alignment and steering issue

My son gave me his 2002 Tacoma extra cab 4X4 V6 a month ago. 185,500 miles. Its kind of ironic that he had to give up his truck because his family is expanding. I had to do the same thing in 1982 when he was born. Wife wouldn't ride in the bed of my 1980 Toyota SR5 truck so we traded for a Honda Accord.

Issues I've noticed in my first month are:

When I drive 70 mph or higher I notice a vibration in the steering wheel. It gets worse the faster I go.

Clutch pedal squeaks and feels soft when engaged.

Idles 1500-2000 rpm when engine is cold. Once it warms up idle drops to 800-1000 rpm.

Brakes not stopping truck as well as it should.

I took it in for an oil change at a tire shop. They said inner tie rod ends were bad on both sides. No diagnosis for other issues.

I took it to a reputable garage recommended by a friend. They said the rack and pinion assembly was bad. No diagnosis for other issues. For what its worth this garage is one of only three in my area with an A rating.

I took it to one of the other A rated garages near me. Problems they found were:

• Throttle body caked with deposits
• All 4 tires out of balance
• Right inner tie rod bad
• front rotors bad. (Brake pads 3/4 life remaining all around).
• Spring and bushing on clutch pedal broken

They recommended:

• Cleaning throttle body
• Replace clutch bushing and spring
• Resurface front rotors
• Balance tires
• Replace right inner tie rod end
  
• Realignment

They quoted a total price of $690 plus sales tax.

Does the diagnosis and price for repairs seem reasonable?

 

Clutch squeak is common (not a difficult fix if you're mechanically inclined). It always idles a little faster cold, but that's a big rpm spread and it could certainly use a nice MAF/throttle cleaning. Brakes on 1st gens are marginal to begin with, so yeah... fix/replace the rotor and it could probably use a good brake bleeding. If your going to replace a tie rod do both... if your going to replace both inners may I suggest maybe a new steering rack. You can get rebuilts fairly cheap (~$250) and they come with inner tie rod ends. Tire balance is one of the first things to do when vibrations occur and should probably be done anyway.

 

for what is wrong with it, you can do all of that yourself very cheaply without even needing to be mechanical at all.

as to the rest, first off, there is no such thing as rotors being bad but brake pads are ok so that's weird, maybe someone just put new pads on when they should have also changed rotors but this is a 15 minute job for each side so don't pay anyone to do this, the hardest part of that job is taking the tire off and on lol. you can buy new rotors for around $30 each and a set of brake pads are about $20.

for brake pads and rotors go to http://www.rockauto.com/?a=G-motormite and save the link to your favorites, they are the "go to" place to get just about any aftermarket parts you need for your truck.

for the clutch bushing and spring go to http://www.toyotaonlineparts.com/ and save the link to your favorites, they are the "go to" place to get just about any oem Toyota parts you need for your truck.

youtube has many videos that show you just about anything you want to replace on your Toyota and if not, how you fix 4runners are just about identical to our trucks.

all tires out of balance seams bogus to me unless he put tires on it and never got them balanced but I have a hard time believing they removed every tire to check balance but didn't balance them, then put them back on the car to tell you they were out of balance? see what I mean when you read how silly that sounds? I think there are trying to make money off of you but beyond that the work listed should be doable for around half that price so no don't go there and pay that.

are you at all mechanical? fix your own lawn mower? you don't need to be a mechanic to do this work, just not afraid to get dirty is all it requires.

this is how you change your inner tie rod:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVQHgcXEhpE

now I want to say this guy uses a special clamp tool but just use a plastic tie strap te resecure the boot in place.

also he was beating on the rod that goes into the steering rack which can damage the seals in it so you never want to do that.

this video is to show you how it comes apart and goes back together and that's what is important. some guys on youtube have bad habits and do things the wrong way so youtube should be used with caution for information and visual representations on how things come apart and use your own common sense from there

 

That is not correct. Rotors wear down until a point at which they are out of spec. Warping can also occur.

-Charlie

 

This is one of those things where it's usually cheaper to replace the rotors vs resurfacing. After figuring in techs time to put rotors on a lathe and mill them down it's often quicker and cheaper to switch them out.

The tires on this truck were not oversize off road where they? I have a hell of a time keeping those balanced. Did the mechanic take truck for a test drive? If he did he could.have diagnosed out of balance tires. Whether one or four needed balanced, they all are going to get balanced to take care of that.

As for the inner tie rod ends, i have seen when rotors get warped, the vibration can prematurely cause inner torrid to fail. My wife failed to tell me she had warped rotors. I rarely drive her truck, so i had no idea that she needed front end work. When i found out and started swapping out rotors, i also found a bad inner tor rod end. Just saying bad rotors make very bad vibrations and can effect other parts in the front end of a vehicle.

 

My son replaced the worn out all terrain tires with a set of 4 used tires for $200 mounted but I guess they didn't balance them. You get what you pay!

He needed something more reliable to get from Orlando to Dallas (new job). He made me aware of some of the issues I mentioned. Since I retired in January he figured it would be a fun project truck for me.

Later this summer I will drive to Sacramento via Denver to visit my old college roommates. That's a 4500 mile round trip from Arkansas not counting side trips along the way. I will be camping most of the time. I have a general itinerary of where I want to go along the way but only time will tell how long I'll be gone.

