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Steering wheel suddenly "sloppy"

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by kidthatsirish, Oct 28, 2024.

  1. Oct 28, 2024 at 5:58 AM
    #1
    kidthatsirish

    kidthatsirish [OP] Well-Known Member

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    President McKinley w/KLM 203P and threw the roof antenna, ICON RXT leaf spring packs (position 2), Bilsteen 5100s, ARE Camper Shell, Pop & Lock tail gate, Dash Cam
    Ok...so all of a sudden my steering wheel has seemed to develop about a 30 degree area (think of a circle with me) that has what I call very sluggish and sloppy response.

    What I mean by that is I could jerk the wheel, maybe two full inches in either direction and the truck steering wheel will seem mushy and sluggish. Then when info past that point in either direction the truck steering will seemingly return to it's normal responsiveness (normal for a Tacoma that is...I get it's not a sports car).

    Thoughts and opinions on diagnostic steps would be appreciated.
     
  2. Oct 28, 2024 at 6:29 AM
    #2
    Hunter gatherer

    Hunter gatherer Well-Known Member

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    You need to get a second person to do the back and forth with the steering wheel. While they are doing that crawl under your truck and start looking at your steering components. Whatever it is you need to address it before driving it anymore. Does your truck wander? Could be your steering rack bushings.
     
    Jakerou likes this.
  3. Oct 28, 2024 at 6:32 AM
    #3
    kidthatsirish

    kidthatsirish [OP] Well-Known Member

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    President McKinley w/KLM 203P and threw the roof antenna, ICON RXT leaf spring packs (position 2), Bilsteen 5100s, ARE Camper Shell, Pop & Lock tail gate, Dash Cam
    Replaced the entire steering rack and all tied rods a few months ago...been driving fine the past thousand miles.....I'll get someone to try out helping me with the steering rack as you said later this week
     
  4. Oct 28, 2024 at 8:34 AM
    #4
    risethewake

    risethewake Well-Known Member

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    Basics. Tires, painted headlighes, UHLM, baby winch in the bed, and heated mirrors :)
    Seconding the above. Get a helper to wiggle the wheel and see if you can spot any play. Also check for any damaged parts, bent tie rods, etc.
    Make sure all the nuts are tight on the rods, eccentrics, and holding the rod ends into the knuckles. Being that the rack and rods were recently replaced, and you suddenly have an issue soon after, that’d be the first thing I’d scrutinize. Maybe a split pin was missed or something wasn’t torqued down enough.

    Failing all that, get it on an alignment rack and see where it’s at. That wouldn’t explain a sudden-onset problem though, barring a hard hit on the suspension.

    either way, best not to drive it until you give it a thorough look over. Could be just about to drop a tie rod for all anyone knows.
     
  5. Oct 28, 2024 at 8:53 AM
    #5
    Jimmyh

    Jimmyh Well-Known Member

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    Look at the intermediate shaft also under the drivers side wheel well.
     
  6. Oct 28, 2024 at 3:32 PM
    #6
    kidthatsirish

    kidthatsirish [OP] Well-Known Member

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    President McKinley w/KLM 203P and threw the roof antenna, ICON RXT leaf spring packs (position 2), Bilsteen 5100s, ARE Camper Shell, Pop & Lock tail gate, Dash Cam
    So ... notice the video I posted. The front end of the truck is in the air....I am simply moving the tire with my hand....notice the movement of the rack and pinion relative to the frame.....i.e. my rack and pinion seems to be extremely loose!!!!

    I posted a link with the video because I don't know how else to load it.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/1FBuVitYXwsJEDod9

    Needless to say I think I found my steering wheel playo_O
     
    Jimmyh likes this.
  7. Oct 28, 2024 at 3:55 PM
    #7
    kidthatsirish

    kidthatsirish [OP] Well-Known Member

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    President McKinley w/KLM 203P and threw the roof antenna, ICON RXT leaf spring packs (position 2), Bilsteen 5100s, ARE Camper Shell, Pop & Lock tail gate, Dash Cam
    Back up to 92 foot pounds....now hopefully my alignment will not be two far off.
     
  8. Oct 28, 2024 at 4:23 PM
    #8
    winkel

    winkel Well-Known Member

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    I THINK your alignment will be fine, but your steering wheel may not be centered while driving straight.
     
  9. Oct 29, 2024 at 8:46 AM
    #9
    kidthatsirish

    kidthatsirish [OP] Well-Known Member

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    President McKinley w/KLM 203P and threw the roof antenna, ICON RXT leaf spring packs (position 2), Bilsteen 5100s, ARE Camper Shell, Pop & Lock tail gate, Dash Cam
    Well, this morning the steering wheel was good and tight again. The alignment seems to be ok. I would say that "straight" now looks like the steering wheel is in a 5 degree or less turn to the left, which is hardly perceptive and may just be due to the crown in the road.
     
  10. Oct 29, 2024 at 10:24 AM
    #10
    gstodd

    gstodd Well-Known Member

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    Damn, I didn't think there was that much space for the bolts to move in the holes. Did you pull one of the bolts and look to see if the hole was ovaled out at all?
     
  11. Oct 30, 2024 at 12:07 PM
    #11
    kidthatsirish

    kidthatsirish [OP] Well-Known Member

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    President McKinley w/KLM 203P and threw the roof antenna, ICON RXT leaf spring packs (position 2), Bilsteen 5100s, ARE Camper Shell, Pop & Lock tail gate, Dash Cam

    The holes are good I think what I did is when I installed it I likely looked at the wrong number for the torque spec
     
  12. Oct 31, 2024 at 10:20 AM
    #12
    gstodd

    gstodd Well-Known Member

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    Ah, the old installer error problem. I've run into that a few times. lol
     
  13. Oct 31, 2024 at 10:29 AM
    #13
    545

    545 Well-Known Member

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    Always suspect the last guy

    ;)
     

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