Steering wheel shake

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have a couple more questions for you guys. Do you think there is a chance that my steering rack bushings could be bad already after only 18,000 miles? Or is this usually something that only happens at higher mileage? Also would this be covered by the warranty? I only have about 6 more months of warranty left. I'm just trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can for all possibilities to fix this steering wheel shake.

 

its not that they would be worn out already its that the stock rubber bushings are soft and allow for that movement, the new poly bushings that has been spoken about are much stiffer to keep the rack from moving that little bit.

 

Anyone know where to find these new poly bushings? I'd like to install them because mine is shaking a little as well.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/05-v6-tacoma-steering-rack-bushing-replacement.289436/

 

I may do this either way then. Thanks for the info.

 

I literally just ordered them for my truck 5 min ago.

 

So I have an appointment with the dealer for tire balancing this afternoon. Hopefully it really is as simple as needing a road force balance. If not I will be ordering new steering rack bushings and hub centric rings.

 

Well I just got back from having the road force balance done. They said that my right front tire is bad so I had them rotate it to the rear but the steering wheel shake is still there. And I don't know if its all in my head but the whole truck seems to be shaking too now. My passenger seat was shaking quite a bit on my test drive but I don't know if it always did that before and I'm just noticing it now .

So I guess I will be getting new tires in the near future. But do you guys think a bad rear tire would cause the steering wheel to shake? I wouldn't think so and everything I have read said it wouldn't.

The dealer also said they couldn't guarantee that my wheels aren't a problem since they are aftermarket which I think is bull shit because they should still be able to check the wheel run out regardless of what type of wheels.

I guess tomorrow I will have my spare tire swapped on and see if that changes anything. And tonight I am going to loosen and re-torque all of the lug nuts in case the tech didn't do it properly. This Is really driving me nuts. Is there anything else you guys recommend I do besides hub centric rings and steering rack bushings?

 

Do you have a local friend with a tacome or 4runner that can help you out? You could swap all 4 wheels and tires and drive both vehicles, and see if the problem persists. That'll at least rule out the steering rack bushings, because that's a bitch of a job to do.

 

That's a good idea. I do have a friend with a tacoma. I will give that a shot.

 

Well I loosened and re-torqued the front lug nuts (didn't do the rear yet because i ran out of daylight and had other things going on) and took another test drive on the same route as after I left the dealer and it felt like a different truck.

I tried really hard to get it to shake and all I got was a little bit of road feedback which I don't mind. It's very minor and it is a truck after all (not looking for it to ride like a Cadillac).

I will give it a few more days before I get my hopes up too much but this was the best it has been in a long time. However, it's hard to be sure since it was so random before.

 

Did this end up being the issue? I have the same problem and just ordered the steering rack bushing kit to hopefully fix it..

 

No it came back. I just put new tires and hub rings on and it seems better again.

 

Shaking up through the steering wheel = unbalanced front tires.
Shaking in the pass seat = unbalanced rear tires.

The long-standing Toyota TSB for balancing tires requires road force balancing + the Haweka adapter. What the adapter does is mimic the way the wheel is mounted on the truck. The Haweka adapter has a precise centering cone to match the hub diameter and fingers on a plate to also center in the lug holes. Although this is a mandatory tool for stealers too many have amnesia about it or it has been lost.... An alternative is the other day I was at Discount Tire and they showed me a new adapter just for the Tacoma. I looked at it and it was almost identical to the Haweka.

If you are using the plastic hub centering rings you may never get a good long-lasting balance because the rings deform.

 

I think I found a general source of shakes in the front end. There are 2 frame stabilizers under the front skid plate on my truck and the bolts under the frame piece that holds the steering rack needed extra tightening. This solidified the front end.

 

How’s this fix working now?

I bought a used 2012 Tacoma about a month and a half ago with 60k miles on it. It’s now been with the dealer for a week and they cannot figure out what’s causing the shake between 65 and 75 mph. They’ve replaced the tires and wheels multiple times, balanced and realigned all at a well known tire shop here in town and are now saying they are going to start pulling the steering system apart.

 

Tightening the front end helped reduce but not eliminate the shake. I did however find the problem. My Tacoma was in to the dealer for replacement of the leave springs. The dealership failed to fully tighten the axle housing to the springs on one side. This caused the rear end to shift when I went downhill on the highway and caused the driveshaft to shake. It pushed the carrier bearing out of place also. I don't know how common this would be, but it would be worth measuring your wheel base on both sides of the truck just to make sure the rear end is bolted on squarely. Also check that the carrier bearing is in line with the driveshafts. I bought my truck used and until I got rid of the original tires (Dunlops) and went to the alloy wheels I always had a shake just from the factory junk at highway speeds.

 

Don't forget these trucks do have some driveline vibration issues at those same speeds. I had mine aligned and rebalanced, and got new rims and tires. Still vibrated. It's the driveshaft.

 

I got Method rims and 285 tires and had them balanced 3 times between 2 shops and then checked by Discount Tire after I contacted them to see if I could make a warranty claim. They spun the tires in the road force machine and claimed they were within spec. I believe it comes down to Methods not being hub centric, and truthfully, I wish I went with something like SCS. I won't buy lug centric rims again.

My steering wheel rotationally wobbles a good 1/2 inch on certain road surfaces and varying inclines. It can't be safe in the long run. I do not run the center caps - I'm curious if the push through style somehow acts as a hub centric ring of sorts when it fills the small 2 mm gap?

 

There’s small plastic rings that go around our hubs to essentially turn lug centric into hub centric. Just helps perfectly center the wheel. May be worth trying.