Help with diagnosing steering pull (1 Viewer)

[Mike NXP]

Against my better judgement I am going to bring the rig back in on the alignment rack and hope it's a simple as that.

I took the truck up to 80mph yesterday and the pull gets pretty extreme, kind of dangerous. The second I left off the wheel it wants to pull me into the ditch. I still think something else is going on since my steering wheel doesn't really spring back to center when turning right, however if I turn to the left it will spring back nicely. The wheel seems to just want to stay to the right.

I don't see how alignment would effect that but I'm not sure what else to do, will report back.

 

[Mike NXP]

Updates on my end after getting some assistance with troubleshooting it appears the steering rack has about 1/2" of play to it. I decided to replace the rack and outer tie rods.

With the vehicle fully loaded this weekend it was a chore to keep the vehicle straight.

One installed and aligned this weekend I will report back.

 

[Moridinbg]

I have clunk thread deja vu
I have had the right pull since I got the car. Multiple alignments at different places & 5k miles tyre rotations. Took it apart, removed the chassis, replaced all the bushings - every single one, control arms, no2 on the frame, panhard, diff, rack bushings. Had the steering rack refurbished, replaced both outer tie rod ends. Still pulls?!?!
I have VGRS, tried to centre with Techstream - still pulls?!
I will be replacing inner ends this weekend due to play in one, but I doubt it will help.

Why do all our trucks pull to the right? Isn't it strange?

 

[OwnerCS]

When I first bought my 99-model, it had excessive steering play from worn-out tie rod ends and ball joints. It wandered on the road and would pull to the left or right. It was hard to handle. Everything on the suspension had 235,000 miles before replacement.

After I replaced all steering tie rods, rack, ball joints, new UCAs, lower control arm bushings, frame bushing, new rear Trail Tailor UCAs and LCAs, torsion bars, springs, shocks, tires, engine mounts, diff mounts, CV axles/flanges, and anything else suspension-related, it tracks straight and drives like a new vehicle. I can drive it down the road and take my hands off the wheel and it just keeps tracking straight. No noticeable torque steer with acceleration or clunks when changing direction.

Since the suspension refresh was all done at once, it's hard to say which component cured the issues. It was the result of a mass suspension refresh.

Firestone did the front-end alignments -- nothing magic there.

 

[Mike NXP]

I have clunk thread deja vu
I have had the right pull since I got the car. Multiple alignments at different places & 5k miles tyre rotations. Took it apart, removed the chassis, replaced all the bushings - every single one, control arms, no2 on the frame, panhard, diff, rack bushings. Had the steering rack refurbished, replaced both outer tie rod ends. Still pulls?!?!
I have VGRS, tried to centre with Techstream - still pulls?!
I will be replacing inner ends this weekend due to play in one, but I doubt it will help.

Why do all our trucks pull to the right? Isn't it strange?

Shoot, I suspect with my luck after dumping a bunch of money into steering parts it won't fix the issue either . Im at the point where I need to stop throwing money at parts that aren't broken In an attempt to make a twenty year old truck drive better .

 

[YvesNL]

I had this same issue, pulling to the right on a good alignment. Vehicle brakes straight (hand off steering wheel) and drives straight if you hold the steering wheel. If I took my hands off the wheel it would sent me in the ditch. After destroying my right lower ball joint I replaced it with an aftermarket one. Cruiser drove straight after that. Then I took it in for an alignment, after alignment Cruiser pulls to the left.

A mate replaced both lower ball joints, Cruiser pulls to the right. We took it apart and saw that the right lower ball joint wasn't in straight but pointed ever so slightly forward (down). Fixed the issue and after alignment Cruiser drives straight without touching the steering wheel.

After talking to a local cruiser shop they saw this problem more often. It might not be your solution but it's worth checking.

Still have to check mine.

 

[Red Beard]

My driver side Control Arms were replaced by the PO somewhat recently it appears. So I'm planning on doing the steering rack, tie rod ends (on both sides) and passenger side control arms to see if that helps with the pull to the right.

Another thought, has anyone thought about the torsion bars as an additional culprit? I wonder if one is more cranked than the other, you might get some pull? Maybe measure your hub to fender and see if there is a huge difference between DS and PS?

 

[Mike NXP]

My driver side Control Arms were replaced by the PO somewhat recently it appears. So I'm planning on doing the steering rack, tie rod ends (on both sides) and passenger side control arms to see if that helps with the pull to the right.

Another thought, has anyone thought about the torsion bars as an additional culprit? I wonder if one is more cranked than the other, you might get some pull? Maybe measure your hub to fender and see if there is a huge difference between DS and PS?

Good idea for something else to check for this issue.

In my situation my fronts are equal however it should be noted that my rear is one inch higher on the right side. This has been the case with all suspension setups I have tried.

