Truck Steering/Suspension

Suzuki’s post got me thinking.

I have a 2001 Toyota Sequoia with about 120K on it. It’s developed an annoyance the past year or two, and I am just about ready to solve it.

The steering at highway speeds feels a little loose. The best way I can describe it is it acts like driving in a stout cross wind where you constantly need to make small steering corrections–it kind of wanders back and forth a bit.

The shocks/struts are fairly new (< 20K miles). The tires are newer and in good shape (the problem existed before and after new tires). What could be the problem?

Don’t drink so much beer before you drive………….

Loose inner tie rod ends

Loose outer tie rod ends

Loose power steering rack

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Don’t drink so much beer before you drive………….

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Oh! That’s a cheap fix

My Suburban feels the same way since about 115,000 miles.

I currently have 162,000 miles on the vehicle.

The front end suspension has always checked out well.

I replaced a part called the “Steering Wheel Position Sensor” a couple of years ago. The condition improved somewhat. Getting new tires made a big difference. Now I have 27,000 miles on those tires and it seems to be nearly as bad as it ever was even though I rotate tires regularly. My general repair mechanic says it is just age,wear and tear.

take into somewhere like tires plus that does a free suspension check. they can check out the tie rods and wheel bearings and let you know if there are any issues. My car has 150K on it and the steering is a little sloppy, I replaced the tie rod ends and wheel bearings (they all needed replacing) but still have some slop. At this many miles the rack may be just getting loose.

Check your sway bar links to see if they are broken. Do a search for tundra solutions on google. The site is sweet for tundra and sequoia owners. Lots of info. I’m almost certain you will find an answer to your problem there.

Thanks, guys. Seems like a fairly common issue for these is for the steering rack bushings to wear out.

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Suzuki’s post got me thinking.

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Don’t often relate Mike and thinking in the same sentence.

I’ve got 112k on my 08 F150. I’m guessing it’s time I start planning for these types of maintenance.

Get it into the shop!

Ball joints, tie rods, or if you’re lucky a bunch of bushings are bad.

But get it into the shop and find out. Having a ball joint come apart at highway speeds would be very, very bad.

Just did the ball joints on my Bravada last summer. Mechanic showed them to me, they were very loose and sloppy and that’s at 130k.

Grouse

Idler and pitman arms also a possibility.

X2

Get it into a real shop and have it checked out correctly. Could be any of the aforementioned issues …

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Get it into a real shop and have it checked out correctly.

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As opposed to a fake shop?
I’ll probably take it in next week.

Yes, a real shop that will actually show you on the hoist and explain in person the movements in your suspension components and why they should be replaced.

Versus a FAKE shop “being nice on that” like Tires plus, Bobby and Steves, NTB, and other big box shysters, dealers, that one, don’t what there talking about, 2 will rip you off by telling you need something and will charge you an insane amount to do the work and they may not even do the repair.
All of this happens on a daily basis these days!

Hope that clears things up for you in regards to Real and Fake shops…

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My Suburban feels the same way since about 115,000 miles.
I currently have 162,000 miles on the vehicle.
The front end suspension has always checked out well.
I replaced a part called the “Steering Wheel Position Sensor” a couple of years ago. The condition improved somewhat. Getting new tires made a big difference. Now I have 27,000 miles on those tires and it seems to be nearly as bad as it ever was even though I rotate tires regularly. My general repair mechanic says it is just age,wear and tear.

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I’d bet money that your idler and pitman arms need replacing.

Tires Plus The Plus stands for tie rod ends. They told me mine was bad with 28K miles still under warranty. Over 100K now and still just fine. Several friends have had the same bad news from them. That cheap oil change always has a reason.