I'll buy 4 new all-terrain tires before I leave. I haven't decided what size or brand to get. My son use to drive in the Ocala National Forest a lot. Its a big, sandy pine forest with lots of trails. I don't think he ever had to put it in 4WD. Only tool he needed was a tree trimming hand saw to clear the trail now and then. He carried his chain saw with him but never needed it.

My biggest issue right now is fitting all my camping gear in the bed. The truck has a nice tonneau cover but that limits how much gear will fit. My 15 yr old Saris hitch mounted bike rack isn't working well with my 29er mountain bike either. Just not made to fit a 29er frame. Before I got the Taco I was driving a 2002 Mazda pickup (aka Ford Ranger). Owned for 14 years. Never gave me any problems but I couldn't go off-road with it. But the 29er fit nicely in the bed.

Any suggestions for a hitch mounted bike rack that will fit one 29er and one regular size mountain bike? I like the platform style hitch but have never owned one. Any issues with bottoming out while off-roading?

How do you post pics?

 

At bottom of box where you type, there is a button for upload a file. Click on that and choose file. This works good for phone pics. Play around with it for a bit and it will come to you.

 

if you are going to quote something to disagree with it you cant misrepresent what was said by taking it out of context like you did

what I said was "there is no such thing as rotors being bad but brake pads are ok so that's weird, maybe someone just put new pads on when they should have also changed rotors" which is far different then just sniping it out as "there is no such thing as rotors being bad"

if the rotors are bad then so are the pads and you don't change rotors without changing pads so for them to say the pads have 3/4 life left implies they are saying they dont need to be replaced otherwise the comment on pad life left would not have been made.

 

I just hate run-on sentences, don't you? Puncuation helps a reader know when to stop or continue reading and assists in the conveyance of the writers message. A timely comma, semi colon or period is of great benefit to the reader so the message is understood and not taken out of context.

Keaker, I understand the point you're driving at and agree with you. But a little assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

lol, good point sir but that was only one comma left out and quite a stretch to turn it into me saying something I didn't.

"there is no such thing as rotors being bad but brake pads are ok, so that's weird, maybe someone just put new pads on when they should have also changed rotors"

how is that? better?

 

Didn't mean to cause a problem. I just wanted to make sure everything was clear. Thanks,
Charlie

 

sorry, I was just frustrated at the time

 

I really like my Thule T2, use it to for my cruisers and Specialized Camber Comp 29er.

As for the truck, I would address the inner tie rod ends first then replace front rotors. Tires before the trip.

 

Yes, much better.

 

I kinda hate to restart a seemingly dead thread but Ill be honest, I have had a similar problem as this. However my 02 Tacoma is an automatic. I have posted a few times in the forums about it but have not had any luck. The interesting thing is I keep seeing the same things pop up in recommended fixes. I have an Old Man Emu kit with nitro sports on the front and dakar leaf packs on the back. Was recommended through the Tacoma forums and is a great lift. However, about a year after having the lift put on I keep getting a really bad vibration in the front end on the passenger side. It also seems to be very loose when taking left handed corners, almost feels like the wheel is going to fall off. Mind you, it has about a 2 year old new rack and pinion, new cv joints on both sides, new sway bar end links, and fresh diff fluid in both front and back. I keep my truck pretty well maintained in the order of alignment (when steering wheel starts to droop to one side) and tire rotation (roundabout every 5000 miles)

Anytime I am looking for information I always get the same answers. Oh, you have a lift on it, thats probably the cause (not really, just blowing smoke) or you need new CV joints, new sway bar end links. Im seriously annoyed with the fact that it seems there is a just a ghost in my truck. Anyone offer any advice? Feel free to reply in a PM if itd be better. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

could be your 2yr old new rack is bad, aftermarket or reman racks have a high failure rate so your much better off getting a good salvage yard replacement if you need one

 

Behinduranus:

You need to do some trouble-shooting.

Jack up the right corner, grab the wheel/tire, and wiggle it in all directions. See if there is any play (TRE's, ball joints, etc), there shouldn't be any play.

Check for leaks in the rack itself, and the rack boots.

Spin the wheel to check the bearings.

BTW, clever forum 'handle'.

 

Haha yeah its a pretty awesome handle

Ive completed the ball joint test many times, it passes just fine. Nothing is loose / wiggles at all, even tried using a steel bar to move it. The rack and pinion is a factory replacement, not much more I can tell on that (I really hope its not that, or something more expensive lol). Ive tested what I can myself and had many opinions on it but it all comes down to the CVs and end links first, then most are like well its lifted, thats the problem. Its very frustrating and difficult to explain really, without feeling it while driving makes it hard to address. I have setup an appointment with a nearby Offroad company to have them look at it, gonna cost my $75 just for the look (seems bull but hopefully they know what theyre doing, they do alot of the lifts on trucks in the area)

Im not that mechanically inclined on checking the rack for leaks but it all seems to be dry on the outside. Also, when my friend was up here we spun the tire and it rolls as it should. Not to sure what Im looking for on that? Care to elaborate somewhat if possible?

 

You might look into a loose or bad LCA bushing. A good alignment shop should catch it, but you never know.