Having one inch higher in the right should translate to the vehicle wanting to go left, so I do not think that could cause the issue.

Maybe I'll just take some air out of the left side tires and it will track straight again =]

I will report back once my steering rack is replaced to see if that helped the issue.

 

[Red Beard]

Good idea for something else to check for this issue.

In my situation my fronts are equal however it should be noted that my rear is one inch higher on the right side. This has been the case with all suspension setups I have tried.

Having one inch higher in the right should translate to the vehicle wanting to go left, so I do not think that could cause the issue.

Maybe I'll just take some air out of the left side tires and it will track straight again =]

I will report back once my steering rack is replaced to see if that helped the issue.

I saw something when I was adjusting my torsion bars that one side is always lower than the other side to account for the driver. So you're probably within spec. Could be totally off base though.

 

[Mike NXP]

I saw something when I was adjusting my torsion bars that one side is always lower than the other side to account for the driver. So you're probably within spec. Could be totally off base though.

I guess given that logic the drive side should be higher to account for drive / fuel tank. I'm not too concerned as I don't think that inch in the rear is making a difference for steering problems.

 

[OwnerCS]

I guess given that logic the drive side should be higher to account for drive / fuel tank. I'm not too concerned as I don't think that inch in the rear is making a difference for steering problems.

That's right. I bought a .5" spacer for the Tacoma's driver side to give it a lift to account for the driver. It's common for the driver side to be slightly higher than the passenger without the driver. The spacer is a common way to fix the Taco Tilt.

 

[Mike NXP]

New steering rack and tie rods installed today along with an alignment.

Truck still pulls hard to the right

The steering wheel spins back to center now and feels alot better but it did nothing for my pulling issue.

I'm starting to think my tires are to blame and I'll know for sure once I switch them out for my snow tires . I honestly don't know what else can be causing this unless a poor alignment was performed.

A lot of lessons learned with this truck, the biggest one is, don't fix stuff thats not broken. It's just not worth the money and chances are it's not going to make a twenty year old truck ride any better .

 

[Mike NXP]

Delete

 

[Mike NXP]

I'm going to be taking my rig into a specialty alignment shop in the next week or two and will report back.

The steering pull is driving me crazy, even more crazy than my clunk.

Out on the highway this past weekend with camping gear loaded and anything over 60mph is sketchy. Up at 80mph and it can get a bit dangerous if you aren't constantly correcting to get the truck to drive straight.

At this point I am not convinced a worn out control arm bushing ( front or rear ) could be causing this. Steering rack is new. Tie rods are new. Tires are new. Alignment performed several times but still she pulls hard to the right and I have to constantly correct for it. Hoping Toyota just sucks at alignments and it's as simple as that but I think something else is going on.

 

[AlpineAccess]

That sounds frustrating. Have you verified both wheel bearings are evenly tensioned and you don't have a sticking caliper?

I think I've mostly figured the pull on mine out. I swapped the drivers side front tire to be the spare, set all tires to 34 PSI. That seemed to help a lot. Then I measured my wheel well to center of hub measurements all the way around and found I had a torsion bar that had settled 3/8" so I bumped it up to match perfectly. The rear wasn't even, (with a full gas tank and spare tire on the left side of a rear bumper), so I loaded my drawers on the right side to even the weight out some. Tracks straight now. I'm pretty sure what I had going on was suspension being lower on a diagnal (left rear and right front) and it was causing the geometry to point right JUST a hair.

 

[Mike NXP]

That sounds frustrating. Have you verified both wheel bearings are evenly tensioned and you don't have a sticking caliper?

I think I've mostly figured the pull on mine out. I swapped the drivers side front tire to be the spare, set all tires to 34 PSI. That seemed to help a lot. Then I measured my wheel well to center of hub measurements all the way around and found I had a torsion bar that had settled 3/8" so I bumped it up to match perfectly. The rear wasn't even, (with a full gas tank and spare tire on the left side of a rear bumper), so I loaded my drawers on the right side to even the weight out some. Tracks straight now. I'm pretty sure what I had going on was suspension being lower on a diagnal (left rear and right front) and it was causing the geometry to point right JUST a hair.

I recently had a shop replace my pads and rotors with Toytoa OEM with all new bits and bobs to go with it.
>> Is there a chance they messed with the bearings?

As for sticking caliper I measured the rotor heat with a temp gun and all seems be OK.

Now you may be on to something with the vehicle stance. My front is about an inch higher than stock to accommodate my bumper but its coming in even on both sides_ around 20.5" from the hub. My rear however is sitting an inch higher on passenger side. To me a higher stance on the right would translate to a left hand pull so I don't want to go too crazy over that being the issue.

