A few months ago I installed a 3 inch revtek suspension lift kit in my 97 4runner however recently my steering has gone haywire on me. Whenever I hit a bump under one of my front wheels the car is pulled in that direction and the steering wheel turns that way too. This is just with street driving. And on the highway whenever I hit a bump the car seems to float to one side or the other. two tech shops said it was my tie rod and a toyota dealer said it was my power steering rack, both of which are expensive replacements. Has anyone heard of this problem and if so, how was it corrected?

 

You know what toe is, in regards to alignments, right? Bump steer is defined as change in toe as the suspension goes through normal up and down motions.

Let’s see if I can explain this better. Say you had zero toe and you’re driving straight. Both tires would point straight ahead, right? If one wheel went over a bump or into a hole, it should stay pointing straight ahead. If the up or down motion causes the wheel to point left or right, that’s bump steer. Note that the steering wheel will remain pointing straight ahead. The left/right of the wheels occurs only in the suspension.

A common cause of bump steer is raising or lowering the suspension. The tie rods and lower control arms must maintain proper alignment with each other to maintain zero bump steer.

Now that you understand the definition of bump steer, you can determine if this is the cause of your problems.

Here are a couple of references:

http://www.longacreracing.com/articles/art.asp?ARTID=13

http://www.derpca.com/Porscheforme/911Tech6-01.htm

http://www.bakerprecision.com/longacr17a.htm

Tom

 

Thanks for your help but do you think a 3 inch suspension lift would do that??

 

JK,

A 3" inch lift should not cause bump steer. Check for wear on the inner tie rod end or movement in the rack isolator bushings. It sounds like there is enough movement that the alignment is shifting. If these parts are worn you can get aftermarket replacements. The rack bushings (2) are being produced by Energy Suspension.

Jason