Wandering and Darty Steering on 08 Tacoma

Hey Guys! Having a little trouble tracking down an issue with unstable/wandering and at times even darty steering over 80 kmh and most noticeable around 100kmh (roughly 50mph, & most noticeable at 63mph) and had a pretty sketchy moment on the highway the other day. I lifted the truck about 2" and had it aligned. I have 2° of Caster, 1° of positive Camber and .5° of toe after alignment. LCAs and an outer tie rod were replaced and as far as I can tell my steering rack bushings are good and so are my wheel bearings. I also installed new Wildpeak AT3-Ws (265/70r17s about 32") a few months ago. The only other thing I could think of would be aftermarket UCA's to get proper camber and caster adjustments although my truck is technically "in spec". The truck has been meticulously maintained its whole life although today it now has 400k km (250k miles) help would be awesome thanks guys!

 

Camber affects tire wear more than the handling, and the caster isn’t that low. The darting would have me looking at the rest of the ball joints and tie rods again, or the steering rack bushings. I guess wheel bearings could contribute, but if they were that bad, you’d probably have some vibration or humming you’d be trying to track down.

 

I would think that with a 2" lift, you wouldn't have to resort to different UCAs. I'm at about +2" in the front and I didn't. I did have some trouble with tire wear (camber in at the bottom), and getting that straightened out helped the wandering.
Find an alignment tech who will do more than just adjust the toe in, would be my recommendation. Your LCA bushings are likely seized so that may be an issue.

 

Thanks! Whats the best way to test for steering rack bushings? I've had the truck apart and everything feels tight and is in good condition, just from a quick inspection now everything seems good and tight, though I don't have much time to get in there and look at everything.

 

Camber in at the bottom is positive camber so that could be the wandering... as mentioned In my original post i put brand new LCAs with ball joints and bushings. And the alignment tech did adjust camber, caster and toe

 

Easiest would probably be a helper in the truck turning wheel back and forth with you under looking at the rack for movement.

 

Ok, how much play is ok? my bushings hardly moved even when on rough pavement

 

Darty in the auto-x world usually points to excessive toe out. Sometimes intentional when running a technical course.

Caster should be set first, then camber (almost 0 on a truck) then toe

Goal is equal numbers on each side

 

I personally would question/suspect any play in the rack bushings. They are rubber so the may be some deflection, but if the rack has movement when checking with a helper or prying on the rack with a pry bar, it’s probably worse with the weight of the truck driving down the road

 

I found maybe an 1/8" of play in the bushings when steering the truck and 0 movement when using a prying bar...

 

how do you know that the claimed measurements in original post are actually accurate

I think 0 or around 0 toe is recommended, and 0 camber
IDK about caster, and that may vary based on suspension components used
but generally, even on both sides

 

I guess I don't know aside from the alignment sheet given to me by whats supposed to be a trusted alignment shop local to me...

 

I had the same issue in my 120k+ mile '15.

3rd gen trd OR shocks/coils, replaced the uca w/ jba 4°, new oem lca and a new steering rack with outer ties. Fixed it right up.
Tabs may be bent too, my driver side is and it'll loosen after a few months (currently waiting to get some DK's welded in at some point this yr)

Alignment is huge too. More caster the better, helps track straight/center the wheel

 

Thanks! Any thoughts on if it was the steering rack or the UCA'S that fixed it?

 

Might want to have a look at the alignment cams to see if they have slipped.

 

I'd go w a good alignment and see if/how long it holds. These trucks are known to have crap racks esp if you beat on it

Then have someone get in and turn the wheel to see if the rack moves where it shndt be.

All old & loose parts certainly wont help tracking