Freeplay in wheel

[Alin10123]

Ok, so i've got some freeplay in my steering wheel. It has happened once before and the service advisor previously was very willing to help me fix it and he did. However, he is no longer working at the stealer anymore. The freeplay is back and so i went in for an alignment (i needed it anyway) and i figured that they could tighten up what needed to be tightened while the truck was up on the lift. The new service advisor looked up my previous tickets and confirmed that the problem had been fixed there before (loose rack bolt). Before i knew it, truck was on/off the alignment rack and back in the "exit lane" at the service center. I went up to check the freeplay and the advisor insists that this is normal! I know that this is not normal because my buddy's 4runner does not do that. His steering has very little freeplay. His even has more miles and is the same year and make as mine. The tech at the dealer also said that the suspension components weren't worn out.

So after i get home, i crawl under the truck while my buddy moves the wheel back and forth. I can see that the freeplay occurs somewhere before the steering rack. The play is actually coming from inside the steering box. When the steering wheel is moving back and forth, the control arms on either side aren't moving at all. So i know that the freeplay is coming from inside the box.

Anyone know which "bolt" the dealer tightened up the first time? Or is there a bolt i can tighten to reduce freeplay inside the box? Or anything i can do to reduce freeplay?

thanks

[Alin10123]

By the way, it's a 2000 limited 2wd

[forest_grump]

On some power steering gear boxes there is a *non-headed* *gear mesh* adj. bolt sticking up with a lock nut that secures it from moving...if this is the case in yours you can try a half turn clockwise or counter clockwise and check to see if worse or better and go other way if needed((((((make sure you can put back in same place as you started at in case no difference is made))))...once you know you are doing some good then try a bit more (DON'T GET GREEDY!!!!!) til it is near what it was before and hold relock adj.screw back down with nut.

[Alin10123]

Hmm, seem to be having trouble finding that thing.
Here are some pics. Here's what it looks like from above.





here's from below what i see.

[forest_grump]

Ok great pics bud.....brand new front sway bar bushings with new *too*long bolts didn't fix it huh???Just kidding..prolly needed the better ones anyways lol.
Anyways...- your vehicle has *rack and pinion* steering(2 front tires,spindles,outter tie rods ends and the rack and pinion is what is inbetween that your steering colum attaches to via a rubber coupler which you can see clearly in last pic)......the loose rack bolt refers to the rack and steering assm. bolts that bolt it securely to frame...

Check all your bolts that fasten your rack and pinion steering assm. to frame/crossmember and remove,clean,apply blue loc-tight on threads (availiable at autozone) and re-install all fastening rack to frame/crossmember bolts to prevent them from *walking out* on you again

Check that rubber coupler that joins colum to rack as shown in last pic for slop and replace as nessasary....goodluck and let me know bud.

[forest_grump]

By the way forget tightening gearbox on yours for now as suggested before pics

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by forest_grump

Ok great pics bud.....brand new front sway bar bushings with new *too*long bolts didn't fix it huh???Just kidding..prolly needed the better ones anyways lol.
Anyways...- your vehicle has *rack and pinion* steering(2 front tires,spindles,outter tie rods ends and the rack and pinion is what is inbetween that your steering colum attaches to via a rubber coupler which you can see clearly in last pic)......the loose rack bolt refers to the rack and steering assm. bolts that bolt it securely to frame...

Check all your bolts that fasten your rack and pinion steering assm. to frame/crossmember and remove,clean,apply blue loc-tight on threads (availiable at autozone) and re-install all fastening rack to frame/crossmember bolts to prevent them from *walking out* on you again

Check that rubber coupler that joins colum to rack as shown in last pic for slop and replace as nessasary....goodluck and let me know bud.

Actually... in regards to the swaybar bushings bracket, if you look at the last pic where you can clearly see the 2 bolts. One is kind of shiny and one is dull. The dull one is the original bolt that came fromt he factory. So... i dont know why they made it so long. But i figured there was a reason, so when i bought the new bolt, i just matched it.

