Knock in steering

i have been having this issue were i can feel and hear knocking in the steering wheel...any ideas on what this could be?? only while offroading

 

tie rod ends or ball joints. One of the two, doubtful anything else. Sit at a stop and flip your wheel back and forth. If you feel it at a stop, its definitely tie rod ends. If you feel it more when you're going down the road or bumps its likely ball joints.


You're a 2005, depending on mileage, its getting about that time for them to start wearing out.

 

6" lift??? if your 4x4 its prolly your cvs

 

Please explain why you think this, I'm curious. I don't understand how you can feel CV's knocking in your steering wheel when you're going over bumps.

 

um he didnt say anything about going over bumps. he said offroading. Im just figuring on the street hes fine but when offroading hes throwing it into 4x and then knocking and shaking in the wheel starts when hes wheeling around.

 

to add to the one comment it could be wheel bearings too. 6" lift with 33s with less than stock backspacing puts alot of wear and tear on the suspension...

 

I actually think it's normal. When I take my truck off road I feel the knocking in the wheel also. It's most likely the intermediate steering shaft that connects the steering column to the rack and pinion. Chevrolet has had a big problem with this. On some of the Silverados you can feel the knocking just turning the steering wheel on the street. My 2004 Chevy had to have the shaft replaced twice. That doesn't mean that the Tacomas have the same problem, but it feels the same to me having driven both trucks.

 

thats weird all my chevys had a steering box...

i never had that issue on any of my chevys

 

On the 1999 - 2007 Silverado, the 4x2s have rack and pinion and the 4x4s have a gear box. However, both use the same intermediate steering shaft. GM originally tried to fix the issue with a lubricant kit, but that did not work, so they replace the shaft instead. I have a shelf full of replacement shafts at the Chevy dealer I work at, but I only brought it up because, when I first took my Tacoma off road, I felt the same kind of knocking in the steering that I felt in my Silverado. Again, I think it is normal on the Tacoma, but I may be wrong.

 

My tacoma is fine but a 6" lift puts lots of weird stresses on everything

 

I'm not gonna argue it, maybe you have some experience with this that I don't but I don't agree that it could be cv's or bearings at all. Hopefully he figures it out because now I'm curious.

 

ive driven lifted trucks my whole life. When you lift something 6" or more you put tons of stains on components. Wheel bearings are designed to hold weight vertically. The stock backspacing is set to keep the center of the tire over the center of the front wheel bearing. When changing backspacing you put the center of the wheel further out, away from the center of the bearing. this adds axial strains causing wheel bearings on IFS to wear really fast. Solid axles have different style wheel bearings making them less sensitive. My chevy used to chew through CVs, wheel bearings, and upper ball joints every 6months.

I wasnt disagreeing with anyone but adding other things to check

 

Mines's done the same thing since day one.... only while off-roading/rough terrain or hitting a speed bump to fast lol.... The steering itself feels tight, just something with the wheel linkage...

 

I love lifted Chevys. I get to make lots of money selling parts. Especially wheel bearings. BTW, good advise.

 

do toyotas have a splined slip joint where the steering column bolts to the rack?hondas do and when that slip joint gets dry it pops when hitting bumps or turning the wheel.

 

thanks 4 the advise ill get them changed ASAP...my lower ball joint is not looking so well

 

is there a way to check 4 bad CVs??? and if it were bearings wouldnt there b a different sound other than knocking?

 

What about the steering rack bushings?

 

on dry pavement put it in 4hi and crank the wheels all the way one way and drive in a circle if they are real bad they will clunk alot. another way is to take them off and look for play.

 

not sure but i will b looking tonight 4 loose bolts i will try n see if i can take a look at the bushings as well...i know 4 a fact that i must change my ball joints ...jus the lowers really but im planning on changing them all... i also found a tear in the tie rod end cover so im asuming its pretty beat up