SWPERIC

ditto

seaofnames

The steering rack bushing kit made a difference for my steering response. I've also got addco swaybars/bushings, so that helps with body roll.

rtn

I replaced the worn steering rack bushings in my 04 Taco with Energy Suspension's polyurethane bushing kit, ordered from Wheeler's, and it made a huge difference. Money well spent!

SWPERIC

i just did the steering rack kit. way more accurate steering but over bumps at 50mph and above, the back is still squirrelier then a nut farm. gonna continue to replace steering bushings until i find the problem. if that does not work, im going for body mounts... i have a feeling thats the prob for me

HuskyRunner

I had something kinda similar happen on our 97 TJ, but from the sounds of things a little more severe. If you hit a small bump at any sort of speed (train tracks at 25-30 kilometers per hour was the first time) it would start shaking violently and rocking back and forth. I looked around, could find no cause, but it kept happening, so I took it to two different mechanics, who could find no cause...we were baffled, and my wife refused to drive it until it was fixed. After it happened to me on the freeway at about 110kph, I took it back to the better of the two mechanics and he was able to find the problem...the nut that connects the panhard bar to the frame was about 1/4 turn loose, and when you hit a bump, it would start vibrating...but the entire front axle assembly has a lot of weight behind it, and once it got going it wouldn't stop! Looking at the nut, you would have never seen that it wasn't fully tightened, he was just tightening everything, and found it by accident...

I wonder if something similar is happening in the rear of your truck? It would be less severe in the rear, because it wouldn't be directly affecting the steering, and I would guess that a rear axle assembly, without having all the steering stuff attached, would be a little lighter that a Jeep front axle, and there wouldn't be the same inertia once it got going...

Just a thought...

mikeleach

I just took a 99 4runner for a test run. At 100km the rear end ssways like a belly dancer. The owner said it started right after he had the struts replaced. He took it back and the mechanic said it was swaying because the front passenger side had the frame straightened from an accident, which was years ago. There is no out of alignment wear on the tires. I'm thinking it's bushings or a sway bar. I may just buy it anyway and replace all the bushings. Could the struts be installed wrong or something be left unhooked or loose? The seller is a friend who is not very mechanical but he is a straight shooter.

IVrunner

i just bought a 2000 4runner SR5 sport edition 4x4 manual and the thing also rocks back and forth like a boat at highway speeds....very uneasy feeling. I had it pinned as the shocks so that is the first thing I did, but that did absolutely nothing. I also replaced the tires and had it aligned and checked out by a shop. They say nothing looks out of the ordinary and actually everything looks good. I feel it is very unsafe and would never even think to let my wife drive it (not that she is a bad driver), but I would never want here to swerve because of something and flip it.

I am at a loss of what the true cause of this is. I feel like enough others have had the problem that it should be obvious, but it doesn't seem to be.

To further explain my situation - it happens in the rear only and can happen if I simply hit a bump or if I encourage it by steering back and forth. I can't believe it has anything to do with the steering and feel it should be the panhard bar, but it is torqued to specs. I also can't believe its a body mount because that would be noisy and rough and what I feel is a nice smooth side to side rocking, but considerable.

Has anyone else had this similar problem that has a confirmed solution?!?

warpigg

both my 4runner and my moms when we had them did this some of it is the shocks and I belive also its the bushings in the rear 4 link setup

DRCOFFEE

The sway bars really just tame the body lean and roll but if the rear end is swaying like a fish tail, then the Panhard bar has to be the culprit. Unfortunately I haven't seen anything where you can replace the bushings in the Panhard bar. You would need to replace the whole bar. How nice it would be if I could just shave down some oversize bushings to fit but I don't have a lathe.

IVrunner

Yeah, body roll isn't even bad...in terms of just lean around a turn. And, going over a large speed bump (go over them every day on my way to and from my house) is normal...no continuous bouncing. I will double check the pan hard bar and report back.

IVrunner

Everything is tight and bushings look great! I didn't replace the front struts because they don't seem to need to be, but could that cause the rocking in the rear that im feeling?

