Steering wheel play? (1 Viewer)

[tputterman]

Good evening, I have A 2002 4 runner SR5. I recently replaced the upper and lower ball joints, front struts, rear shocks, the steering rack (and all bushings), and inner and outer Tireod Ends. Then I got an alignment. After driving it for the last week my steering wheel still has about an inch of play. The vehicle tends to drift a slight bit to the right unless I hold the Steering wheel roughly half inch to the left. Any ideas of what is going on? Is it my intermediate shaft that needs to be replaced or possibly tack welded? Any help would be appreciated

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

It could be the steering shaft, which would be solved with the tack weld or roll pin trick (I did the roll pin on my old 4runner). There is also a flex joint on the shaft that is a split plastic ball which allows the column to be tilted. This can develop some play too. I shimmed mine with a sheet of plastic to take up the slack. These two issues probably wouldn't total an inch of play though...

I'd check for something else loose in your front end too. Perhaps you got a bad steering rack. There is some adjustability on the stock steering rack preload/backlash to take out some play, but that shouldn't be necessary on a new rack.

 

[tputterman]

Is there a write up you'd recommend for both those fixes?

 

[yotadude520]

Heres a nice writeup for the tack welding trick:

Diagnose & Repair Steering Play/Rattle - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

 

[tputterman]

Heres a nice writeup for the tack welding trick:

Diagnose & Repair Steering Play/Rattle - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

Sweet! Thank you sir!

 

[yotadude520]

No problem! Happy to help!

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Is there a write up you'd recommend for both those fixes?

I think all my old photos got tanked, but there are quite a few writeups for the tack weld job.

Once the column is out you'll see where the universal ball is located on the shafts. Angle the loose steering shaft 90° to the shaft from the steering wheel and the universal ball will pop apart. I shimmed between the halves of the ball with a sheet of plastic cut to fit, but it takes some testing to see what fits for your specific parts.

 

[tputterman]

I think all my old photos got tanked, but there are quite a few writeups for the tack weld job.

Once the column is out you'll see where the universal ball is located on the shafts. Angle the loose steering shaft 90° to the shaft from the steering wheel and the universal ball will pop apart. I shimmed between the halves of the ball with a sheet of plastic cut to fit, but it takes some testing to see what fits for your specific parts.

I am going to be tackling this next weekend. Thank you!

 

[clx16]

I need to do this but i am going to see if i can do it with a set screw in place of welding. I've had this on my list for a long time.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

I need to do this but i am going to see if i can do it with a set screw in place of welding. I've had this on my list for a long time.

I could see that working, but definitely add some Red Loctite to keep it from backing out.

 

[Timmy65]

Heres a nice writeup for the tack welding trick:

Diagnose & Repair Steering Play/Rattle - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

Here's a video for this fix. Enjoy!