Steering wheel jiggles at speed

1996 Tacoma 2.4L regular cab 2WD 103,000 miles

Lately I've noticed a very subtle steering wheel jiggle at speed. It is self-correcting in the sense it jiggles equal amounts left to right (about 1/4" each direction) in a predictable sin wave rhythm. Noticeably worse at slower speeds 15-25 MPH. Above 40 MPH almost non-existent.

I can easily overpower and stop the jiggle by keeping my hands on the wheel. And if I take my hands off at slower speeds, the truck doesn't swerve from side to side even though the jiggle is more pronounced.

Any ideas?

 

Out of balence tires? Bent rim?

 

x2

 

Does the 2wd have the chattery steering shaft too? ^
I just welded mine last week and its awesome, no wandering on the highway or smacking around on a trail

 

What joint?

 

Bent rim...wouldn't this require some kind of trauma to the wheels, i.e. running into a curb at speed? Nothing like this has happened in years and I'm the only person who drives it.

Out of balance tires...how does this happen, and what is the remedy?

 

Def look into tire balance, they just get unbalanced over time or not rebalanced with new tires. Helped reduce shake but not eliminate. I also have a little play in steering column and think tack weld would completely stop shake

 

I'd lean towards alignment and tire balance issues.
The alignment will change when suspension components wear.

Even if the steering shaft had play in that...
it shouldn't kick back to the steering wheel
on smooth paved road.

at 103K it is more likely something has worn
with the suspension components... and the alignment has been compromised.
Commonly the toe setting will be effected most.
Even tired/worn struts can create issues.

Unless of course the suspension has been renewed !?

Besides checking the alignment and tire balance...
I would look at loose or worn inner/outer tie rods...
or possibly the rack guide being out of adjustment (loose)

 

Can tire balance be checked visually?

 

Nope. Just bring it in. A balance and rotate should run you less than $40 depending where you live. My local Toyota dealer (Who i've yet to have a bad experience with) does Alignments for $99.

 

Rotate tires front to back then see if it goes away....

 

I finally got around to rotating tires.

Did front to back, one side at a time. Noticeable improvement after the left tires were rotated. I couldn't feel the jiggle any longer, but I could still see it in the steering wheel. Not as bad though.

Came back home and rotated the right side. The steering wheel jiggle is now 100% gone. Seems too good to be true, but we'll have to wait and see. The old front tires (now on the back) are five or six years old but still have plenty of tread remaining.

What should I do next? Go to a tire shop and have them balance those two tires? I had alignment done about 10K ago.

 

UPDATE
Been almost 7 months since I rotated the tires and the jiggle went away. Over the past couple weeks I noticed an increase in vibration, nothing too bad, I thought maybe it was due to changes in weight distribution. That's happened to me in the past.

Today on the freeway doing about 60 MPH the vibration was worse and just as I was thinking whether I should pull over and inspect, BAM!!!!!!!!!, I thought I had been in a car accident except I didn't feel an impact. In my rear view mirror I saw debris flying all over place and the truck was riding extremely rough. I experienced a complete tread separation on my right rear tire.

The tread came loose and destroyed all of the plastic pieces in the wheel well, and just for good measure, also creased (bent) the side of the truck as it tapers down behind the wheel. The metal bracket that holds the plastic wheel well pieces was bent upward, so I'll have to pay a body shop to bend it back into place.

That's the summation of my day. Nice, eh?

 

Why didn't you have the wheels rebalanced way back when, it is the best way, along with rotation, to keep things running smoothly, plus the shop tech could have brought to your attention any potential problems...

sorry, this is epic fail on your behalf...an out of balance tire may not be felt as much on the rear , but, jeesh, dude, you gots to take care of your shiza....

 

The problem disappeared when I rotated the tires so I never bothered taking it in for tire balance.

It appears the affected tire is on a recall list for tread separation.

 

You put the problem tire on the right rear, which is furthest away from you so you notice vibrations from it the least.. Sorry to hear about your tread separation though that must be scary

 

Proof that it's important to keep tires balanced. That tire that you never balanced would have had abnormal wear which I'm sure contributed to the tread separation. I suggest stepping up your vehicle maintenance.

 

I checked the wear a few months back with a depth gauge and it was even. Tire pressure was good.

Reading more on this specific tire has revealed numerous identical reports which I presume prompted the recall. Hopefully Discount Tire will be good when I bring it in tomorrow.

 

The tire shop may have been able to catch the bad tire before it exploded just from inspection while off the truck...and, for crying out loud, even if the vibes kinda completely disappeared when the front where rotated to the rear, they STILL where out of balance, they didn't autocorrect just because of the switch...the extra vibration over time did not help the tire one bit....besides, it was Discount Tire, you have FREE lifetime balancing and rotation, why you didn't go in and have them rebalanced is a mystery...plus, if you had gone in 7 months back, they could have taken care of the recall and you probably wouldn't have had the problem...

next time you will know better...I am sure if they were on recall, they will take care of you...

 

wowwww.. You guys are attacking him for something I fail to see is his fault. The tire is a KNOWN bad product, that is KNOWN to have tread separate from the tire. known, but not by him.

I fail to see how poor balancing of the wheel make the tire vomit tread all over the highway...?
I guess you guys think that the hundreds of millions of wheels on vehicles in the US are all PERFECTLY balance 100% of the time.

Come on, get real guys. I doubt I've ever driven a vehicle (except maybe a 2014 rental or something) that has perfectly balanced wheels. Let's be realistic here.