IVrunner

so, I asked the wife to drive it on the highway while I followed and from what I can tell it isn't actually rocking thru the suspension it is swaying side to side...as if she is purposely turning the wheel back and forth. I tested this theory while parked by her pushing the rear of the car horizontally while I looked under the car...and again, everything was tight. Based on all of this, I think the culprit is the steering. However, there is no play in the steering while running down the highway...but the problem happens the most when going around a curve and hitting a bump. Could the steering components move without the steering wheel moving (ie: bump steer)? Where should I start to diagnose this possible problem?

warpigg

I remember my dad who was a master tech for Toyota telling me about a bushing or something that's in between the rack and the steering column and he said the one on my runner needed replacing but im not positive on where it is

mynameistommy510

Look up both steering rack guide replacement and steering rack bushing replacement. I was amazed how much bad bushings, the bushings holding the steering rack to the body allowed the whole rack to move. Check it out on YouTube. Also there is a great write up here with pictures showing the rack guide replacement. Sorry I can't remember the name of the guy that did it.

IVrunner

So I've replaced the steering rack mount bushings with http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...2875&ppt=C0031 from my local O Rielly. Had a hell of a time by myself on the vertical center bushing but finally got it... However, my highway cummute today resulted the problem still being there!! Sooooo...any suggestions on where I go next? Struts, Ball joints, TREs, anti-sway bar bushings??? They all look used, but nothing looks bad. I'm stumped and would rather not turn this into a replacement hunt. Something I did notice-the center sleeve came in two sizes...too small and too large. The one that was too large matched the stock one I removed so I went with that one. This doesn't seem right to me....is that the way it is supposed to be?

chadsy

• When is the last time you had an alignment?
• When is the last time the wheels were balanced?
• Definitely replace the sway bar bushings as they probably need it. Try going for the polyurethane from Energy suspension.
• It's easy to check the play in the TRE's, just do a quick search of this board.
• If your ball joints are still factory, definitely consider replacing them, if only as a precautionary measure.
• Next up would be your steering rack guide: See this thread for a good overview https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/h...31/index2.html
• Check both of your front calipers and make sure both look good and one of them isn't sticking.

That would be a good starting point. If you're still having an issue, find a local garage that does a free suspension check

IVrunner

Thanks for the help - I will respond to each

• When is the last time you had an alignment? 1 week ago
• When is the last time the wheels were balanced? I week ago 2 brand new tires, other 2 in really good shape
• Definitely replace the sway bar bushings as they probably need it. Try going for the polyurethane from Energy suspension. I'll replace tomorrow
• It's easy to check the play in the TRE's, just do a quick search of this board. I'll do this tomorrow
• If your ball joints are still factory, definitely consider replacing them, if only as a precautionary measure. The look to be but no typical knocking that I am used to from a bad ball joint and no wobble up and down on the wheel
• Next up would be your steering rack guide: See this thread for a good overview https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/h...31/index2.html I'll look into this tomorrow.
• Check both of your front calipers and make sure both look good and one of them isn't sticking. Calipers are good...brake system in general is good

thanks again I'll report back Sunday since I can finally dedicate some time to it tomorrow.

IVrunner

Purchased new sway bar links and noticed the old ones look and work fine. I even drove it without the links on a d while there is more body roll it drives exactly the same. So this means my sway bar is fine. I also purchased TREs, but tested my current ones and cannot get any sort of movement out of them with the wheels off the ground.

So this made me ho back to the drawing board and I stumbled upon this thread on play in the steering column. http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161689. What do you guys think? Could this be it? I don't have any play while holding the shaft and turning the wheel and have never noticed a click or pop until today while trying to hear it by turning the wheel back and forth with the car off and wheels on the ground. Has anyone else had any luck solving the boat rocking, swaying, wandering with the steering shaft slip joint tack weld on a 4runner?

IVrunner

I'm gonna try the steering shaft mod and post the results

IVrunner

Shaft out, tacked and back in. Driving felt better but seems like a bandaid. I'm going to get OEM outer TREs and try that next, but don't have high hopes cause the current ones look and test out fine. What are people's thoughts on the panhard bar or "lateral rod" as Toyota calls them?