Why is my steering so tight ?

Had a frame swap done on my 96 Tacoma back last month.Took it and had the front aligned and AC charged back up.The shop had to put a lower ball joint in to get it aligned right.Question is,why is my steering so tight? I'm guessing the rack had to be took off the old frame and put on the new one.does it have to be bleed like brakes or take fluid.Just some head scratching ideas of why my steering is tight.

 

first off this wasn't a toyota frame recall replacement because you have a 96 year truck so we have no idea what you are even describing here.

where did the frame come from?

what year was it from and what condition as it in? was it a complete truck or bare frame or somewhere in between?

don't ask us what the shop did, you have to ask the shop if they put your rack on the replacement frame you bought or if they might have used the rack that may have already been on the replacement frame. if they did this, that might be your whole problem.

where is everything that didn't get used in the frame swap? hopefully you still have it all?

they may have just put your body on the other frame as-is and everything on it is from the other truck

can you see where you haven't even started describing the situation enough to even begin guessing what is going on?

 

When did it get tight? After the frame or the alignment/bj? Regardless, the shop should fix it if it wasn't like that before....

 

my money is on the steering u-joints are binding...

 

Wtf is a steering u joint? You have the rack, itre, otre, and steering rag joint and column.

 

https://partssales.olathetoyota.com/a/63211739__6710280/STEERING-COLUMN--SHAFT/361410-4501.html

 

Define "Tight".

 

Most people have the opposite problem with loose steering. A lot of your steering feel can come from an alignment. Too little caster can make your steering feel squirrely and possibly tight?

 

Have you looked at your power steering fluid? Is it low, dirty, burnt smelling or anything else out of the norm? Is the pump making any excess noise/whining when you're sitting still and turning the wheel back and forth? How about the belt? Does it have the proper tension, does it need replaced? I could see the wheel being harder to turn/tight if the belt is a little loose and is slipping some on the pulley?

My steering is also "tight" feeling. I just bought the truck recently with a bad transmission though and haven't really looked into it yet. Just finished up the new tranny install and currently I'm in the middle of new suspension and armor and some other stuff, then will look into why the steering is so tight feeling.

Mine is a 2001 and it did have the frame recall done before i bought it, (about 8 months ago) might be related, might be a coincidence. My steering rack/tie rods were swapped over from the old truck onto the new one. The ball joints look good, no leaking, no torn boots and no slop/play but I'm going to go ahead and replace them anyways while I'm putting everything else on.

I'm guessing when you say "tight", you're feeling the same thing I am, I've owned multiple 1st gen Tacoma's and 4runners, currently have a 99 4runner also and the steering is definitely different feeling. Tacoma steering works fine, steers good, no abnormal noises, doesn't wander or have bump steer or anything like that, just feels like the power steering isn't really helping as much as it should, steering wheel takes more force to turn than any other Toyota of that generation I've owned. My wife drives the 4runner every day, after I got the new tranny in the Tacoma she drove it and the very first thing she said was "why does it feel like its harder to steer than the 4runner?"

Once I have everything else buttoned up on the truck, I'll spend some time looking into the steering feel. Since its getting all new lower ball joints, upper control arms with uniballs, new alignment, etc... I figured I'd wait and see how it feels after all that then address it if needed.