05 Tacoma Shakes, Pulls right

Hey all,

I just recently bought a 2005 Tacoma, Double Cab, 4x4 V6, 118k miles on it, no rust, town driven by the previous owner. Great shape, 4 wheel drive runs smooth.

Once I bought it, I bought new tires for it, Uniroyal Tiger Paws (a decent midrange general purpose tire.) I put new tie rod ends and sway bar end links on it. I aligned the truck, (I'm an alignment technician so I did all of this work myself at my place of work). Before I bought it, the previous owner also had a Toyota dealership install brand new OE leaf springs. The shocks and struts are fairly new as well.

Anyways, the truck shakes at speeds of 55-65 mph, in the steering wheel especially. A little can be felt in the seat. Once I get to 70-80 mph or so, it smooths out pretty nicely. I've balanced the tires again, on a different balancing machine. Still nothing. I don't know if this may contribute to the problem but the previous owner also installed 18" after market wheels. Maybe the wheels are bad? None of them are bent or beat up.

I've also got a pull problem. No matter the speed, no matter the crown of the road, it pulls right. I have to keep the steering wheel slightly canted left to keep it straight. I've aligned it three times and it changes nothing.

And lastly, I feel the steering is a little loose at highway speeds. I don't know if that's just a standard thing for older toyota trucks or if it could be a fixable thing.

Anyways, I'd appreciate any and all feedback. I love the truck either way, just hoping I can tune it a little finer and smooth out some discomfort.

Appreciate it guys.

 

Sounds like your tires need to be rebalanced. I would have he tires rotated on the wheel and balance again. Also what kind of lug nuts are being used on the wheels? If the wheels are not hub centric, lug centric lugs should be used. 18 inch wheel are notorious for wandering. I recommend getting a new set of 16 or 17inch wheel and tires. But that's just my opinion.

 

last time I had something like that, it was the barring

 

Check the drivers side cv axle for excessive play where it goes into the diff. If it has alot more play than the right side then you probably need to do the ECGS bushing replacement. Lots of info here about doing the job. The aftermarket wheels could also be the problem.

 

Gotcha, so you think like to front hub bearings maybe?

 

May/may not be relevant. I had a Saab 9-3. Many of them would develop such a shake at a specific speed range (almost exactly as you're experiencing). Many tried constant rebalancing (even finding shops with the Hunter RoadForce machine) to no avail.

The problem was a bushing in the case where the CV axle inserted into the case. The bushing would get worn/wallow out over time, and allow excessive play of the CV shaft at the case.

 

Gotcha, yeah the shop I work at has a standard balancer and a Hunter road force, both I'm proficient at using and use on a daily basis. I'll have to check that out. Appreciate it!

 

you sure nothing is bent? spindles, control arms?

 

I'm pretty sure everything is straight. Nothing weird or looking damaged.

A friend suggested a measure the rear axle and how far the center of each hub is off the truck fender and what I found was that the left hub is pushed 1/2" - 3/4" forward more than the right side which would make sense why the truck would push right wouldn't it?

 

If the rear left side is sitting more forward than the right it would possibly cause the truck to turn left as well (think of steering a wagon backwards) and the steering wheel correction would be to turn right. Have a friend follow you to see if you're travelling down the road crooked (crabbing). Is there any history of accidents?

Cheers

 

Have you balanced using the road force

 

If the wheels are not Hub Centric you may need some hub rings. The center hole should be 106 mm for the Tacoma. If it is larger than that yiu need hub adapter rings.