Uncontrollable on the freeway

I own a 2006 Tacoma off-road.

When I drive it on the freeway, specifically at 70 to 80 mph, it feels uncontrollable. The car feels like it jumping or jerking around.

Note: I changed the front two shocks with aftermarket Bilstein. I didn't do an alignment yet, but I marked the cam bolts and put them back to the original position.


I'm used to smaller cars, like a 4-door sedan. So I'm just wondering if this is a characteristic of the truck or is my alignment that bad?

Edit:

I replaced the shocks with Bilstein 24188401 Shock. The car has 175k miles

I went back to see if any of the bolts were loose. They all seem to be tight. I couldn't even turn it anymore.

I check the bushings as well. Both of the sway bar end links seems to be in bad condition. The protective rubber covers are ripped. Here are a few pics of the passenger side. The driver side is similar.

Passenger side end link. As you can see, the surrounding area from the top of the end link is dark.




Here is a photo of the driver side LCA bushing. The surround area seems to be dark. Especially by the bolt. Could be leaking, or it could be because I saturated it with WD-40 when I did the job. But, that was awhile ago, and I did do a lot of car washes already... and the areas that did have WD40 did seem to wash away so far

 

Get an alignment and have the tires road force balanced.

 

Might be your alignment. Or slow down! What State can you legally drive 70 to 80mph?

 

Consider Archive Garage Hammer Hangers especially if your truck has added weight to it like bumpers sliders or even a camper shell.

AGHH really planted my truck and took it from rolling boat wild to potted plant static.

 

Yeah, I'll probably get an alignment done. I'll probably wait until I change my rear shocks and front tie rod end links

I'll have the shop do a road force balance as well

 

My truck is all stock with an empty bed... Did you install it yourself or do you know a shop that can do it?

 

I did it myself but I kinda am a shop.

 

If you like the tires you have on the truck, do it sooner than later. If you change the ride height on the front of an IFS vehicle, you'll change the alignment. You'll scrub the tread off those tires in short order.

 

Texas. Havw a few 80mph areas but most on freeway is 75 near me

 

Quite a few also around socal if you're doing 70 you better be in the right lanes.

Check tire pressure and if you lifted the truck the old cam tab settings don't mean anything but it shouldn't be so severe it makes the truck jump around.

Also check all the bolts to make sure they are torqued properly. Even slightly loose suspension parts will have a large impact on steering feel.

 

I definitely should do it soon since tires are expensive! My ride is completely stock btw

 

My ride is completely stock... I just replaced the shocks with the regular bilstein not the Toyota bilstein

Also, it's good that you mentioned that something could be loose... I realized that I torqued everything while it was still on the jack stand

edit: I'm sure that if it was really loose I would be hearing a clunking sound, which I don't hear, but I will most likely just go under the truck and re-torque the bolts

 

Why did you mess with the cam bolts when changing the front shocks?

it’s an old truck at this point. Did this out of control feeling happen suddenly, like after you messed with the cam bolts, or did it progressively happen over time?

I too am in an ‘06 (original owner). Every wear item in the suspension has been replaced at least once. If it was progressive look into bushings, ball joints, tie rods (inner and outer), steering rack bushings and bolt torque, and wheel bearings.

If it was sudden after messing with the alignment…get an alignment. You can verify the toe at home using a string, Google it. But if it’s “jumping” that sounds like something is loose.

 

I had that happened to me before. My truck would jump all over after i hit a bump or hole. And I had to hold the steering tight. It turn out to be the steering rack bushing were worn. https://www.suspension.com/8.10106
CHange the bushings and have not had a problem since

 

I needed to drop the lower control arm in order to take out the shocks... so that is the reason why I messed with the cam bolts

I'm thinking that it was after I messed with it... but then again, the only time I drove it at that speed was when I first bought the truck and the only thing I noticed at that time was that it was sort of pulling to the right

 

This actually sound a lot like my issue too. Especially after I go over uneven roads on the freeway, I would have to hold on to the steering wheel tight because sometimes it felt like it would throw the car towards one side

I'll definitely look into the part you mentioned

 

front shocks come out with the suspension at full droop. No need to remove the LCA. But I guess that doesn’t matter at this point.

my bet, not being able to look at it or drive it, is that something’s loose.

loose steering rack bolts or worn steering rack bushings do exactly what you’re describing but you didn’t touch that. If it didn’t jump around before the shock change id focus on what you touched. Make sure it’s all torqued. Get the alignment verified.

 

Check for worn/broken parts

The bushings that isolate the rack from the frame always need ti be replaced with polyurethane, I would make solid ones if I had a lathe to make them on because any play there is too much

 

Well I didn't exactly remove the LCA I just needed to loosen it so that it can move down since I wanted to remove the shock without wanting to use spring compressors.

But yeah, I'll recheck the bolts by hand first to see if anything is even slightly loose.

 

What you are experiencing is not normal at hwy speeds. Take it to an alignment shop so it can get aligned along with getting the front end looked at.