Wandering front in?

BCMUSA

BCMUSA

New member
Hello all.

First i'd like to thank everyone on here who has given me a lot of suggestions.

Problems I've had:
- steering wheel vibration, feels like holding an electric toothbrush. Pretty consistant at anything over 40mph.

- steering wheel wobble at 60mph

So because of the suggestions here, I have had the tires road force balanced. Played with different PSIs. That fixed the wobble.

Today I had an alignment done. Numbers are:
Caster: 4.1 front left, 38.1 front right
Toe and camber are pretty close to 0

I have noticed an improvement in steering, and also vibrations have gone down a lot.

Problem I am facing now, and I've seen many have based on searches, is that my front end constantly wanders at higher speeds.

I have to make constant corrections to keep the vehicle straight. On roads with the rain grooves, its even worse. It rides those groves like crazy.

Has anyone found a fix for this? Recommendations?

Next step may be getting new tires. Thinking Cooper AT3 4S.

Any recommendations would be helpful.
 
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Our 2016 limited is my wife’s daily driver.

Right after I bought it I drove it cross country from the coast of NC to San Francisco. Constant steering input on the highway, drove me nuts. Really regretted our purchase during 75% of that drive.

Flash forward a couple years, we still have the lower speed steering wheel vibe going but we’ve both grown accustomed to it and don’t really notice it anymore. It is a truck after all.

The highway constant steering input issue ,we’ve discovered, is always correlated to any significant crosswinds. No crosswinds no issues.

Overall we’re honestly not that impressed with the runner. If I had to do it all over I would have bought a Durango. The only reason these things sell so well is because they are the only body on frame true SUV left at their price point and size. I’m not complaining about how well they hold their value, but the creature comforts and tech leave a lot to be desired. The archaic, but bulletproof, drivetrain that provides our abysmal MPG’s is laughable as well. But I guess if you were Toyota you probably wouldn’t change anything either seeing as how you have a monopoly on the market and still selling tons of them as is. They will not upgrade any of the aforementioned items until there is a significant drop in sales.

Where the 4Runner really shines is off-road, that’s it. Everything else is an afterthought.

The stock tires are utter $hit. Definitely recommend replacing sooner than later. I don’t think it will solve your issues though.

I’ve heard dealerships will adjust you’re toe settings so that the 4Runner tracks better at highway speeds, but that it greatly affects your tire wear. [emoji2369]
 
How many miles is your car? I had the same issue (wandering front end) while driving a brand new 2019 Rubicon it felt like loose steering and you had to constantly correct the steering wheel to keep the car straight especially during high winds, bumpy roads, and crappy roads.

Take it back to the dealership. Its either the alignment/tires.
Did Toyota do your alignment?
 
17Jetta said:
Our 2016 limited is my wifeÂ’s daily driver.

Right after I bought it I drove it cross country from the coast of NC to San Francisco. Constant steering input on the highway, drove me nuts. Really regretted our purchase during 75% of that drive.

Flash forward a couple years, we still have the lower speed steering wheel vibe going but weÂ’ve both grown accustomed to it and donÂ’t really notice it anymore. It is a truck after all.

The highway constant steering input issue ,weÂ’ve discovered, is always correlated to any significant crosswinds. No crosswinds no issues.

Overall weÂ’re honestly not that impressed with the runner. If I had to do it all over I would have bought a Durango. The only reason these things sell so well is because they are the only body on frame true SUV left at their price point and size. IÂ’m not complaining about how well they hold their value, but the creature comforts and tech leave a lot to be desired. The archaic, but bulletproof, drivetrain that provides our abysmal MPGÂ’s is laughable as well. But I guess if you were Toyota you probably wouldnÂ’t change anything either seeing as how you have a monopoly on the market and still selling tons of them as is. They will not upgrade any of the aforementioned items until there is a significant drop in sales.

Where the 4Runner really shines is off-road, thatÂ’s it. Everything else is an afterthought.

The stock tires are utter $hit. Definitely recommend replacing sooner than later. I donÂ’t think it will solve your issues though.

IÂ’ve heard dealerships will adjust youÂ’re toe settings so that the 4Runner tracks better at highway speeds, but that it greatly affects your tire wear. [emoji2369]
Click to expand...
I actually don't mind the lack of tech. As long as I can play music through bluetooth from my phone I'm happy. I think the stock sound system is fine.

The MPGs, I don't mind either. I knew what it was going to be when I bought it.

I actually bought this because it hasn't been messed with for so many years. Engine and transmission are bullet proof.

I had a 2016 Silverado fully loaded and it had tons of issues. Bought a 2017 Frontier shortly after because of the bullet proof design, and that truck was amazing. Before that I had a brand new 2013 Ford Edge, at 23,000 miles it had an engine oil leak. Shortly after heater stopped working. So I bought the 4runner because of it's old school design that I know will last.

If I can just get this front end problems solved, I'd be in love with this thing.
 
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Axix23 said:
How many miles is your car? I had the same issue (wandering front end) while driving a brand new 2019 Rubicon it felt like loose steering and you had to constantly correct the steering wheel to keep the car straight especially during high winds, bumpy roads, and crappy roads.

Take it back to the dealership. Its either the alignment/tires.
Did Toyota do your alignment?
Click to expand...
No had it done by Goodyear. They let me inside and showed me the final numbers. Camber and Toe were close to 0, and caster was almost at 4 on the right and 4.1 on the left side.
 
My T4R wanders about as much as any truck I’ve ever owned. My 2017 F-150 was just about the same if not worse. Wheel shimmy, wandering all over the place and the accelerator pedal vibrating and slapping the sole of your shoe at highway speed. The ‘09 Tundra wandered a bit too but not as badly. Both full size trucks were heavier, so they didn’t get blown around quite as much.

I think most people buy a 4Runner after owning car based crossovers or sedans then they’re disappointed with the ride of an old school truck that rides like a truck.
 
ProfessorP said:
My T4R wanders about as much as any truck I’ve ever owned. My 2017 F-150 was just about the same if not worse. Wheel shimmy, wandering all over the place and the accelerator pedal vibrating and slapping the sole of your shoe at highway speed. The ‘09 Tundra wandered a bit too but not as badly. Both full size trucks were heavier, so they didn’t get blown around quite as much.

I think most people buy a 4Runner after owning car based crossovers or sedans then they’re disappointed with the ride of an old school truck that rides like a truck.
Click to expand...
I've had many trucks Sir.
2004 Ranger, 2005 Silverado, 2008 RAM, 2016 Frontier.

This is the first that does it this bad. Others were very slight. On my last truck, the Frontier, I can't remember it doing it at all.
 
I suggested in some PMs that BCM try pushing his caster up to +4 degrees and it would help the vehicle to track straight. It worked very well for me and many others here.

Since his caster is set at +4 and other alignment numbers are in spec, what else could cause wandering?
 
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