racks are identical.
:cheers:
 
buzzzam said:
I've been following this thread due to having the same issues as OP. I ordered the steering rack bushings from wheelers and it didn't help, although my steering rack is tighter than before.

I also ordered new brakes and rotors for the front (brembo blanks and hawk pads), shocks all around (tokico trekmasters), and sway bar links (moog from Advance auto). Once I had everything replaced my jitters are gone and it drives like new again.

So, you may want to check if your shocks are still good. I'm pretty sure thats what my problem was. Now I can take bumps and not worry about losing control of the steering wheel.
Click to expand...

I'm running a similar setup but my jitters developed 40k miles after the upgrades. Used 99 front coils, new Trekmasters struts, brembo blanks and hank pads with Energy Sus. sway bars bushings. My jitter feels like the front wheels are bouncing rapidly. I hate to think that the Trekmasters are shot already. I do need to change the steering rack bushings but the steering isn't all that bad. Total mileage is 145K on a 98 Limited. Rear are OME 906 with Trekmasters and they feel fine. I'm think about matching the front with OME and comfort struts but can't tell if the $$ is worth it.
 
98Roamer said:
I'm running a similar setup but my jitters developed 40k miles after the upgrades. Used 99 front coils, new Trekmasters struts, brembo blanks and hank pads with Energy Sus. sway bars bushings. My jitter feels like the front wheels are bouncing rapidly. I hate to think that the Trekmasters are shot already. I do need to change the steering rack bushings but the steering isn't all that bad. Total mileage is 145K on a 98 Limited. Rear are OME 906 with Trekmasters and they feel fine. I'm think about matching the front with OME and comfort struts but can't tell if the $$ is worth it.
Click to expand...

Hey man. Sounds like your front end has the same feel that mine does. Your issue may or may not be the shocks or springs. Im certain that mine isnt. If you read earlier in the thread youll see that I just put brand new kyb gas adjust shocks on my runner less than two months ago. And if the front springs were shot it would not cause a jittery feel, but would rather feel like driving a boat. So I can rule those elements out. Mine feels kinda like something is moving around up front, although like you said, my steering doesnt feel that bad. Its over small vibrating bumps that it feels really bad, like im driving down a bad washboard dirt road. But the shocks/coils work fine. When I drive over a dip in the road I can feel the suspension articulating perfectly fine. Im thinkin my issue is my steering rack and inner tie rods like the Toyota center said. Im gonna try to find one with fairly low miles at a salvage yard.
 
Do let us know how it turns out. There seems to be a few with this issue and we all would appreciate what you find out.
Thanks
 
Here is another update to this thread. I located a steering rack with 88k from a 2002 tacoma at a local salvage yard. it comes with the inner tie rods, and the guy is asking 150. So Im probably gonna go with that. However I still have my doubts as to whether or not this will fix the problem. My doubts are because the steering just doesnt feel that sloppy. I know the steering rack is leaking. I pulled the boots off of bothe sides, and oil leaked from both. Especially the right side. But its not a rapid leak, as Iv had the vehicle for 5 months and still havent needed to add any power steering fluid. I have doubts because If the rack were so warn out that it was causing the jitters, then the steering would probably feel really sloppy too. But it really doesnt feel that bad. There is another symptom I have noticed though. Driving down the highway at 65, when I hit a big enough bump, the whole vehicle seems to bounce around, to the point of it being dangerous. It feels like something is wrong up front, causing the wheels to shift in reaction to hitting the bump, which then transfers into the rear end and throughout the entire vehicle. Its not good. Someone mentioned the wheel bearing earlier. That may be something for me to consider. Does anyone have any experience with worn out bearings? How did your vehicle feel as a result?
 
Wow I have the same problem only in the rear. I hit a bump and its feels like the rear is going to go sideways. Not any jitters or shakes from the front. I had new shock installed front and rear. It was only a month after have the shocks installed that the rear end felt very loose on the bumps in the road.

