Front End Float, Sensitive Steering

So ever since I bought this truck, the front end seems a little "floaty". I was used to driving a car for the last few years, but even still it just didn't feel right. I thought at first it was the bigger tires on a smaller truck, but they weren't that big, and they're not heavy duty mud tires. Just 275/80/17 all terrains if I remember correctly. Then I thought it may be the lift that was put on the truck, but it was only a 1" spacer (wish I could be more specific but like I said, I bought it like this). It also pulled a little to the left and the steering wheel wasn't lined up correctly, but a trip to the shop took care of that. I also recently had the ECGS bushing to get rid of the vibration at ~40mph installed and had it aligned again after that. Now she drives straight, but just seems entirely too sensitive to the angle and low spots/bumps in the road. If I go over something as small as a manhole cover, or the drunk bumps on the side of the road I have to fight the steering wheel to keep it pointing straight. My wife's little Altima keeps to a line no matter what it runs over. I feel like tightening up the steering somehow would solve most of these problems but I have no idea how to do it, plus it's winter here, and shit's cold.

Now I will say, the few times I've had it in 4WD it drives like a dream. Straight as you please, and shrugs off minor mounds of ice and dips while still pointed right straight ahead. I even tried it on the dry flat road (I know, bad for the T-case, but I had to know) and it performed admirably.

Here's all the photos I have, because it's cold and dark and I took these when I first bought it: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/new-members/301236-i-guess-where-i-say-hi.html As you can see the wheels and tires are NOT stock, and I can't figure out the model of wheel but the brand is Pro Comp from what I can tell.

Any advice would be useful.

 

Sounds like your caster may be out. Do you have the alignment numbers?

 

I don't. I mean I assume you mean toe/caster/camber that sort of thing, but I live in an apartment complex so unfortunately during the winter I'm not able to work on it myself. And I didn't think to ask.

Although, if it's relevant, I took it to the dealer for the first alignment. They "aligned" it, but left the steering wheel not straight up and down. The (different) mechanic I took it to after that installed the bushing and changed the CV axle for me and lined the wheel up at the same time. For the sake of completeness, he replaced the passenger CV axle seal, and seated it too far back the first time and it leaked differential fluid. Then I brought it back and he seated it correctly the 2nd time.

 

You should have gotten a paper that listed all the specs for each tire alignment. The more lift you have the harder it is to get the caster in spec. You said it's lifted 1". Are you sure it isn't more than that? The front can only handle up to around 2"-2.5" of lift before new adjustable UCAs are needed to correct caster.

 

I posted a link to the pictures in the original paragraph, you can see as much as I can.

 

You really need the alignment numbers to know for sure. Didn't the alignment shop give you a paper with the alignment specs?

 

The spacer in the photo is either made by Readylift or one of the copycat designs on eBay. 1" spacer gives about 1.75" lift due to the motion ratio between the strut and the wheel. With stock upper control arms, your caster angle would be near zero after the lift, contributing to the sensitive steering.

It's interesting you say the truck drives straight in 4WD. The Altima is FWD. In both cases the front wheels get propulsion power,

 

Make sure your tires aren't overinflated too. Try them at about 30-32 psi.

 

I never knew the caster being at 0 deg would make the steering more sensitive. Do you know of a way to "tighten" it up?

In the last couple of days, 4WD will refuse to engage and beep at me. It will eventually engage if I keep trying it but it has done it enough times that it is concerning me.

I've also developed a little play in the wheel, no more than an inch in either direction.

So, to recap:

1. "Floaty" feel when driving down the highway.
2. Sensitive steering when driving over a bump or depression.
3. When the road is angled, it pulls in that direction.
4. 4WD refusing to engage and beeping occasionally.
5. TPS light on (no flashing, constantly on, possibly spare tire even though when I checked last week it was at 30psi). Oddly, TPS light went away for a week when I bumped a curb.
6. Just noticed a play in the wheel even though I just had it aligned a month ago with no changes since.

 

OK then. Seems most of my problems stem from the lift the PO put on. I've spent a couple days reading about lift kits and aftermarket UCA's and that sounds pretty spot on with what I've been seeing. The 4WD not engaging every once in awhile is a bit concerning, and the TPS light is annoying but otherwise I believe we can call this thread done.

... as soon as someone answers whether or not a light racing UCA would be overkill for this situation? And if it is, could you recommend a set that I won't have to replace when I put on a better lift kit later this year? (mostly road warrior, off-road rarely, but I still want good sturdy suspension)

 

To everyone coming to this page for the same problems:

1. The "floaty" feeling was fixed by installing UCAs and adjusting to the proper caster (2.5-3.0) for my lift (2" + level).
2. Sensitive steering was also related to alignment, but also partly because of the wider tires and bad treadwear.
3. It still pulls in the direction the road slants. Haven't gotten it figured out yet. I replaced the wheels, tires, suspension, UCAs, and had it aligned a half dozen times to no avail.
4. The 4WD beeping at me went away eventually, I may have been trying to engage it at too high of speeds (over 55mph I think).
5. Can't remember, it went away on its own. Might have been related to the cold.
6. Play in the wheel was fixed by the "zip tie mod" (search it) and fixing the alignment numbers (thanks to the LR UCAs).

Thanks to everyone for helping me out. I've almost got 'er where I want 'er.