Shaky Steering (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Threads
84
Messages
301
Location
San Jose
Looking for input on my steering shaking. When driving straight I don't have much shake. When I turn the wheel maybe 5-10deg I get a noticeable shake where the steering wheel is wiggling around and you can feel it in the truck. If I turn sharper to say 30deg the shaking dissipates and things are normal. I've checked the front end a bit and haven't found anything loose. Most items have been rebuilt in the last few years so I didn't expect to find anything loose. Wheel bearings / trunnion bearings are tight - jacked each side up and feel no slop trying to move the wheel at 12/6 and 9/3 positions. Lower 4 bolts are tight on each knuckle. Track bar / radius arm bushings are Toyota and a year or two old and look fine. Caster correction plates are tight. I grabbed each tied rod end / steering link end and couldn't move them by hand other than swiveling them - These haven't been replaced. Steering stabilizer is a few years old.
I do know the tires are cupping which I was not really able to find a source for so that may be adding some vibration, but it seems to only be when turning at low steering angles. Additionally last trip I went over a few potholes while braking hard and got death wobble which was surprising since I hadn't had that occur since before I did caster correction a few years ago (a couple times it has felt like it was on the edge of death wobble but then didn't). Caster is +3deg.

Any ideas on what else to check?
 
When I turn the wheel maybe 5-10deg

The gear teeth in the steering gear box bind tighter near the center than when off -center.

Sounds like typical slightly unbalanced tires and some other wear in various parts related to steering. Keep in mind that applying force with your bare hands doesn't come anywhere near stimulating even light driving loads. You need to jack up the front end and use a pry bar to check things like panhard bushings.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom