Steering feels loose sometimes.

Qyota

Qyota

New member
Not a new problem, per se, but one that's starting to bother me more.

First, and I'm not sure how much this could affect steering, but I have a broken right side sway bar link. Need fix it, just haven't done it yet.

So, the problem is this. At speeds slower than about 55mph, the steering feels fine. Stable, pretty solid, and not shaky.

Above 55 (or so), the steering wheel starts to shake left to right a little. It gets pretty noticeable over 65-70. I usually keep it under 70, though.

And lastly, when driving over uneven surfaces like a grassy field at slow speed (like less than 10mph), the steering wheel moves back and forth a lot...making it feel very sloppy.

Is this an alignment issue? Tie rods? Steering rack? Bushings? There's just too much to consider!

Thanks for your help. :biggrin2:
 
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i Would say if you got over 120k on your truck theres a good chance its the rack bushings i did mine and it feels better now.
 
the shake is most likely due to the tires being out of balance, but could be caused by the steering rack bushings as well, as those are a known problem in the 3rd gen
 
Qyota said:
Not a new problem, per se, but one that's starting to bother me more.

First, and I'm not sure how much this could affect steering, but I have a broken right side sway bar link. Need fix it, just haven't done it yet.

So, the problem is this. At speeds slower than about 55mph, the steering feels fine. Stable, pretty solid, and not shaky.

Above 55 (or so), the steering wheel starts to shake left to right a little. It gets pretty noticeable over 65-70. I usually keep it under 70, though.

And lastly, when driving over uneven surfaces like a grassy field at slow speed (like less than 10mph), the steering wheel moves back and forth a lot...making it feel very sloppy.

Is this an alignment issue? Tie rods? Steering rack? Bushings? There's just too much to consider!

Thanks for your help. :biggrin2:
Click to expand...

I have the exact same problem as well. I know its not my tires or a balance issue because I just had them done a month ago plus I had an allignment done at the same time. Its not anything to do with the sway bar links, I just replaced those. I'm leaning towards the steering rack bushings. Hopefully someone else will chime in that has had this problem before
 
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So , today I took the 4runner down to my friends shop so we could go over the whole front end to see what was causing the problem. Everything was in perfect shape! So we came to the conclusion that it had to be the balance. Took it back to the tire shop and told them to take their time and get them balanced. An hour later and wa-la....problem fixed! Everything is nice and tight and the shimmy in the steering wheel is gone.
 
Well, I just bought a set of steering rack bushings from WabFab. Will try to install them myself. If that doesn't do it, I'll try the tire balance next.

Thanks!
 
ya, we checked the streering rack bushings and they looked fine.

QYOTA Let us know how you make out.
 
Diggin' this one back up. Still having the problem. It's been aligned (today), new D/S inner tie rod end (today), and balanced (last fall and today). No change. Toyota Master Tech says steering rack bushings (original) look just fine, and there is no rack movement when I turn the wheel while parked.

Seems to be worse on concrete interstate and rougher roads. On smooth asphalt, it's not nearly as bad.

Does this suggest suspension more than steering?
 
Qyota said:
Diggin' this one back up. Still having the problem. It's been aligned (today), new D/S inner tie rod end (today), and balanced (last fall and today). No change. Toyota Master Tech says steering rack bushings (original) look just fine, and there is no rack movement when I turn the wheel while parked.

Seems to be worse on concrete interstate and rougher roads. On smooth asphalt, it's not nearly as bad.

Does this suggest suspension more than steering?
Click to expand...

I had this problem, and when they got it up on the lift, there was enough play in the rack and pinion that one of the front tires could be turned left and right about an inch just by moving it with your hands. Bushings and tie rods looked good. Had to replace the rack and pinion on it, and it fixed it.
 
LINY4Runner said:
did you ever replace that broken end link? That's definitely the reason for the unstable feeling at highway speeds.

As for the wheel shaking, I'd still say something is out of balance. Did the balance the wheels with the correct adapter?
Click to expand...

Yup, end link was replaced. No difference.

As far as wheel balance goes, I had a reputable Goodyear shop do it last year with zero effect, and yesterday I had a reputable Toyota dealership do it. I can't be sure they used the adapter.
 
I learned over the weekend that the Toyota shop does indeed use an adapter. He didn't specify Haweka, but he said it is the same thing. Seemed honest about it.
 
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