Weird steering issue/sound (video)

My steering has all of a sudden developed a weird stiffness and noise coming through the column.

The stiffness happens mainly when making hard turns at slow speeds. I also notice that, on the freeway, the wheel is harder to turn left than right.

What's odd is that the stiffness is really intermittent -- sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. Also, if the wheel gets stiff and I quickly turn the wheel in the opposite direction and back, the stiffness is gone.

I've also noticed an odd clicking sound coming from the steering column when I turn the wheel back to straight after making a sharp turn.

It's not coming from the clock spring (took that off to test) and it seems like it's coming from the lower part of the column itself. I don't see any weird play in the little steering u-joint in the cab.

Could this be an issue with the rack? Or something suspension-related? My rack is one of those with the old-style roller.



EDIT: Thought I fixed this but it returned! Details in a post below.

 

Looks like you're collecting bellybutton lint down there...


The rack is really the most complex thing with the most moving parts, bearings, hydraulics etc... so that would be my guess.

Have someone wiggle the steering wheel back and forth (don't actually crank the wheels) and poke around the tie rod ends and anything else that moves to see if you can pinpoint any slop.

Is the rack leaking?

 

Yeah...dust cover's not really doing a great job, is it? I don't see anything in the movement of the u-joint that looks odd.

I also suspect the rack, but it's not really leaking -- some dampness near the bellows but the fluid level has never been low. I used a turkey baster to replace a bunch of the PS fluid with fresh ATF, but that didn't really do anything.

I think the model is a reman, as it has the early-style roller but the truck itself is a 2003. So could just be a crappy rebuild?

 

do you mean the rack is a reman?

You can get new ones for around $500 from lowrange offroad (though I'm not entirely sure if they are actually new or remaned, as well) would have to check...

I hate to tell you to go out and spend $500+ on a rack and have that not be the issue, but that's my guess...

 

Yeah, sorry, meant that the rack is a reman. I know that the early guide design causes them to fail more often, and that the later version is a lot more robust.

Might also look into just getting a low-mileage used rack with the later guide design...

 

I'd jack up both front wheels, with the key in the ignition turn a road wheel left and right by hand and see if you can feel or hear where the noise is coming from.

 

Welp, I thought I had this problem licked a couple years ago, after I let a buddy drive my truck. He drove my geared-down truck at 80MPH for a few hours, and after spinning at 3250RPM for a while, the steering issue seemed to resolve itself. I figured a piece of something had gotten caught in the hydraulic system and just needed to be dislodged.

Fast-forward to a few weeks ago. I was driving in town, noticed the smell of ATF, and felt my steering start to get stiff and weird like before. (It's a manual truck so there's only one place the ATF could have come from).

I noticed the smell again a couple weeks later, and jumped out to find ATF dripping from the radiator and crossmember near the PS pump.

I figured I'd rebuild the PS pump as I had the kit lying around my garage. Didn't see any bad seals or damage to the pump, nor could I find anywhere on the pump body that looked like ATF had sprayed out of it.

The rebuild didn't fix it. What I'm noticing now is that the steering gets especially stiff about a half-turn from full lock in either direction, whether you're turning it into lock or straightening out the wheel. The pump doesn't really sound like it's laboring when this happens, but I'll listen again to make sure.

The stiffness isn't consistent. It's like there are certain spots or times when the steering gets really stiff, and as soon as I power through those spots, it's back to normal. I'm noticing that it happens most frequently when I'm driving at low speeds and change direction.

I've tried putting in the clutch and goosing the engine in these situations, in case it's a weak pump or something, but it doesn't seem to help.

I think my rack bushings are worn -- noticing an audible click from that area when I get too far in one direction or another. But I'm not sure if that's what's causing the stiffness. Given that replacing the whole rack didn't help last time, I'm disinclined to try it again, but it's an old, used junkyard rack (albeit an OEM Toyota one with the improved roller design).

Kind of stumped now as to what to do. Some thoughts:

1) Could the tie rods be worn enough to be binding? My truck is lifted 2-3" and has 33"s w/ Camburg UCAs.

2) Is my rack or the hydraulic lines leading to it shot? I've noticed a tiny leak from the control valve on the rack, but it's barely enough to make the thing look moist. I know the lift/tire size isn't exactly friendly to the stock rack.

3) Are there bearings/bushings in the steering column that might be binding somehow? I've noticed a sporadic weird noise coming from the column, but it's not every time and it might just be related to the fact that I'm having to really crank on the wheel to move the tires.

Any feedback would be super-appreciated. I know guys like Dirty Pool are Tacoma steering experts.

 

Anyone experienced anything like this? The spraying PS fluid really has me boggling.

Considering replacing the PS lines from the pump to the rack. They don't look kinked, but wondering if they are gunged up or something.

 

So I think I finally figured this out and figured I'd update the thread in case anyone else has this issue.

I found a fix to this problem documented here: https://www.customtacos.com/threads/got-steering-sticking-binding-one-fix-here.139115/

Basically, there's a u-joint at the firewall that redirects the steering wheel shaft down into the steering rack. (called the "yoke" in the parts list).

A dust seal protects this joint, which also has plastic protectors around it. When the dust seal fails, the joint begins to pack with dust.

There's a plastic locator piece inside the u-joint that keeps the angle of the two joints locked.

Just like the poster in the above link, I pulled it apart to find that the grease had totally dried up into a thick, sticky goo. Couldn't even rotate the joint when I pulled it out of the truck.

Spent some time with a bunch of brake cleaner and small screwdrivers getting rid of all the syrupy grease. The u-joints themselves were just fine, it was the locator plate that was nearly seized.

Added some fresh grease, reassembled the yoke, reinstalled the steering column, and the difference is like night and day. It's like getting my power steering back -- didn't realize how hard the wheel had gotten to turn.

I'm not totally convinced that my steering system is 100% yet -- there's still the issue of the ATF that sprayed out a couple times this past month. I may end up replacing the hard lines between the rack and the pump.

But I'm not having to muscle the wheel around anymore, and the steering finally feels normal. If you're having weird binding or hard steering issues and you're not hearing the pump struggle or whine, I'd definitely check out the steering yoke. I'd bet a lot of people have a failed seal and/or harder steering and don't even notice it.

Job took maybe an hour. Only new part I needed to buy was the dust seal.