I get more feedback from the road than before but a lot better steering.
Help with diagnosing steering pull (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mike NXP
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- Thread starter
- #82
So would you agree the rack moving around a bit is not normal? I have a sneaking suspicion Toyota will tell me it's normal. Seems like the rack moving would directly relate to loose steering and improper alignment.
I'm not sure, mine doesn't move an eighth of an inch, if that...and I have 33s at 33psi on rough concrete - so a lot of load on the rack when static turning. I have the white line bushings.
- Thread starter
- #84
Toyota called , said the rack is perfectly fine and there's nothing wrong it. I asked them why two alignment shops said they can't align the vehicle because of the play in the rack and they assured my it's totally fine.
I'll look into the whiteline bushing mentioned.
That sounds like a pretty "Toyota dealership" move. They get zero dollars from you for fixing their work.
- Thread starter
- #86
Yeah, it's wild when alignment shops and myself can clearly identify the issue. They would get paid for the warranty of it but not as much. I suspect the average person wouldn't even notice this issue, sometimes it's good to just say f**k it and move on. Maybe I'll go worry about my "clunk" for a little while.
Did you ever figure out was causing your truck to pull? I’m having very similar situation to yours at the moment.
- Thread starter
- #88
I could be wrong but my tires appeared to be the root cause of my issue. Brand new Cooper ST Max.
So eventually the alignment shop gave it a hard left hand lean , way out of spec on the alignment rack, to counter the pull which did actually get me driving straight as an arrow. Fast forward to winter time I put my snow tires on and sure enough it pulled really hard left because of the lean they gave it. I am back within spec on the alignment rack and it's driving straight and I sold those tires.
It could have been related to other issues, my steering rack bushings ( new OEM ) are pretty soft and the rack has some wiggle in it, but I don't have any issues with my snow tires so I concluded it was those Cooper tires. Not that Cooper tires are bad but in my case it went hand and hand with a low speed vibration and a very hard pull that I experienced.
Hey @Mike NXP I got my weird steering wheel "off center randomly" thing sorted out.
It was the bushings in the OEM replacement steering rack done only 60k miles ago. I replaced them with whiteline Poly bushings and man oh man does this thing steer nice now. Instant feedback to the wheels, it returns to center perfectly every time and it really highlighted that it really DID used to wander/track a little off even though I didn't think it did. Just arrow straight now. A little more road feedback than I'd like but gladly will exchange that for this solid steering feel.
I also figured out what was happening. The OEM rubber bushings allow for about a 1/4" side to side play in the rack; BUT, the D bushing was still clamping really well. So when I would steer back and forth to look for play in the bushings in my driveway there would be normal movement and the rack would return normally.
BUT, when turning while driving and subjecting the steering to an impact like a bump or load like an incline, that 1/4" of side to side movement would happen, and the D bushing would "capture" the rack to the right side, holding the rack off center by 1/4" and resulting in the steering wheel holding about 20* off center. The vehicle would still track straight because the suspension alignment was correct; but the steering had shifted.
I can literally see the side to side "grating" of the bushing in the D bushing and the rack collar. I'll upload a photo when I can, but wanted to get you this feedback on the weird wheel thing you and I were experiencing.
I'm very glad its not the rack, and all of the horror stories about steering racks and bushings were in my case unfounded. It was a leisurely 2 hour job and cost all of...I think like $50 for the whiteline kit?
@Mike NXP here is the whiteline kit I used, and here is the relevant Torque specs and diagram for the earlier model 100's I referenced for torque specs.
The factory bushings didn't LOOK bad, but the Poly made a huge difference.
Diagram - credit goes to someone else on Mud for posting this:
The tools that I found made this a lot easier (you'll obviously need more tools than just these but these are important):
1/2" x one foot piece of all thread I had laying around from doing my #2 control arm frame bushings. 1/2" fender washers and a number of nuts to thread on. You'll use this to pull the new bushings through.
Flex head socket. I have a 1/2" x 14" one like this that made that top D bushing bolts a piece of cake.
I did use miscellaneous stuff, obviously an impact speeds things up and you'll use a 19mm wrench, pry bar, big screw driver, etc. but honestly it was easy.
The factory bushings didn't LOOK bad, but the Poly made a huge difference.
Diagram - credit goes to someone else on Mud for posting this:
The tools that I found made this a lot easier (you'll obviously need more tools than just these but these are important):
1/2" x one foot piece of all thread I had laying around from doing my #2 control arm frame bushings. 1/2" fender washers and a number of nuts to thread on. You'll use this to pull the new bushings through.
Flex head socket. I have a 1/2" x 14" one like this that made that top D bushing bolts a piece of cake.
I did use miscellaneous stuff, obviously an impact speeds things up and you'll use a 19mm wrench, pry bar, big screw driver, etc. but honestly it was easy.
