Creaking and play when push/pull wheel side to side, not up and down

Hi All,

I have an issue I was hoping that I could get a little bit of input on. I have a 2004 Tacoma 4WD, 4 cylinder. Lately I have been noticing a little bit of creaking from the front end right when I first begin moving that seems to settle out once I am at speed. As well, I am noticing a little bit of play/looseness in the front end when I hit bumps in the road, and/or I am at highway speeds. I have 235K on the truck and my first thought was that the lower ball joints were going. They have never been replaced, and my mileage is getting high enough that I am starting to get a little nervous every time I get in the truck. So I have ordered some lower ball joints and am going to put them in ASAP. Seems like a fairly simple job.

Here is the part I could use some input on. As part of confirming that replacing the LBJs would take care of things, I jacked up the front end and pushed/pulled on the wheels to check for play. I am getting no play or noises when I push/pull the wheel up and down (with hands at 12 and 6 o'clock positions), but I am getting the creaking noise and feeling play when I push/pull the wheel side to side (with hands at 3 and 9 o'clock positions). From what I have been able to find on the internet this would tend to indicate the issue causing the noise and play is not the LBJs, but instead is possibly a tie rod, bushings, or a bad bearing. I am going to swap out the LBJs anyway since the ones that are in there are way past due, but I could use some help in determining what other steps I should be taking. Here are the questions I have:

- Is it still possible it may be the LBJs after all, even though the play is side to side?
- If it's not the LBJs, are any of the possible things it could be a potential safety issue like it is with the LBJs?
- Can someone point me to a diagnostic procedure to help isolate the cause further?

I do my own maintenance as needed (have never found a mechanic I trust), so I only replace what I need to replace. I'd love to do an entire front end suspension refresh/replace and I'm sure that would take care of the problem, but I really do not have the time, facilities, or experience to do that right now. Just trying to do what I need to to keep the truck moving and not a danger to myself or others. Thanks...

 

Pushing and pulling in the 3/9 o'clock directions involves the inner and outer tierod ends and also the steering rack and its mounting bushings.

Get under the truck and do a closer inspection while a buddy pushes and pulls in the 3/9 directions to find what all is moving/making noises.

235K is a ton of miles if the components involved are all originals.

Be safe, put the weight of the truck on a jack stand before crawling under it.

 

You should just replace the outer tie rods when you do the ball joints since you have to pull them from the mount on the old ball joints. At that many miles the rubber on the joints are probably starting to fall apart.

 

Thanks for the replies. I was a little bit in "Oh Sh*t" mode when I first wrote this post because the problem wasn't what I thought it was. I should have taken more time to think things through a bit. Your replies make a lot of sense, though. I haven't done more looking at it yet, but it seems likely the problem is either the inner or outer tie rod. Looking online, that job does not seem to be too difficult, provided your parts are not seized up with rust (a big "if" for a truck with 235K in the northeast).

Looks like the job is going to be a little bit bigger than I thought...

 

Definitely check to see if your rack is moving side to side. I did my lift and 33s and instantly lost my rack bushings. Felt like it was wandering at freeway speeds. And I had around 160k on it.

 

Thanks, I will add it to the list of things to check.

I am finding out there are parts on my truck I did not know existed...