Steering Issue

Hey! I’m new here. I have a 2002 Tundra with the 3.4. It’s a regular cab long box RWD with the “hd” transmission and rear end. At the end of summer I rebuilt the front end. It has 241k and runs like a top. I replaced the upper and lower ball joints. Upper control arm. Steering rack and pump as well as the lines. Wheel bearings. All that good stuff. As well as the intermediate shaft joint. After getting it aligned I noticed that it wasn’t returning center after I would make a turn. I talked to my brother who’s a diesel tech and he told me the rack had bad proportioning valves so I replaced it with a brand new rack and got it realigned. It still doesn’t return to center after making a turn. I took it to his shop and we took a look and could not find where this issue was coming from. I torqued everything down to spec. Checked the ball joints. They turn freely. I’m at a loss. I’m hoping one you guys have an idea of what it may be. I’ve been working on trucks since I could turn a wrench and never had an issue like this that was such a mystery. If you have any input that would be awesome!

 

Could be low caster on the alignment. It will also have very 'light' or touchy steering at freeway speed.

Non-factory specs make these trucks drive much better.

-0.3 camber
2.5-3.0 caster
.20 toe in (+/- .05)

 

On my truck the only adjustable thing is toe to which I have it aligned to 1/32” toe in for each tire.

 

This is incorrect. The lower control arms have eccentric bolts for caster and camber adjustment.

Now those eccentric bolts can seize up, making adjustments impossible without replacement of the hardware and bushings or complete LCA’s.

So, what’s your caster currently at? Do you have to printout or specs from when the alignment was done?

 

This is 100% an alignment issue. Insufficient caster and or toe.

 

I did not know that! I do not have a print out atm... I can get it on monday. Thanks for the Info!

 

So I was able to get my paperwork from the alignment I had right before the issue started to arise... I did replace the steering rack between now and then. Here is the info.