steering issues i cant figure out

has anyone had problems with steering? i have this 09 with 90k its 4x4. when im driving down the road the front end feels like its being pulled left or right. its hard for me to explain. the front end seems to wander all over. the steering wheel sometimes will pull , but sometimes it stays straight, but the vehicle will wander right to left.( even when steering wheel is straight) i went to the shop to get a sticker.. got the inspection sticker, but they noticed the left outer tie rod needed to be replaced ( so did i) . i ended up taking it to the dealer and had both outer tierod ends replaced . got the wheel alighnment and i was all set to go. it is still doing thhe wandering thing though.. i just cant figure it out and neither can the mechanics. ive noticed the problem a while back when it only had 50 k on it, and they couldnt figure it out. but now it is really frustraiting me.

could this be a problem with the steering box or rack and pinion? maybe something is bent? thanks your help !

 

whats the alignment #'s

 

not sure. but i will have to get back to u on that one! gotta find the papers haha

 

im thinking about trading it in and buying and o4 double cab with 122,000 miles for 10k with TRD!

 

does anyone have any ideas?

 

alingment

 

Seems like an alignment problem?

 

Possible tramlining? ''Vehicles with large and wide low profile tires are more prone to the effects as well as vehicles which have wheels fitted that are larger than the manufacturers recommendation or have reinforced sidewalls. People who are relatively inexperienced with driving with this tendency will feel that they have to make continual course corrections and it is very easy to overcompensate the steering, which could potentially lead to veering off the road especially if the road is a narrow track/country road'' Quoted from wikipedia cause I'm lazy. Just a suggestion.

 

Tie rods or wheel bearings, i guess.

 

1. Since you have a 2" front lift without aftermarket upper control arm, it could be lack of caster. Need the alignment sheet to tell.

2. How much play is there in the steering wheel?

3. Steer left and right while the truck is parked with engine running. Check for play in the lower control arm bushings.

This is bad (from jlvhrse's thread):

 

Do you have a rattle below your dash on washboard roads.
I did a lot of research about my wandering or drifting on highways.
About 1/2 those who had a rattle and had if fixed with the "Steering Intermediate Shaft Rattle Noise - T-SB-0119-10",
claimed their steering tightened up as a side effect.
I had mine replaced under the TSB and my steering is considerably improved
Your out of warranty by now, so the TSB does no good.
TOYOTA 09 has a good work around here, requiring no more than a cable tie & 15 minutes.
I tried it before I had the TSB done, and it worked pretty well.
Hope this helps ya


CC

 

Tires can make a vehicle act this way too, as stated above. It's not always the alignment.

 

I have the same issue, and it has been that way since day one. It was the first thing that I noticed during normal driving. Had the dealer check the alignment, it was within specs. I do not have any suspension mods, but I do have the weird wandering problem.

The OEM tires and my current tires, same problem.

 

i dont have a lift anymore. everything is stock

 

im only running 265/70/BF Goodrich A/T tires ..no mods at all. they are kind of agressive tires, bbut i dont think they could cause this.
at around 45,ooo miles i had installed a cheap 2'' leveling kit for the front end that i got off ebay .then got an alignment. but it made my truck ride like junk, so after about 2 weeks of having that .i read up on it and heard bad stories and so i took it out. got another alignment after uninstalling it.. dealer tryed to tell me it was the steering rack, but i beleive that is complete bull and that they were just trying to make money off of me .
* i also have a rattle from the dash sometimes.

 

What pressure are your tires inflated to? Make sure they are at 30-32, and not set to maximum rated pressure as listed on the sidewall.

Then, assuming all is well there, and the front end has been checked thoroughly, there could be an issue with the rear suspension causing your wandering, such as loose u-bolts (common 2nd gen issue, there's a thread about it here), worn spring bushing, or even a broken leaf. Worth a look.

Its also possible to have this sort of trouble from badly "rutted" pavement, so if you always drive the same piece of bad highway, it might explain it. Or not.

 

tire pressure is fine. today it got way worse

 

Get under your dash and pull the cover off the steering shaft (2 plastic finger nuts).
Grab the shaft and shake it. If it has a lot of play, slop, wobble, yada, yada
Go here for Toyota 09's Steering column fix (also to see pictures of what I'm talking about)
Other threads regarding the same issue.
Steering Rag Joint Mod, Phase-1
Tightening up steering?
The Steering Intermediate Shaft Rattle Noise Fix, also tightens your steering
It'll only take you a few minutes and might solve your problem
Or you can go pay the stealership to install the updated bushing

The Blue in the picture is a cut off cable tie taking up the slop in the intermediate steering shaft bushing.......Ta Da, Done!







Good Luck



CC