Front Suspension feels loose

Hey this is my first post on Tacoma World. Just bought my first Tacoma, coming from a 1st gen 4runner, im loving the power and the newer feel of the truck. The only thing im not really happy with is the way the truck preforms on the freeway. Any dips and bumps cause my truck to sway back and forth, and start swerving. My 1st gen runner with no sway bar felt alot better on the freeway. The Tacoma has 300k miles so i suspect bushings and ball joints, but id just like to get some input from you guys!

 

Welcome!

On the first gens the lower ball joints really need to be replaced every 60k to 90k miles.

Steering tie rod ends, both sets of inner and outer would be a good place to start for the wandering, especially in ruts. Mine was horrible before I SASed it.

Steering rack bushings might need replacing too.

 

Those are all possibilities; but check for this first. If this is your problem you can have this done under an hour and it's completely free (if you have access to welder). I was experiencing the same exact symptoms and this fixed me right up!

"You can check to see if your vehicle has this problem simply by reaching under the dash and holding the steering shaft in one hand while slightly turning the steering wheel back and forth with the other hand. The shaft is behind the Lower Left Hand Finish Panel, and you can reach it without having to remove anything. I included a picture of this area in the procedure below. If you detect a small amount of movement between these two locations (you will feel a small knock, or pop), then it is likely that your truck has this problem. I have read many posts where people have replaced entire steering racks only to find that the problem is still there. This quick test will tell you if there is play in the steering system even before reaching the steering rack."

 

I just did steering rack, upper/lower ball joints, upper/lower control arm bushings, and Bilstein 5100's w/ new coils. It really tightened up my front end, especially being 2 LCA bushings were completely busted.

 

OP,
Welcome to our world with this issue.
As Snowrox said, mine too was horrible until I SAS'd mine.

Good luck.

 

Try this first. I have done every part of my front suspension, if yours doesn't look new I would do all the above.
There are some "all in one" kits (Detroit Axle) you can buy from the bay that have ball joints, tie rods and few other things for less than $100. Quality these kits seems ok, I have replaced a few of the parts a second time but I beat mine up off-road. I would think they would be fine for street use.

OEM parts are outrageous and if you can turn a wrench in case something gets worn again it may be worth the low price.