Scary swerving issue 2001 lx470 (1 Viewer)

[Preston3]

I was driving through the mountains on a highway in southwestern NC this past week and out of nowhere on a relatively flat section of road the vehicle swerved very hard into the right lane. The pull on the steering wheel felt as if someone had just grabbed it and was trying to run us off the road. As I was trying to keep the vehicle straight and start braking a beeping / warning buzzer started going off. I would say that the pull on the steering wheel lasted 3 seconds or so and then the beeping went off as we slowed down to pull off the road.
I checked what I could there on the roadside and didn't see anything out of sorts. We limped back home very slowly as we weren't too far from home.
No more issues on the way home and I've been driving it around on some back roads slowly to see if the issue or some steering or braking issue will surface but it's driving normal.
NO squeaking sounds while wheels are spinning, no braking issues, removed wheels and checked brake pads and they are compressing and retracting, no noisy ball joints or suspension, power steering fluid was just a tad low from a loose hose clamp at the reservoir, brake fluid was full. I'm not sure what else to check. Any insight or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[OEMGUY0720]

Was it a long continuous high pitch buzzer from the dash? Any light that came on the gauge cluster?

 

[neoworm]

Youve got a wheel speed sensor on its way out.

 

[menancyandsam]

This a known issue . Ill try to fnd the thread. No definative fix, but some say loose wheel bearings or faulty wheel speed sensors.

 

[Preston3]

Was it a long continuous high pitch buzzer from the dash? Any light that came on the gauge cluster?

No it was short beeps in quick succession. I didn't notice any light but I was looking at the road.

 

[MUDZLLA]

Sounds like a broken C-clip on one of your CV axles. This caused a misalignment of the speed sensor. The two are unrelated. Did the steering wheelposition shift?

 

[jLB]

To me, it sounds like you have something loose in the steering/suspension, or a faulty sensor that is causing VSC to trigger.

 

[Preston3]

Sounds like a broken C-clip on one of your CV axles. This caused a misalignment of the speed sensor. The two are unrelated. Did the steering wheelposition shift?

Forgive me, but are you asking if the steering wheel physically turned in the direction of the swerve or are you asking about if the position of the steering wheel shifted up, down, in or out like how you can adjust the position with the controls?

 

[MUDZLLA]

I had something similiar. The steering wheel shifted about 10 degrees and it felt like I was fighting a headwind to keep it straight. Then a sudden bump or hard pull straightened it out. Truthfully I haven't pulled off the drive flange caps to verify - this is conjecture from other ppls experience so take with a grain of salt.

 

[Mike6158]

Mine used to do that. I don't remember the turn direction but it was always when I was in a turn. Sometimes just the cruise would kick off and sometimes the brakes on one wheel would briefly lock (sounds like what happened to you. When I was in CO a few years ago it happened in the curve coming out of Silverton headed to Durango. At that time I had snow packed in the wheels. A quick trip to the carwash calmed it down but I found out a little later that the cleaning didn't stop it. I changed my steering rack and I haven't had the problem since. It was time for the rack to go. The LC had started to wander.

It's related to your antilock braking / speed sensor system.

 

[loganbrew]

It's related to your antilock braking / speed sensor system.

^^^^ ...miles on the steering rack?

As the rack and its bushings get sloppy, when turning the traction ECU that calculates yaw, wheel speed, etc. will make "geometry" calculations in the TRAC ECU that think a wheel is slipping or the truck is off-course relative to the steering wheel position. The symptom is most evident going around turns on a dry day or speeding over dry but rough road - the ABS will suddenly kick in and scare the $^&* out you! It also causes the cruise to kick off on a long curve at highway speed as @Mike6158 mentioned.

Find a curve and run it with CC on to see if it turns off. And somewhere here on MUD I'm sure there's a thread on how to have a trusted friend turn the steering wheel back and forth while you lay under the front of the truck to gauge the rack/bushing slop.

 

[2001LC]

A thorough front end and stabilizer system inspection is best course of action.

Mileage, age, improper PM all serve to loosen up handling. This leads to confusing signal input to ABS/VSC.

 

[Tanner H]

You can try a handful of things but ultimately it ends up being the steering rack. 90% of members on here that have experienced this have resolved it with new rack bushings or simply a new rack. A couple free things you can try to fix it:

-remove and clean wheel speed sensors
-double check wheel bearing play, adjust if loose
-check outer tie rod play
-check steering rack play (lay under car and have someone turn wheel left and right with the engine on, if the rack itself shifts back an forth then your bushings are toast)


If you dont want this to happen again, and you need some time to source the issue but still need to drive the car without dying...you can check out this method below that simply disables the vsc option but still retains abs. See the quote i grabbed below, as well as the link to the thread.

Once again, this isnt really a way to ''repair'' your problem...but a way to disable the feature until you can figure it out.

VSC OFF switch install. - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/vsc-off-switch-install.988749/

This is the easy/ghetto version. Obviously all credit to Odyseuss and LostAfrican.

I haven't quite made up my mind on my switch implementation, but that's the easy part and I wanted VSC off ASAP, so my mod focused on getting VSC disabled but leaving the door open for a switch install.

You can skip down to the pictures below.


View attachment 1717768

 

[nitteo]

like this?

 

[Preston3]

like this?

Thanks for the video. It was much more sudden and more drastic of a swerve.

