3rd gen tacoma steering wander/ bumpsteer

Just trying to help you, stop throwing money at it is all. Do you have anyone whom can give you help, or another perspective. Knowledgeable member from here, whom can take a look see.

 

A ton of good suggestions in this thread.

I recommend you check the torque settings on the upper control arm bolt. Make sure you check it/ torque it if it's loose with the truck sitting on the ground under it's static weight. In fact I would just loosen the bolt, re grease the bushings and re torque it all on with the truck on the ground.

I would do the same for the lowers if you're running aftermarket. Same procedure loosen, grease and re torque all with the truck on the ground.

Considering all you've done and following this torque and re grease. If there is no change, I would look into the condition of the bushings for the uppers and the lowers. If the uppers were torqued with the truck in the air during the install, they will never be at static load which will effect the life cycle of the bushing.

If you have stock lowers and the bushings are bad, it's easier to buy new lowers than trying to replace the bushings.

I hope this works out for you, I know it's frustrating.

 

I am having everthing greased/ torqued at the shop today. They are doing another inspection on the front end as well as a alignment. Going with 3.5° of castor deivers 4.0° castor passanger. In the green camber and in the green toe. If they dont find anything and the alignment specs dont change anything it will be going to a local 4x4 shop over my vacation and the guy there eric who specializes in toyota’s said he would be more than happy to diagnose the problem for me. Going to figure out exactly what is wrong with it before i replace any more parts.

 

Sucks to have these issues. Please follow up with results after the shop visit.

 

I will update with any info I am given. Thanks again for everyones help/input. Tons of smart people on here with great advice.

 

Picked up the truck about an hour ago. Took it on a good drive. No change is driving characteristics. Castor on drivers side is 3.5 passanger is 4.0 toe and camber are both in the green. Off to the next shop for diagnosis I suppose

 

Got the truck back this morning from a second shop for a second opinion. They told me that they couldn't find anything wrong. They also checked my alignment again for me.
Caster is 3.0 driver 3.8 passanger
Camber is .5 driver .4 passanger.

Wondering if the jerky steering could be due to a lack of downtravel caused by the 1/2 spacer stacked on the fox 2.0’s?

Also the bushings on the spc’s having that space between the arm and the end of the bushing?

And again steering rack possibly. I did notice the boots are discolored from what i assume is power steering fluid. I have lose some fluid over time.

If anyone has any input or any shop recommendations in the souther nh area I would greatly appreciate the help.

thanks again to everyone

 

Got it, 2.0 (post 21 you mention 2.5). Some have mentioned increasing the spring rate to 700 for added weight, etc. See here You might want to check with @Ryan at Eibach

This guy calls out the thread count here


Also, there's the Fox thread here, and for shop recommendations can be found in the regional thread here.

GL!

 

thank you! I took a drive down to a local shop i heard about called rocko vehicles in ma. They took a look at my truck and recommended i dropped the rear by going to a lighter duty leafe pack. (Heavy to medium) which i did. That allowed me to remove the 1/2 soacer from the front of the truck. While i was removing the spacers today I notice my lca cam tabs are bent. Im going to have them install the total chaos cam tab gussets and re alignment the truck. (Note they are a spc dealer so their tech knows his was around them!). Im excited to see if this was the culprit all along. The steering wheel changing center/the wander and bump steer caused my the constant shiftin in alignment.

 

Wish I had some experience in welding so I could tackle this myself. Unfortunately im a little out of the comfort zone on fixing this one!

 

I can't believe your alignment shop didn't catch that bent cam tab. Was there any reason for the heavy leaf pack in the rear? You're riding on what I'd consider the opposite of ideal; I'd think you'd want the #700 spring in front (because of the bumper weight), with a light-duty spring on the rear (unless you're loaded with weight). You have the lightest spring and 2.0 Coilover up front with the heaviest spring out back.

I personally have the MARLIN LCA BRACE KIT which you can read more about here. trail 4 runner .com has a good writeup and comparison to the TC tabs. Also, as another option, consider these compared to the TC tabs. And, use

$12 Permatex 80078 Anti-Seize Lubricant With Brush Top Bottle Prevents Galling, Corrosion, Seizing, Refined Blend Aluminum, Copper, And Graphite Lubricants For Spark Plugs 8 oz

anti-seize on the cam bolts.

 

I have a similar issue and was thinking some aftermarket bumpstops might help.

 

Yes I have a bed rack system and a rooftop tent that is on during the entire summer. But taken off in winter to help preserve its longevity. I am looking to switch to a alu cab canopy with a rtt on top of that. (Taking the rtt off during the winter). I am also an electrician by trade and do side jobs regularly with 500+lbs of tools in the bed. My truck sits empty in the bed about 30% of the time. Rode ok with the weight in the bed but still hated how it drove.

 

Any update if that was the issue? Think I’m having a similar issue. But looks like the shop bent the cam tab back. As it looks a little chiseled away. My bumpsteer is bad from low speeds all the way up to high speeds. And it’s predominantly on the driver side, jerking the steering wheel to the left every time.

 

The truck is currently at a shop getting the total chaos cam tab gussets done. I will update when I get the truck back

 

So here is an update on the situation. The shop ended up having to replace the lower control arms due to the cam bolt seizing in the bushings. They installed the total chaos gussets and installed new control arms. Also did an alignment. Wish I wasnt on vacation and didnt need my truck back when I got home. Would have saved myself 1000$ in labor costs. Anyway, if you couldn't guess that still didn't fix my problem! At a total loss of direction. Ive had 4 professional shops who specialize in off-road vehicles look at my truck. Im now at the point that I dont really care how much it costs. I am going to replace all the steering components at this point. Steering wheel doesnt come come back to center very quickly or sometimes not even at all. Power steering pump looks like it might have a small leak too. If anyone has any ideas before I lose my mind and spend all kinds of money id greatly appreciate it hahahaha.

 

I have a '22, purchased new. Tracked straight and steering was tight until I lifted 2" and aftermarket wheels & tires at 8000 miles. Obviously since it was brand new we can assume all the steering and suspension components were/are 100%. And of course I installed Eibach springs and struts correctly. Have had it aligned twice, to no avail. Then I had an "Aha!" moment and checked my tire pressure. They were all at 38-39 lbs.! I lowered them to 34 psi and have noticeable improvement. I thought about going down to 30 psi but don't want to compromise gas mileage too much as I do a lot of driving.

 

Do you still have the tophat spacer with the Fox 2.0s maxed out? I'd start there...

For example, MRAs with 352 (or even 354) coils and matching rear shocks. Contact @Crikeymike and lean towards a stiffer spring for good measure. Although, YMMV
https://exitoffroad.com/product/dobinsons-2-3-pre-assembled-mra-tacoma-coilovers-for-2nd-3rd-gen/

 

I do not. I put 700lbs springs on my foxes and lowered the preload adjustment. Removed the spacer too. Replacing the steering rack soon. Still waiting on it to arrive at my local totota dealer.

 

Sounds good. Keep us posted!