Steering Issue

[jlm43]

@SkiCruiser200 any luck with this?

I'm having something similar with my 13 LX. Mine seemed to start while on a 3k mile road trip. The first 1,500 miles I was pulling a trailer that had a wheel out of balance and would shake the trailer, and truck, between 50 and 55 mph. Now it steering wheel is off to the left just a bit. But not always. Road crown does make it worse but it's not the only cause. There's times when I feel like it can get almost an inch of play in the steering wheel without the truck changing directions. The steering just doesn't seem as precise as it was before the road trip. My local indie shop thinks it's the sector shaft as they've replaced a few of them (two in 4Runners) for the same issue. I'm in the northeast as well and potholes aren't good on front ends. Going to start with a fresh alignment and see what that does.

 

[SkiCruiser200]

@SkiCruiser200 any luck with this?

I'm having something similar with my 13 LX. Mine seemed to start while on a 3k mile road trip. The first 1,500 miles I was pulling a trailer that had a wheel out of balance and would shake the trailer, and truck, between 50 and 55 mph. Now it steering wheel is off to the left just a bit. But not always. Road crown does make it worse but it's not the only cause. There's times when I feel like it can get almost an inch of play in the steering wheel without the truck changing directions. The steering just doesn't seem as precise as it was before the road trip. My local indie shop thinks it's the sector shaft as they've replaced a few of them (two in 4Runners) for the same issue. I'm in the northeast as well and potholes aren't good on front ends. Going to start with a fresh alignment and see what that does.

Short answer is no. The dealer kept it for 3 days and concluded that it was "fine". At least they only charged me $99. I'd be interested to hear if you do the sector shaft and have an improvement. If you do, please keep us posted. At this point, I'm just doing my best to ignore it.

 

[linuxgod]

Following, and if this resolves it I’m curious the cost and effort. I’ve got 179k now. I don’t have any play exactly, but I do find the first inch or so of steering while it does direct the vehicle is less precise than I expect. I’m very used to it but I don’t love that imprecision as I feel like small corrections on the highway take too long to adjust the vehicle

 

[jlm43]

I'm going to start with a tire rotation and alignment and see what that does. It's not bad and most people probably wouldn't notice or care. But for me, it just feels different than it did 10k miles ago. If nothing else works, I'll wait for Serra to have another 25% off sale and get the 45203-60141 shaft. Yes the sale is going on now but I'd rather know for sure before spending $220.

 

[linuxgod]

I'm wondering exactly where the wear tends to occur in the shaft. At the spider? In the slip joint? Either way I'd think you could lay upside down on the floor and wiggle the steering wheel and see if there's any slop