I am going to tear into it tomorrow as see what I can find. :gun5:
 
This thread needs to be buried, if only someone knew the fix?!
I just installed a 2.5" Camburg lift (new coilovers and upper arms) on my 98 runner and I am experiencing the same thing after having an alignment, new inner tie rods installed, and my tire balanced.

My guess is either it is that they just didnt tighten the tie rods enough when installed or the vibration is coming from the extra amount of stiffness from the new coilovers?

I really noticed the problem when I took it to this brakes plus to have it aligned after the lift. This is when they told me that I need new inner tie rods. They did all that and balanced the tires, and said I was good to go. I notice that it was quit bad going down hill on regular paved road(the jittering going 45-55mph). Took it bad to them and said that this wasnt normal, drive it down the hill that this business was off of.

So when I go pick up the car, I ask if they drove it and he said 'no'. He then explained that he had the tires sent out and balanced by this special wizard that wont come to you, you have to go to him.... blah, blah, blah.... didnt test drive it....WTF???? Cant belief ppl, just test drive the damn thing???

So the wizard that balance my tire fixed the problem for the most part. Sometimes when Im slowing or accelerating up hills and I hit some small bums or craking in the pavement it sends my tires(front) it to this bobbling kinda vibrational feeling that can be felt through the steering column. Braking tends dissipate the vibration.

It would be sweet if someone knew why so many ppl have this problem!

PS_ Like you said 1925, my steering is pretty tight and responsive still, especially with the stiffer front end due to the new coilovers. And I am all so running Wrangler RT/S. The guy at the Brakes Plus mentions that he was having a difficult time balancing one of the front tires, and that these tires werent the greatest tire. Maybe it is these tires?
 
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FWIW, when i got my runner a few months ago, this was the exact same symptom I noticed- jitters, rattle, wobble, whatever when hitting a small bump or series of bumps. I had the under chassis checked and ended up replacing quite a lot - tie rods, ball joints, and a host of bushings. The jitters were significantly reduced, but never gone. At least I now feel it's safer to drive- now almost a nonissue for me. So those things might be the culprit. My.02


Shocks are OME and springs are ironman. They may seem a bit stiff on fast hits, but feel great on slower hits and dips in the road.
 
Update on this thread. Today I had my steering rack and rod ends replaced. It improved ever so slightly, but honestly didnt fix my problem. On some bumps it feels more solid, but on others it feels the exact same. Im gonna name the thing "jitters"! This is my only vehicle, and this issue has definately been a great annoyance over the past several months. If I could I would sell it and get what Ive always wanted . . . a Tacoma. But, I hardly have the money to fix this thing, so Tacoma will continue to be in my dreams for now. My next fix will most likely be upper and lower ball joints, when I have the time to do it myself.
 
How many times did you balance your tires? I had to balance them 2 times using special adapter (Haweka) first time and no adapter second time. I would take either to the same shop to ask them to do balance again just front tires to see if it will help (try with adapter first and if that does not help then try without adapter).
 
4RUNNER1 said:
Wow I have the same problem only in the rear. I hit a bump and its feels like the rear is going to go sideways. Not any jitters or shakes from the front. I had new shock installed front and rear. It was only a month after have the shocks installed that the rear end felt very loose on the bumps in the road.

I am going to tear into it tomorrow as see what I can find. :gun5:
Click to expand...

This is exactly what my rear end feels like. The front seems fine but the rear.......! The guy I bought it from said the rear springs were replaced due to sagging before he got it, but I have no documentation of when it was done. It's even scarier if I have several people sitting in the back seat and I hit a bump on a curve going highway speed. Rear end will bounce like its gonna leap into the ditch. Maybe it has something to do with my light P265/70/16 Pathfinder SUV tires.
 
subitoy said:
How many times did you balance your tires? I had to balance them 2 times using special adapter (Haweka) first time and no adapter second time. I would take either to the same shop to ask them to do balance again just front tires to see if it will help (try with adapter first and if that does not help then try without adapter).
Click to expand...

This is a suspension issue. Not a balance issue. The thread talks all about it
 
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