Hey guys-

Can someone do a little test on their Taco or 4Runner? All I need you to do is to: open the drivers door, get on the ground, watch the steering rack with a flashlight, and wiggle the steering wheel left to right rapidly (with your rig not running).

Do you hear a slight clunking sound?

Is the rack moving back and forth as you move the steering wheel rapidly?


My truck has been pulling to the left and the steering wheel is not centered ever since a little off-road trip behind my house. I also heard a clunking sound on our last run (Crown King) every once in a while. I am thinking that the sway bar end-links are shot, but I don't know. I see grease on the one in the picture, and the other one looks the same.



Anyway, if you could check that out on your Taco or 4Runner for me, I would be much obliged.

Thanks for the help!

 

yep. mines been doing that for a long time. if you get under there and have a buddy yank on the wheel while you hold the inner tie rod on the drivers side through the boot, do you feel it buckle? that's what mine feels like. I thought it was the inner tie rod so I replace both of them, but this did not fix it. my theory is that the rack slider bushing thing is bad or needs to be adjusted tighter. it's in that large hex nut looking thing screwed in on the backside of the housing. there's a spring and a bushing in there and I'm thinking of attempting that sometime before I replace the whole rack. but since your wheel is kinked over you might check the rag joint thing since you installed a BL it might have fouled up or something.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the tie rods. Yeah, I am going to look into this more when I have time. It just seems like the rack shouldn't be moving this much, and I don't like the sound I hear.

What do you think about the end links? Do yours look all greasy like that?

 

is it the rack or the whole assembly? if it's the whole thing then check the bushings where it's mounted to the crossmember on the frame. I replaced those too with the ES kit and it still didn't help.

you can get rack assemblies pretty cheap reman'd which eventually will be the way I go:
http://www.toyotasteering.com/
http://www.buy-steering.com/Merchant...ry_Code=TOY4RU

 

the greasy end links is just the grease in the bulb spit out. that's normal since they look like they are rotated forward all the way and they've been flexed at that point. it's just releving pressure. if you have a lift they are under more strain all the time since they aren't longer and the sway bar is torqued up all the time now more than stock. the arms on the sway bar should be parallel to the ground so the end links need to be lengthened with the lift. I wouldn't worry about those.

do you feel the clunk in the wheel when you jerk it from side to side? if you do, it's not the end links.

 

Yeah, this whole thing is moving when I do the test.

I do hear the clunk when I jerk the wheel side to side. So, it is probably not the end links like you said.

I also had some marks on my custom skid (made by Mark "azrain") which indicate that something was flexing on the off-road trip to the point where it was bumping the skid. Anyway, I think I am diagnosing a couple different clunks. I will concentrate on the steering noise.

Thanks for the help.

 

You need new steering rack bushings. Daystar and Energy Suspension both offer kits. You will also need to get an allignment after the install.

 

Thank you. I will look into that.

 

Mine moves too and when I went to get it inspected, the bozos told me it was the inner tie rod ends. With a little more research I found that this is a common problem (and it has nothing to do with the tie rods....I checked that extensively), but it didn't seem to have any clearcut solution. Most said it was the mounts for the rack that was causing it to move but no answer as far as a true remedy for the problem. Anyway, I left mine for now and if it really annoys me or I have a ton of time on my hands, I may take a crack at fixing it.

BTW Great weather out in PHX! We were out for the Thanksgiving weekend visiting friends and family.

 

my steering rack used to move back in forth but on thanksgiving i replaced the bushings with energy suspention ones.....after the install u DO NOT NEED AN ALLIGNMENT...u only need an allignment if u needed one before...i had just got my truck alligned so i didnt need it, if u look how it works it will not mess up ur current allignment unless u do somehting wrong...jsut a word of caution...it took me over an hour just to remove the old bushings..they were "bonded" to the steering rack

 

I didn't need an alignement after the install.

 

if you do the bushings, remember to jack the wheels off the floor before you loosen anything. it'll make it easier to pull the rack back to make room to insert the half bushing into the rear part of the middle mount. I think there's a write up in the tech section here.

just remember though, new inner tie rods and bushings didn't fix mine, my rack is fubar'd. so make sure the whole assembly is visibly "moving" when you jerk on the wheel before doing that job, that way you can just drop in a bushing kit when you replace the rack. you'll know it's internal if you grab the driver side boot and hold the inner tie rod joint and jerk the wheel, if you feel it buckling and the housing is staying put, then it;s the inerds of the rack and bushing won't fix it.

 

the rack doesnt come with tie rods does it?

 

in the site I posted it comes with new inners. read the info on the site to make sure. those nut things in the pic above are the outer end of the inner tie rods.

here's a pic of the inner tie rod:

 

here is a blown up diag of the assembly: #9 is what I was thinking of adjusting tighter to see if that works before I buy a reman'd unit.

 

Great info guys! Keep it coming.

 

the guy at the shop said that if u disconnect the tie rod and it doesnt fall down...like in the above pic....it is still good. thats the same shop that told me mine were bad but they werent, i went to install the new ones and inspectd the old ones and they were nice and tight inside the joint.... my rack doesnt move at all anymore and my steering is really tight...the bushings made a difference for me

 

my tie rod ends were still good too, so I kept them for spares, hehe. but it was still about $150 down the hole.

I would go outside right now and give that #9 a turn or two to see if it tightens things up but I'm afraid I'd cost myself more cash. I have my rear 3rd at Foothills 4x4 right now, I pulled it, replaced the seal and orings on the arb locker and I'm having them set the backlash for me, I tried it and I couldn't dial it in. so I got p.o.'d and took it there. hopefully they won't rape me since it's only turning a few bolts and adjusters. so after I swap that back in I'll try tightening #9.

 

I just replaced my inner ball joint on the drivers side of my Tacoma. When I was going down dirt roads or on the trails I kept hearing a clunk clunk sound. One day I jacked it up and gave the wheel a wiggle. After further diagnostics I could feel the inner joint had play in it. Replaced it, got an alignment, problem solved.

Now, I did Christians little test and looks like I need steering rack bushings. I don't think my movement is as extreme has yours (Christian's) but needs attention.

I also think I need bushings for the rear shackles, now I hear the same clunk clunk from the rear but only when the truck is working (wheeling)

 

So while we are on the topic of bushings, where do you guys recommend getting them? I am willing to pay a little more for better service. I wonder if Mike at Xtreme can get them?

Where did you guys get yours?