Steering Play/Wander/Lift

I have a 2003 4x4 with a 4” lift which suffers from wheel play/wander at highway speeds – it feels like I’m trying to keep it straight on an exaggerated road crown, or driving on a ball. I’ve done a lot of research on this and other sites regarding; lift & suspension, wheel play/wander, steering rack. I’m at a fork in the road.

I recently replaced OTR’s and LBJ’s, CV’s, carrier bearing, had it aligned and the shop got it in spec. The UBJ’s appear fairly new. The ITR are solid when I shake. Tire wear is even. The sway bar was removed by the previous owner. I can’t tell if the UCA’s are stock or aftermarket to accommodate the lift. It’s got chunky leaf springs. To my untrained eye there is play at the steering rack, where the column comes in, rack bushings appear fine. (see video)


I *think* the lift contributes to some other issues like vibration and some parts wearing faster and highway stability. I do have a diff drop but still break CV boots at < 30k, blows carrier bearings even with a drop.


I found there is a steering rack adjustment but can’t find much info on that. In fact, to get to it takes a 24mm hex bit and I can’t find that tool at a reasonable price, except from Europe on eBay. As I understand it, it adjusts the pressure between the two gears in the steering rack (input gear and rack gear). Because this tool is hard to find suggests to me, not many make this adjustment. My rack does not leak and appears fine, less what I find is a lot of visual play. But I don’t know what is normal.


My fork in the road: Should I replace or try to adjust the rack and/or remove the lift? I have pictures of my F/R suspension if it helps.

 

Video of my steering rack.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tRzRjCgSp5l-_O6_AH1mfa1cXHWcRFTt/view?usp=sharing

 

Have you done the steering column tac weld mod? It made a huge improvement on my steering. The second thing I did was replace the lower control arm bushings with energy suspension bushings. From what I've been told, they're stiffer than the stock one's, so the lower control arm cant move around as much.

I think no matter what, you're going to have a hard time getting 100% of the play out of the steering on our trucks, but these two things sure help.

 

I read a bunch about a loose column. Mine doesn't suffer from it.

I need to do bushings too, as mine are squeaky.

I also think - these trucks didn't come from the factory with loose steering, or Toyota would have lost the intense war between manufacturers for market share. That said, these trucks must have the ability to bring them back to factory tolerances, with the lift removed.

 

All the grease is from blowing CV's. Notice the tie rods are at an angle relative the to the rack, from the lift. I can't help think it's contributing or causing the problem.

 

Those are aftermarket UCA. Lightracing from the looks of it..

For the 24mm hex to remove the guide rack. Just use a 5/8 All-thread™ rod coupler.

 

That's not quite true about the ES bushings. They are stiffer (not as compliant as rubber), but they are also free floating, and can actually rotate 360 degrees, unlike the factory rubber bushings which just stretch the rubber as the arm rotates.

The tack weld mod isn't going to solve the problem. It might mask it slightly, but won't solve it. As the OP stated, the factory settings don't don't have an issue with high speed wonder.

Likely the problem is a combination of too much lift/bad suspension geometry and worn out bushings.

Generally, the consensus is that anything over 3" lift you should be doing a bracket style lift, which prevents those crazy angles for the TREs, not to mention your CVs.

Anything over 2.5" and you should have a diff drop kit on there (unless you have the bracket style lift which drops the front diff. That's why your CV boots are blowing.

I would say drop it back down to 3", replace all your bushings, hell probably time for ball joints, too...

 

From the video I posted, how does my steering rack look? What about adjusting it? Or do
I need to do a better video?

I've given this subject a lot of thought. I considered going from a 4" to a 2" lift, or completely removing the lift. I can't sell myself the idea having "less of a lift" will solve it, E.G., not removing the lift in its entirety. I've been of the mind, make it work at its current height, or remove all of it and bring to factory.

I'm lost in the woods.

 

I was going to mention that the angles of the tie rods in the video look a little too far for their own good. not exactly the pitch angle but you want them as straight as possible horizontal to the rack itself. this could be a factor in the "wander"

 

Just consider this. After 2" of lift, you're starting to deal with a few issues.
It gets exponentially worse by the fraction of an inch. You're rolling with 4". So...?

 

I figured 2" is safe, but I'm so unsure. I'm a bit scared to spend the money to lower it twice.

 

Though I'm a noob on suspension, this was exactly my thought. It must be contributing.

 

I would see if you can adjust those SPC upper arms you have to dial in more caster. More positive caster will minimize the amount the wheels steer you and lighten the force it takes for you to steer. With lifts we typically shoot for +2 to+3 degrees of caster.

 

Can anyone say if the amount of play from the column to the rack is the problem, based on my video? Even better, comment about adjusting the rack?

 

That's looks very typical and where the play that your seeing is cannot be adjusted, You could change your rack bushings for a bit more positive feel and you could tighten your rack guide bushing but that will just make the steering stiffer.

 

You have a bunch of issues there.
Everything @License2Ill mentioned is spot on and often ignored by mall crawlers. Key words "exponentially worse by the fraction of an inch".

Toyota allows for about an inch of slop at the steering wheel. BUT then they go on to spec zero play in any of the steering components, add up a bunch of zeros and what do you get? There should be zero play on the top rack shaft, you have a bunch. Likely caused by wear in the rack, specifically a part known as the "rack guide". It's pretty common. Correcting for the wear by tightening the adjuster will only mask the issue, for a while. They should be changed out and greased.

The play in the column slip joint is easy to overlook. You likely have play in both the column and the rack. Control arm bushings and joints should be checked, properly.

Rack guide/adjustment info at the beginning and end here. Also a link to a thread only about changing the guide, pretty easy. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rack-pinion-service-tools-tips.312600/

 

I appreciate all the replies. Time to start gathering parts. I'm going to drop it to one inch over stock height and replace the rack.

 

Where in Lake County are you? When it comes time to get an alignment I've only have had success getting 2°+ caster at Big-O in Ukiah if you're out that way... Just tell them to max out positive caster...

Nobody else in all of Mendo could do it.

 

The slip joint mod is well worth the time if there is even a slight amount of play between the wheel and column, when you hold shaft and move steering wheel.

 

I'm in hidden valley, between lower lake and Middletown. B&G Middletown has been good to me for alignments and general tire shop stuff.