Steering Problems

My steering has felt very tight lately and the wheel does not move back toward the center when you let go of it coming out of a turn. You also have to over-steer to get the truck to straighten up. I just put new mounting bushings in it the other day because they were shot (the rack actually moved side to side when turning haha) but it didn't help with the steering much. It felt a little more solid but it is still stiff and still does not move unless I turn it. It has been a while since I got an alignment but it can't be that bad can it? Everything looked fine and didn't move at the wheels too. Do I just need to buy another rack?

 

Could be the rack, could also be a worn out pump. Especially if it has been over worked from that loose rack.

 

Did you put power steering fluid in it? 2nd gens react badly to power steering fluid as they require ATF. 1st gens

 

My 99 4runner had the same symptoms. Replaced the rack, problem solved.

 

Yeah it had plenty of fluid and it is relatively fresh fluid too. I guess I'll get a new rack. It doesn't look too bad to replace other than the cost.

 

Defective tires might cause this (bald, wrong pressure, etc)
Defective (seizing) ball joints

Had any work done lately that might cause this?
Botched alignment? - caster way off
Body lift ? - could create binding in the steering slip-joint

Check the easier and cheaper (relatively) stuff before replacing the rack

Good luck

 

Also require ATF

 

prob the rack sorry to say.

 

The caster on the drivers side isn't perfect but I don't think it is that bad. The top of the wheel sticks out a little farther than the bottom but it isn't noticeable unless you look hard. Ball joints seemed fine, wheels don't shake much, nothing out of the ordinary. It needs an alignment but I don't want to get one because I'll have to get another after I put a rack and new tie rods in. Could the alignment be so bad as to cause this without it being very noticeably out of alignment?

 

Still haven't solved the issue. Is there supposed to be a bushing here?

 

I would check the other components first before buying a new rack. I'm really not sure what happened with mine, but I was afraid something was terribly wrong after I got in a wreck and got her back from the shop. Steering was super super tight. I had to disassemble some stuff to do additional repairs on the front end. Took it in for another alignment (as it had one from an unkown shop to begin with from the wreck) and steering was fine after that second alignment. I think they over tightened something. Not sure what it was. Lower ball joints maybe. Or outer tie rods. I can't remember. Seems like when I retorqued everything, it loosened up back to normal on my way to alignment shop. Pretty sure if you tighten those up too much it'll create tight steering. Or if they're seizing too, if you haven't touched them lately.

 

Not really a bushing. Just the dust seal. Which looks like it's there. I had a problem with my intermediate shaft/yoke too. But it would lock up at certain points, but not be tight. The u joint itself was bad, binding at every half rotation, with the steering column. I suppose it COULD cause issues, if it was super dry and seizing. But they are usually greased pretty well. And those shouldn't really ever seize up I'd think. Not like drive shaft joints would anyways.

Looks like it's still greased in there pretty well to me.

 

Which u joint? That one or the lower one? I sprayed 40 on the lower u joint and it felt like it turned easier for a few seconds and then it was back to normal.

 

I honestly don't know. I'm just throwing out ideas and possibilities for ya to check out. Ha. I had to take it in to have Toyota diagnose that lock up. I just replaced the whole assembly. I suppose you could test that yoke. By disconnecting it at the rack And free spinning your steering wheel. But make sure you do this carefully if you do. As in not actually spinning the wheel. Just turning it left and right slightly to check for resistance. That will tell you if it's the yoke or not.
Edit. And it's a dealer item and not cheap. I think it was like $185 or something.

 

Honestly, it could be a number of things. And I don't wanna steer you in the wrong direction.. I think your best bet is to do what I did. Take it to Toyota and see if they can give you a free diagnosis. They did for me anyways. Because it could be something simple and not the rack at all. Racks aren't cheap and it may not even fix your problem. If you end up throwing money at it anyways and opting for a new rack in hopes it'll fix it. Could be tho. Just don't take it to a random shop. They might say you need a new rack/pump to begin with without even looking at it. That or diagnose it yourself by process of elimination.

 

Tomorrow I'm going to have it aligned and if that doesn't solve it I'll get something to put on that u joint that's actually a lubricant instead of a shot of WD40 to see if it lasts longer. If not I guess I'll buy the assembly and be done with it. Thanks for helping.

 

Yeah try to talk to them and explain that you know it could be a couple possibilities. And see if they can test drive it before AND after. Hopefully they'll be able to diagnose it. Just make sure you're adiment about it being the yoke, or ball joints or something linkage related. And that you're pretty sure it's not the rack. That way they don't immediately assume it's the rack And ACTUALLY look at the other components first. They might even tell you a component needs replacing before they'll even do an alignment. Just make sure they test drive it before and after. I always do this now if I have an issue. Because most times they don't. Especially if you don't talk to them about it.

 

Thinking about this and I just remembered what my tight steering was. When I was doing work on the front end after I got it from the shop from my wreck, I unbolted the outer tie rod and pivoted the wheel on one side I was working on. It was tight as hell. So I unbolted both lower ball joints and retorqued them. All was smooth after that.
Not sure it's related to your issue tho. Especially since they haven't been touched, right?

 

I haven't messed with them since I replaced the last one about a year ago and it's been aligned a couple times since. I've hit raised asphalt a couple times pretty hard since my last alignment though where they were paving the road.

 

Got an alignment today and it solved nothing