Tire PSI is set to 35 all around for troubleshooting


I don't remember this ever being an issue until my brake job and new tires. Am I missing something obvious? With the amount of cash I dumped into this thing at Toyota you would think they would be able to do more than send me away with a note that says " vehicle pulls right"

I'm thinking I just run 5 less PSI on my left side tires to balance out the pull =] JK...sorta.

 

[AlpineAccess]

I recently had a shop replace my pads and rotors with Toytoa OEM with all new bits and bobs to go with it.
>> Is there a chance they messed with the bearings?

As for sticking caliper I measured the rotor heat with a temp gun and all seems be OK.

Now you may be on to something with the vehicle stance. My front is about an inch higher than stock to accommodate my bumper but its coming in even on both sides_ around 20.5" from the hub. My rear however is sitting an inch higher on passenger side. To me a higher stance on the right would translate to a left hand pull so I don't want to go too crazy over that being the issue.

Tire PSI is set to 35 all around for troubleshooting


I don't remember this ever being an issue until my brake job and new tires. Am I missing something obvious? With the amount of cash I dumped into this thing at Toyota you would think they would be able to do more than send me away with a note that says " vehicle pulls right"

I'm thinking I just run 5 less PSI on my left side tires to balance out the pull =] JK...sorta.

Brake Job = Absolutely could cause this. The 100 series has captive brake rotors. In order to install your new brake rotors they had to pull the entire hub assembly including your bearings. If they did not follow the exact service process to repack and pretension them (including a new C-clip) this could easily be the cause. I would immediately verify this as a shop not doing this correctly can end up costing you a big headache.

For the rear, I have a 3/4" trim packer in the drivers side right now to get mostly even. It still sits slightly lower on the drivers side with a full tank, but moving my heavier stuff to the right drawer really flattened that out. This has helped take the last bit of "pull" out (or so I think so far). I have an inch of rake from the front to the rear as well, it definitely contributes to better handling. I would leave that in, I'm just noting that the fronts and the rears should be as close to even as possible or this off-center tracking might be occurring. My tires are wearing perfectly, which is also interesting.

But to reiterate - the wheel bearings are the first place I would go check on this if it started after that brake job. The tires won't cause this much pull, but the bearings easily can.

 

[Mike NXP]

Brake Job = Absolutely could cause this. The 100 series has captive brake rotors. In order to install your new brake rotors they had to pull the entire hub assembly including your bearings. If they did not follow the exact service process to repack and pretension them (including a new C-clip) this could easily be the cause. I would immediately verify this as a shop not doing this correctly can end up costing you a big headache.

For the rear, I have a 3/4" trim packer in the drivers side right now to get mostly even. It still sits slightly lower on the drivers side with a full tank, but moving my heavier stuff to the right drawer really flattened that out. This has helped take the last bit of "pull" out (or so I think so far). I have an inch of rake from the front to the rear as well, it definitely contributes to better handling. I would leave that in, I'm just noting that the fronts and the rears should be as close to even as possible or this off-center tracking might be occurring. My tires are wearing perfectly, which is also interesting.

But to reiterate - the wheel bearings are the first place I would go check on this if it started after that brake job. The tires won't cause this much pull, but the bearings easily can.

All good info

I think my first suspect is going to be the bearing preload as I'm pretty sure the problem came after this.

Shortly after is when I installed the dobinsons rear coils which I'm disappointed with, they added way to much lift compared to what they advertised so I'm sitting at 23 inches in the rear .

Ok so I'll do some searching on how to check the bearing preload thanks for the advice . Looks like this is something I can check with the vehicle on the ground.

 

[AlpineAccess]

All good info

I think my first suspect is going to be the bearing preload as I'm pretty sure the problem came after this.

Shortly after is when I installed the dobinsons rear coils which I'm disappointed with, they added way to much lift compared to what they advertised so I'm sitting at 23 inches in the rear .

Ok so I'll do some searching on how to check the bearing preload thanks for the advice . Looks like this is something I can check with the vehicle on the ground.

My springs were over 23" but settled for a month. I'm at 22.85 passenger and 22.5 driver (or 22.85 both sides with a low gas tank), I don't think the 23" is too high, you can bump up the front if you've got too much rake.

Definitely check the pretension, and consider pulling it apart as its only a few extra steps - you can ensure they are packed properly with grease for good measure.

Good luck!

 

[Mike NXP]

Thank

My springs were over 23" but settled for a month. I'm at 22.85 passenger and 22.5 driver (or 22.85 both sides with a low gas tank), I don't think the 23" is too high, you can bump up the front if you've got too much rake.

Definitely check the pretension, and consider pulling it apart as its only a few extra steps - you can ensure they are packed properly with grease for good measure.

Good luck!

Thanks for the words of wisdom, appreciate it .

Without tearing into it too much couldn't I jack up the tire and give it the ol' wiggle test OR is it still possible the bearing nut isn't torqued properly but the wheel is solid.

Does that make sense?