 

[Preston3]

I took the lx470 into the dang dealership to get everything inspected because the mechanic I like to use was so backed up that all he could offer to do at the moment was take it for a test drive . At Toyota I mentioned all the suggestions from forum members and basically asked that they do a very thorough inspection of anything that might possibly be related to the issue. I went today and what they said was that the inner tie rods could use replacing and that maybe I might wanna have the front wheel bearings repacked or replaced. I asked to speak with the mechanic who did the inspection to see what all was inspected. When I asked him if he inspected the wheel speed sensors he said he did, I then asked if he checked them with the computer diagnostic thing to get data feed from the wheel sensors and he said no I just visually inspected them. I was like um, can we please do that and they agreed to and ended up showing me the recorded data of the wheel speed sensors and they were working. Not sure if they tested properly though as I wonder if you need to drive the vehicle at multiple/ higher speeds than what they did in the dealership parking lot in order to get more accurate or informative readings from those sensors. Long story short they wanted to replace the inner tie rods and wheel bearings to the tune of $3,300 so the LX is back at home and parked until I can find another shop I trust or tear into it myself.
QUESTION, what all would you replace related to the steering and suspension to make you feel comfortable with your lady driving it again? This is her daily driver and she's already missing it. She much prefers it to my 20' Tacoma.
So aggravating cause it only happened the one time and it drives great, no noises anywhere and the steering feels tight and responsive.

 

[yellowstoner]

^^^^ ...miles on the steering rack?

As the rack and its bushings get sloppy, when turning the traction ECU that calculates yaw, wheel speed, etc. will make "geometry" calculations in the TRAC ECU that think a wheel is slipping or the truck is off-course relative to the steering wheel position. The symptom is most evident going around turns on a dry day or speeding over dry but rough road - the ABS will suddenly kick in and scare the $^&* out you! It also causes the cruise to kick off on a long curve at highway speed as @Mike6158 mentioned.

Find a curve and run it with CC on to see if it turns off. And somewhere here on MUD I'm sure there's a thread on how to have a trusted friend turn the steering wheel back and forth while you lay under the front of the truck to gauge the rack/bushing slop.

Our RAV4 was doing this and it turned out to be worn rack bushings.

 

[nitteo]

Thanks for the video. It was much more sudden and more drastic of a swerve.

yes, i was just recording at my neighborhood on a safe speed...

but when it happened to me on a highway ramp at 65mph banked turn to merge into traffic, it came close to killing me. its like someone yanked the wheel.

i almost sold the LC before finding the VSC off thread.

 

[loganbrew]

Demonstrates the effect of highly worn bushes on a 1998-2002, but same principle for 2003+.

04+ Steering Rack Bushing Replacement - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/04-steering-rack-bushing-replacement.874556/ Bushes replacement on 2003+; not much different on earlier rigs.

 

[re_guderian]

I took the lx470 into the dang dealership to get everything inspected because the mechanic I like to use was so backed up that all he could offer to do at the moment was take it for a test drive . At Toyota I mentioned all the suggestions from forum members and basically asked that they do a very thorough inspection of anything that might possibly be related to the issue. I went today and what they said was that the inner tie rods could use replacing and that maybe I might wanna have the front wheel bearings repacked or replaced. I asked to speak with the mechanic who did the inspection to see what all was inspected. When I asked him if he inspected the wheel speed sensors he said he did, I then asked if he checked them with the computer diagnostic thing to get data feed from the wheel sensors and he said no I just visually inspected them. I was like um, can we please do that and they agreed to and ended up showing me the recorded data of the wheel speed sensors and they were working. Not sure if they tested properly though as I wonder if you need to drive the vehicle at multiple/ higher speeds than what they did in the dealership parking lot in order to get more accurate or informative readings from those sensors. Long story short they wanted to replace the inner tie rods and wheel bearings to the tune of $3,300 so the LX is back at home and parked until I can find another shop I trust or tear into it myself.
QUESTION, what all would you replace related to the steering and suspension to make you feel comfortable with your lady driving it again? This is her daily driver and she's already missing it. She much prefers it to my 20' Tacoma.
So aggravating cause it only happened the one time and it drives great, no noises anywhere and the steering feels tight and responsive.

What year LX do you have? If 98-02, then don't bother with just inner tre, get a new rack, and at the same time have the shop install some whiteline (or equivalent) poly bushings. The early rack is designed for comfort and road isolation, to the detriment of becoming loose and wandering due to the driver's side bushing design in combinations with the big D bushing on the passenger's side. There is nothing to stop left/right movement of the entire rack except friction of the d-ring bushing against the rack, and minimal compression resistance from a non-solid rubber driver's side bushing, pitted against the steering forces of a 3 ton rig. The OEM driver's side bushings do not make continuous contact against the cylinder they fit in, only having a few raised pads contacting the cylinder walls of the bushing sleeve of the rack.

How many miles on your rig? Also, do you still have AHC? I had some REALLY soft Fox shocks (early 2.0 design) on mine that would trigger this reaction EVERY time on the same freeway offramp, a tight, up/down, 270 degree curve. Initially, it does scare the crap out of you, and you think you're gonna die. And you're too busy trying not to die to look at the dash to see what's going on. But the VSC will also cut the throttle when it applies the brakes, so it likely won't kill you. I don't ever recall seeing an account on here of an actual collisions with anything - wall, car in other lane, etc. etc. It just feels like that.

It also doesn't hurt to do a zero point calibration of the yaw sensor.

My daughter's 4th gen 4Runner would do something similar on straight roads due to a dying battery and low voltage weirdness. I haven't seen that root cause on the 100 series though.