Sloppy steering

Hey Tundra Men,
Been fighting with this problem for 3 years.
Front end darts all over the road. The more bumps, the worse it is.
I have been under there many times, nothing broken, loose or worn.
( best Ican tell) I do know the front shocks are prolly due to be replaced.
What is causing this Truck to handle like a bobsled?
It’s aggravating to drive it and a drag.

 

Have you changed the steering rack bushings?

Many others have reported sloppy/loose feeling due to those. I prefer the looser feeling steering wheel. I put polyurethane bushings in on the V6, and it drives squirrely now, but I think the alignment is off on it.

Anyways, have you done any front end work?

 

Shocks help with handling, so that could help a lot. Maybe have someone in the truck turning the wheel back and fro and see if you see slop in the tie rods, your lower control arm bushings could be on their way out. I’m assuming you’ve tried to get it aligned in the past 3 years of annoyance

 

I just changed the rack bushings.
Did the sway bar bushings also.

 

I remember seeing someone on here with, like, where the shaft passes thru the firewall, theirs was just flopping around, like there's a bracket or something that should keep it in place. Hell if I can find it though.

 

Was it the part where the steering shaft connects to the rack? I think the rubber peice that bolts together?

 

Possibly. Hold on, let me try this again. I know I replied to it, my Google-fu just isn't working worth a shit.

 

So, two things. One, if you look at the top part in this person's post, it almost looks like a rag joint, but with a rubber bushing or something. Or maybe it's steel and I'm full of crap. Pretty sure that's this part, so maybe it is a steel flange. I dunno. GM trucks always had damn rag joints for decades, and the steering always got sloppy after a decade or two. I had them in everything from my '60s pickups to my 2000s pickups.

The post I was hunting for is this one. That would cause sloppy ass steering right there. I didn't think the steering shaft seal was structural in any way, so I dunno what failed there.

 

Do this quick test. I had sloppy steering even after changing to poly rack bushings and new sway bar links. Found bad tie rod ends, boots still looked good but they were looser than a $2 whore.

 

Check inner and outer tie rods.

 

+1

OP: have you had an alignment done? Not enough caster can cause darty handling. Bad shocks will exacerbate the problem over bumps.

 

I can't be the only one who saw the post title and thought of the "I know how you kids like 'em sloppy" scene from Billy Madison. LOL

 

Try turning the steering wheel back and forth with the key on but he truck off, is there play in the steering wheel before you feel resistance? That will at least let you knw if it's more steering related versus suspension.

I replaced my lower control arms not too long ago and that made a huge difference in the steering stability.