PagosaYota

Yup... noob. First post :-) I've read through the stickies and "read this first noob" stuff until my eyes are glazed over. Here's what I got going on....

'97 4Runner, Limited, 190k miles, engine runs crazy good. What the heck? Doesn't it know it is old?

Steering still seems tight, but steering rack leaking pretty bad. No lift or suspension mods yet. Likely has original shocks still on it.

No mods other than a tranny cooler bypass with air cooler and filter.

My primary goal is to restore stability and keep highway driving at 75mph civil. Right now it feels like a wobble / shimmy at speeds. Tires are a bit old at 9 years.

Secondary goal is to add reasonable lift of 2". I want to be able to easily navigate Southern Colorado forest roads like Stony / Engineer / pass. No serious boulder crawling. I'm thinking of writing OME and asking for advice. Probably want to put 31x10.5's on it.

Third goal is to keep it able to tow 3000 lbs safely.

So... I was going to sell this off and buy something newer, and thought that maybe it would be fun to just build this up for what I want. But the shimmy at speed has me spooked. With an eye towards a small lift, should I lift the truck first, and then figure out the steering issue with new components? Or should I fix the shimmy first? Not quite sure where to start. I realize that this could be a tire / shock issue, and the leaky steering rack has me suspicious even thought the steering feels tight with no wandering around.

So.. where would you start with this?

P.S. long term goals include installing a Superwinch 9k that I have, and additional lights, likely a cargo rack with spare fuel too, so I can see my gross weight going up a bunch. I'm all ears for any advice on how to not have to do any of this twice. Thanks!

Malcolm99

Steering wheel wobble could be fixed by tires, they wear out and lose there balance or rub the curb to many times. The rack isn't hard to change out, and the steering rack bushings are also easy to replace and commonly fail especially with oil leaking on them allowing the entire rack to slide back and forth a 1/4" or more on the bushings. There is also an revision for the guide on the rack behind the large nut but I noticed no difference with updated parts. For the lift go to Sonoran Steels website and read through his lift options, he is in AZ, he will happily answer any questions, but his 1.2 kit is the best for the 3rd Gen http://sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2. If the trucks frame and body are good keep it, the rest should last 400,000mi with routine maintenance.

habanero

SO what has been replaced in the suspension? Upper ball joints? LOWER BALL JOINTS? Tie rods? 9 year old tires, you can try rotating them to see if the feeling at speed changes...but that's an old set of tires. Control arm bushings? Check out lower ball joint failures very very soon for some fun pics and info.
If you replace the steering rack seriously consider replacing the rubber bushings with a set of poly (Wheeler's has a set of steering rack bushings)- especially if you go aftermarket.

Have had a Sonoran Steel 1.2 on my daily driver 96 since '09, so happy with it that we put one on the 99 too, and Steve's customer service is excellent. In other words, I agree with Malcolm99.
Do your research and figure out what's right for you and yes, figure out what's causing your steering issue before your lift. If it turns out to be something you'd replace in your lift well then....

mdh

When I purchased my '98 the steering was super sloppy. I knew I wanted a lift and I know the current suspension was never serviced. While installing my lift I did steering rack bushings, end links, sway bar bushings, upper + lower ball joints, tie rod ends and the rack guide. Basically a full front end refresh and when it was done everything was as good as new.
Not sure about your leaking rack but if you are going to fix it I would recommend doing it all at once with OEM parts while it is apart.

Old83@pincher

Yes, don't forget to replace those steering rack bushings. The rack can wander around in those old rubber bushings and give you a wobbly feeling in the steering.

Now something to consider is putting 'a touch more' toe-in into the alignment that will help tracking with big nasty tires. Stock alignment with radial tires usually calls for very little or no toe-in

PagosaYota

Thanks... excellent advice.

I swapped out the ball joints about 30k miles ago, and they still look tight. I think I will take it to a local firestone shop, as I have a lifetime alignment warranty on it and have them take a look. I've been hunting all over the forums for data, and I think I getting closer to having a clue :-)

I got a quote on swapping out the steering rack today, they wanted $890. Yikes. I've done a little bit of semi-serious wrenching on my F250 (Front axle seals and bearings, oil cooler, steering gear box and steering components, etc) so might consider doing the steering rack myself.

Anyway, I'm going to take it in and have them take a hard look at the front end and see what they say.

I also think I'm getting closer to figuring out what my lift will be. Currently leaning towards Tundra springs in the front, OME 906 in the back, Bilsteins, and perhaps 265 75 16's on the rims.

I'm getting a little psyched!