Knock in stearing column

I am a first time poster and I have an 04 4wd . I purchased it 2 years ago with 78k. the first time I went out on rough roads There was a knock in the stearing column it is only noticeable on rough roads. I returned it to the Toyota dealer who told me it was a bad rack and pinion. Odd that it would only be felt in the stearing column not in the wheels. 1800 bucks later still the same "we will bring our head mechanic to test it so we can screw you farther". no thanks I told them. Still does it at 108 k maybe just slightly worse. Have been told by my present mechanic not to worry about it's an annoyance but nothing more. Anyone had this problem? thanks

 

There is movement up and down, some people fix this by welding the column...involves putting a couple welds on 2 areas it takes all slop out of the steering wheel....some people like it some people don't.

 

Pretty sure I have the same "knock" with mine as well. First time I went off road it scared me but now I think it's just "character". I notice it if I hit a hard bump while turning the wheel. Feels like a little slop in the rack to me but almost 10k miles later and it hasn't gotten any worse.

 

I have the same knock in my '04 4x4. It's not bad but is annoying. Haven't had time to look into it but all my tie rods are good. Feels like it is in the rack itself but it's hard to tell.

 

i have the exact same problem, its not your rack at all. if you have a tilt column theres a u joint in it that goes bad and produces alot of slop. everything i have read says its nothing to worry anout as far as safty goes but will get worse with time. im currently researching weather to swap out the whole column or just the joint. to make sure i put a vise grip on the column coming out of the firewall and held it tight against the frame, have a friend jiggle the wheel. if your vise grips stay steady and your wheel still has play thats your problem

 

There is an excellent diagnosis and solution/fix for this. Focus on the slip joint.

See here;

 

Got a chance to diagnose mine and it is definitely in the slip joint. Not sure if I want to go to that much trouble to fix it right now but that is a great write up. Thanks for posting.

 

You bet, my 98 has only 90k on it and that drove me crazy until I found it.

 

Now that I know what it is and it's a simple fix it will start driving me crazy until I fix it. Going to have to take a day off soon to get this done.