Anyways... i think you hit it right on the spot. I went into an independant shop today and the guy put it into the alignment rack, He then turned the steering wheel and i could physically see the entire rack move. There was also a little clicking sound coming from the left side and when i put my hand on the left rubber boot, the clicking was coming from there, the mechanic said that the left tie-rod may be worn as well.

So... any source for parts? I was thinking about replacing the rubber with polyurethane since i did that with the sway bar bushings with energy suspensions and the truck felt a lot more stable in turns. Not sure with the steering rack, will it be back for the ride? Or will they squeek? As long as they are greasable and that will stop the squeek, that will be ok i guess.

Will this be a simple replacement for the two bushings on the steering rack? Or will i need a lift/special parts? It looks like i just take a big wrench and loosen the nuts, and so forth. But i just wanted to confirm. Also, how hard is it to change the left tierod?

thanks

[forest_grump]

Was just kidding on *too* long bolts...they have to be *too* long looking to be able to thread into nut before compression...sorry lol

Replace bushings if bolts are tight and it has slop in bushings for sure.As far as the clicking inside left boot........that sounds like simple *end play* in rack as you have to have a small amount of slack there(besides the tie rod end is only an outter on rack and pinion setups with the rack taking the place of inner tie rod ends,draglink,pitman arm,idler arm and such).

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by forest_grump

Was just kidding on *too* long bolts...they have to be *too* long looking to be able to thread into nut before compression...sorry lol

Replace bushings if bolts are tight and it has slop in bushings for sure.As far as the clicking inside left boot........that sounds like simple *end play* in rack as you have to have a small amount of slack there(besides the tie rod end is only an outter on rack and pinion setups with the rack taking the place of inner tie rod ends,draglink,pitman arm,idler arm and such).

So... basically get the 2 new steering rack bushings and then tighten that big nut just a tad to get the freeplay out of the wheel? and that should fix the clicking?

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by Alin10123

So... basically get the 2 new steering rack bushings and then tighten that big nut just a tad to get the freeplay out of the wheel? and that should fix the clicking?

Ok... found a write up on the bushings replacement, however, got a few questions. This writeup is from a 1996 Tacoma. However, when looking at the website that lists the parts. They said the same bushings would fit all the way up to 2004. My questions is, does the Tacoma use the same bushings as my 2000 4runner on the steering rack?

One more thing, after this install. Will i need an alignment?

thanks

[forest_grump]

Originally Posted by Alin10123

So... basically get the 2 new steering rack bushings and then tighten that big nut just a tad to get the freeplay out of the wheel? and that should fix the clicking?

>>>>>>>>>>
Replace bushings if bolts are tight and it has slop in bushings for sure.
<<<<<<<<<<

No idea on what is clicking....might be because there is slop in bushings,loose rack bolts or just end play(I'm not there and can only guess)

No idea which big nut you are talking about but if you have made sure rack bolts are tight and bushings have slop in them I would take care of that first and see if that fixes it before rebuilding whole truck to try and rid yourself of the slop in steering and *clicking*

[forest_grump]

Originally Posted by Alin10123

Ok... found a write up on the bushings replacement, however, got a few questions. This writeup is from a 1996 Tacoma. However, when looking at the website that lists the parts. They said the same bushings would fit all the way up to 2004. My questions is, does the Tacoma use the same bushings as my 2000 4runner on the steering rack?

One more thing, after this install. Will i need an alignment?

thanks

Can most likely use that article as a GENERAL guide line.As far as parts being the same..I have no idea..ask a parts store or Toyota parts (a simple phone call is easy to make to find out)


P.S. If you do not feel confident doing this job yourself I would strongly suggest having it done at a shop as you will need to get allignment checked after bushings are replaced.

[Alin10123]

Hmm... just had an alignment done at the dealer. Can i just replace the bushings, then tell them that the alignment feels a little funny and for them to check it again? Since the checking is free. And they shouldn't want to charge me for an alignment again since they just did it less than 2 weeks ago.

[forest_grump]

Sounds like it is worth a try..goodluck lol