Wandery & Bouncy Steering

I did some searching but couldn't quite find a post similar to my issue.

Some background - 2006 Double Cab, TRD, 165,000 miles, new Dynapro ATMs, rotated and fresh alignment.

Issue - In the past month or so the truck has been wandering mostly noticeable on the highway. Had an alignment done, came out right in spec and the tech said no wear parts to replace. Still wandering, feels like the steering gets really light right around center. Also when going over bumps it feels as though one of the front wheels are loose. Wobbly and small road ripples start what feels like tire bounce that takes a second or two to recover. And if that starts when going around a curve it seems like the truck could keep going straight as the tire chatters. This bounce is transferred to the steering wheel, I have to hang onto it sometimes. The past couple days the steering seems harder to turn to make turns at low speeds.

Self diagnosis so far - Jacked up each front side individually, one front on the ground one raised. Shake 12 & 6 position showed no play. Shake 9 & 3 position has some movement but it looked like it was moving the rod that goes into the rack, not play at the tie rod end. Put a bar under the tire to move the tire up and down, no play. Struts might be originals I cant tell. (I'm 2nd owner) No leaky shocks, no major bouncing when pushing the bumper down test. The suspension on the truck overall seems tired from age. Previous owner never did the rear leaf TSB, only 2 leaves there.

Not really sure where to go from here. And thoughts or help would be really appreciated!!

 

Mine has 150,000 and the inner tie rods were bad. The outers were both pretty good still. I had an assistant sit in the driveway while I got under it with the truck off and shake the wheel back an forth. The passenger inner tie rod made a clicking sound. So I replaced all 4 tie rod ends and it stiffened it up a heck of a lot. I had that wandering feeling when the road would dip or going over uneven surfaces. I havent been in it enough since putting them on to confirm that all of that is gone, but I'll know more tomorrow when I go out of town with it.

 

Great, thanks for the info! I'm thinking I might change the inner and outers and see what happens.

 

I have the same issue. Some keywords you might try are "bump steer", and I used "floaty" to describe mine when I posted about it. There are threads, but they're hard to find because everyone uses different words to describe it. I have a lift though so the consensus was that I needed an aftermarket UCA to combat the angle my lift was putting on my suspension.

 

If you choose to replace them, Rock Auto has the Moog tie rod ends that are really good, and they are only like $20 a pop. There are some really good Youtube videos on replacing the tie rod ends on the Tacoma.

I wouldn't just go throwing parts at it without knowing for sure where the problem is though. If the inners are worn you should be able to hear and feel play when you have someone shake the wheel back and forth with the truck off. Good Luck.

 

Mine had similar symptoms, i had 3 different mechanics from 3 different shops look at it, all 3 said tie rods were good and all 3 said it needed a new steering rack

 

Did you ever have the rack replaced?

My rack is leaking grease into the boot on the drivers side. I told the shop that did my alignment about it and the mechanic said he wouldnt replace it, that it would last a long time the way it is. I cant help but think this is the culprit behind my loose steering feel.

 

Two posts that you may wanna check out
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/88077-steering-column-fix.html

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...tacoma-steering-rack-bushing-replacement.html