3rd gen tacoma steering wander/ bumpsteer

Ive had a troubling problem i cant seem to figure out. My truck wanders on the road (following the grown) and also bumpsteers when i hit potholes/ road imperfections. I have already replaced the rack bushings, new upper control arms (new uca bushings/ball join)
Shocks are new, tires are new, wheel bearings are new. No visible play in outer or inner tie rods, no visible play in lca bushings or ball joint, also no visible play in sway bar bushings or linkage. Just got the truck aligned alignment specs are 3.5 degrees of castor factory toe and camber. (Note ive tried castor settings from 2-4 degrees and have found no affect on the wander). When I wiggle the steering where there is a barely audible clunk coming from what sounds like the rack. When i hold the drivers side inner tie rod end I can feel a clunk. The only conclusion i can come to is the rack is bad. Is there a possibility of physical clunk/play in the rack? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated

 

I have also inspected all of the steering column and cant find any play anywhere.

 

Beat me to the punch, I was going to suggest checking the steering column.

Have you tried rotating/swapping your tires around to see if that changes the behavior? I had a tire with a broken ply on a XJ I had years ago. Every time it got rotated around to a front position I had all sorts of wandering issues.

 

I just rotated them a few weeks ago no change. Something i didnt think of though is tire pressure. Think that might affect it?

 

My truck was very "crown sensitive" with the original equipment tires, it would track straight on a flat road but any crown and I was always fighting a pull. I bought new wheels and tires and to my surprise it's a different truck now, I love driving it.
Pressure make a big difference too.

 

I should mention that i am running rrw rims 17x9 0 offset eith 285/70/17 bfg ko2’s at 35 psi

 

To answer your question about the rack it's normal to hear a thunk thunk steering side to side. Every rack and pinion does this. If there is actual end play somewhere thats an issue.

 

I'd drop your pressure down to 30 to see if it improves. The more inflated my tires are, the more they tramline.

It was a record hot day today, truck was all over the road thanks to me running winter pressures.

 

There is no actualy end play. I put new bushings in the rack this weekend. I inspected all the components and everything looked tight. I will try to lower the pressure and see what happens

 

The door tag says 29 psi all around, I find my truck rides and steers best at that pressure.

 

Just curious, how many miles on truck. Reason, for asking you sure replaced a ton of stuff chasing this.

 

Truck only has 85k miles. And yes i have replaced a lot. Most of the parts ive replaced are because of the nasty mud we have to wheel in up here in new england. Eats bearings and bushings. Also aftermaket uca’s etc

 

Gotcha, explains it.

 

If you read the jd fab thread in the 2nd Gen forum you will find posts talking about the bump steer feeling actually being feedback from the steering because the line pressure is too low on the factory power steering pump. Jd Fab has a kit with a Howe high pressure pump that is said to address this. I noticed the bump steer issue get worse on my truck when I switched from 0 offset to -20mm offset wheels. It makes sense if you think about it now as being a larger lever pushing against the steering rack.

the best alignment settings I found to reduce wander and wanting to follow road crown was 4 degrees caster, .5 degrees negative camber and .04 toe in per side.

 

Interesting. Seems like it makes sense. Only running 33’s though so im thinking it would be a more popular fix if that was the main reason im noticing it. I will definitely be looking into that some more though. Thank you.

 

I am glad to read this. My truck was similar with the OE tires. I kept the OE wheels but installed better tires for the winter and for whatever reason, the truck tracks much straighter and the steering more responsive.

 

Anyone have any ideas? Im still completely lost. I had my truck at the toyota dealership to get the rack checked out. Both times they said nothing is wrongs its just the “lift” ive had the lift on for 30k miles. Just started happening recently. I just did the rack bushings and no luck. Considering trade in at this point. Ive spent countless hours and money to figure this out. Last option i can see is bringing it to a suspension specialist.

 

Still driving with the loose steering. I have gotten 3 alignment sense last time i posted. Looking into replacing the rack at this point. Cant seem to pinpoint the cause of the play. Replacing the rack would be my last hope. Any thoughts on a used rack from lkq/ ebay? Or dish out the 850 for the oem rack from toyota?

 

• Can you share a full picture of your truck showing the rake?
• What suspension components are installed?
• Load range C or E tires?
• Have you pressure washed the mud off the suspension and wheels?
• Re-balanced the tires?
• Replaced the steering fluid?

 

Do you know the difference between bumpsteer and tramlining?
Do you know how to properly check balljoints on the vehicle? Toyota manual requires removal from attached component...
https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/resources/moog-ball-joints/how-to-check-ball-joints.asp
Do you have an alignment sheet you can post?

There are a few things you've done which increase bumpsteer:
-Increase positive scrub by 17mm; more since you probably lost SAI due to lift. SAI(+12) is a stability angle...it's why factory caster is relatively low(+2.2)
-higher positive caster

Also, your tires should be about 32 psi for that size LT.