Steering Problems Offroad

Folks,

Would you all be able to share input on how much your steering wheel is forced left or right when driving offroad and hitting uneven terrain at slow speeds? Do you have OEM wheels or higher offset?

Here is my situation. Stock suspension SCS Stealth 6 17" wheels with KO2's 265/70 R17 Load C. Vehicle is aligned.

So I went on a varmint hunt and drove around farm fields for a weekend at very slow speeds 5-10mph max. When going over the uneven terrain my steering wheel would whip pretty dang hard left or right about 1/4 turn. It was annoying as hell. I knew the offset of the new wheels would have an effect, but I didn't think it would be that drastic.

When driving on gravel logging roads my steering wheel also vibrates a lot just from the gravel. Also annoying as hell. 16K miles on the truck.

Appreciate the input.

Preston

 

Maybe I posted in the wrong place. bump for input.

 

have a steering stabilizer?

 

No. Truck is mostly stock. Will read up on what that is. I haven't seen many Tacoma folks talking about them though.

 

No worse than my previous truck and nothing that isn't prevented by holding the steering wheel.

 

Are you driving without your hands on the wheel? The only time I ever have this "problem" is when I'm being a jackass 4-wheeling, and am going 20mph+ over rocky terrain and I catch a wheel on a large rock.

 

I'm also going to assume you (OP) weren't holding the steering wheel. I think the easiest solution to fix your steering, is by actually steering it.

 

Ha! You guys are hilarious. Yes I'm holding the wheel. While holding the wheel hitting the bumps in the farm fields whips the wheel and jars my hands back and forth. Driving down a gravel road at 20mph vibrates the steering the wheel and shakes my arm. I should take a video of it. I will do that next time I'm on gravel or uneven terrain.

I did get the truck aligned again today. Alignment was close. For some reason i had negative toe in the front, which has been corrected. Drives better on the road, but I haven't had it off road yet.

 

Sometimes you just gotta cover all the bases.

 

Mine does the same. Up and down the gravel road and I feel every rock and bump through the wheel. The 99 4runner is smooth as butter. Both stock wheels.

 

Though this is not uncommon, it's caused by Caster adjustment. Too little with make steering twitchy. Try having alignment shop add a degree of positive caster.

 

Well that's a bummer to hear, but I'm glad I'm not the only experiencing it. Thanks for sharing your experience.