First off (mods), in my opinion, you've got WAY too many catagories on this board now...Simplify maybe?? i dunno

More importantly,

Before I go out and blow a chunk on new tie rod ends all around, is there an honest mechanic who will tell me if this will fix my wobble that starts at 50mph, and feels like i'm slightly turning the wheel from left to right, even though it's straight...?

 

There are a lot of catagories with A LOT of information. I say do a search. Tie rods are a possibility. Take it to a front end shop and have them look at it....or you could search for symptoms of tie rod failure

 

Could it be just an alignment? I had a wobble and very similar characteristics on the steering before a proper alignment.

 

I would say taht or bad tie rods.

Shake the wheel while its off the ground, up and down, and there is a of play, change out the tie rods.

 

I wobble at 30-35 mph. it gets violent pretty quickly......

tie rods? =/

 

maybe your tires are balanced....need an alignment.

 

could also just be your steering rack bushings?...i had that problem only at 60 mph.
-B

 

bent wheel???

 

Bad lower ball joints will cause a vehicle to "wonder". The vehicle will roll to the lowest point on the road surface (as in ruts). Get out the pry bar and start lookin' for slop.

 

second ball joints (lower) for bad wondering/wobbleing etc.

although bent rim is classic and easy to fix. (move it to the back)

 

I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND ITS FIXED NOW

mine would start at about 50 and would not be violent but annoy the hell outta me. so, i read some post and found an article about ROAD FORCED BALLANCE AND A SPECIAL TOOL TO DO TOYOTAS cause we are lug centric ballanced. It is a machine called the GSP-9700. search for that and there is a link to a store finder in your area. Mine was free to be done cause they screwed up when they put the new tires on but it is so awesome to have my steering back minus the vibration. It is a computerised machine that aligns the center spot with the tire and then the wheel so you get a "true" roll out of them. All of mine were off by at least half a tire rotation. (plus nothing like seeing the work done first hand so YOU know they did it)

 

I have a similar wobble. It's worse when going around right hand bends. I've just done another front end inspection and pulled the driver side tie rod boot to take a closer look. I think I found the culprit.

QUICK QUESTION: Is there supposed to be any vertical play in the rod that comes out of the driver side of the steering rack?

FWIW
Alignment is supposedly good (had that checked).
Wobble doesn't change with tire rotation and balancing (lug centric balanced).
BAll joints feel solid (no play when pulling on the bottom on the wheel).
Steering rack bushings need to be replaced as well.

Thanks.

 

UPDATE: After replacing the entire steering rack and inner/outer tie rods, my wobble is still around. The tie rods were sloppy and the steering was loose, so it did need to be replaced anyway.

I am now focusing on the rear lower control arms. There is some movement there and the control arms should be replaced. And yes, I am using this as an excuse to get a pair of Sonoran Steel links.

One of these months I will figure this out . . .

 

The new lower control arms did the trick! After many months of intermittent trouble-shooting and nauseating driving, I am now wobble-free.

This was a good lesson learned for me. As Confusious says "Search behind for the wobbly front . . ." or something like that.