front end rattle, wheel shake at 65mph, advice needed

Hopefully asking about a Sequoia is acceptable here, since it's almost the same vehicle.
I have a 2001 Sequoia, 265K miles on it. as far as I know the steering rack was replaced at some point, ball joints and the rest of the suspension are stock. This behavior has been present through two sets of wheels and tires. I might try getting them balanced again, but I am not convinced it is the cause.
I have some pretty strong steering wheel shake at 65mph, I used to have sloppy steering overall until I replaced the rack bushings. I also have some front end rattle when I hit bumps.
I checked my lower ball joints for play, as it seems every other year had a recall except the 2001. there is some in the driver's side but it seems minimal. only detectable with a big pair of channel locks to compress the joint, I'm not sure if it is enough play to be the cause of my steering shake and rattle. I have uploaded the video here. https://youtube.com/shorts/YCGzrjZqfRQ?feature=share
I'm beginning to suspect it could be some other source of play in the steering. outer tie rods are tight, but i can't inspect the inners nearly as easily. when moving the steering wheel side to side, the rack itself does not move but there is a bit of a clunk sound from the steering rack that can be felt by holding the tie rod near the bellows. maybe it's not the tie rods at all, and is backlash in the rack and pinion itself. I'd appreciate any advice.

Does anyone have any experience with aftermarket inner tie rods? The toyota part is like $170. two of those would be $340, plus bellows for $50 and for only another $300 I could just buy a whole new rack with everything but the outer tie rod ends which are fine.

 

Sequoia is a 1st gen. Basically a double cab with enclosed bed and different climate control system in the dash

First things first: You are aware of the problems with aftermarket lower balljoints, and the exceptionally high failure rate of non-OEM LBJ, correct? And the LBJ recall from Toyota?

tl;dr - The LBJ is the Achilles Heel of these 1st Gens and Toyota knew it, there are photos galore of folks who've chosen to save a few bucks going aftermarket on LBJs only to find they weren't over-engineered like Toyota did theirs, and they found out by having the LBJ snap while in use.

That said ...

I'd be concerned with the play I'm seeing, and I probably wouldn't be driving that truck until LBJ were replaced, with fresh bolts.

When was the last time you had LBJ changed (if "never", you're way overdue, change the LBJ and bolts ASAP), and if changed, (A) at how many miles, (B) what year/month, and (C) what brand LBJ? I ask because a major supplier had a huge defect/recall that impacted Moog, NAPA and one other big-name brand I'm forgetting 2000-2001.

Are you stock height? I presume "yes", but asking.

When was the last time you rotated tires front to back? (Just to rule out cupping and bad alignment)
What brand of tires? (Some like BFG KO2s are notorious for needing road-force balancing)

Have you done the basic tire check, the push/pull/slap test to verify BJ and tie rods?

What happens with the shake if you let off the gas while it's happening? If you accelerate? Does it subside or persist?

Oh, and ... for 'aftermarket parts that are OK' check this: https://www.tundras.com/threads/corner-of-shame-oem-minus-or-plus.122591/

 

As @shifty` said, get those lower ball joints done regardless if they’re ultimately the cause. I would also do the upper ball joints at the same time. I had an upper wear out and would get bad vibration at higher speeds.
You can’t really go wrong replacing them at that age.

 

I'm aware of the problems with aftermarket LBJs. The front LBJs are under tension and holding all the weight of the front end, since the spring bears on the lower control arm. not playing games with aftermarket there.
for some reason it seems the 2001 is the only year that didn't have a recall. My parents are the original owners. according to them they have never been replaced. as far as I know the only major component that was ever replaced is a steering rack.

stock height. tires are michelin defender XLT, prior to that was defender LTX (I'm pretty sure that's the same tire, just wholesale club specific variant vs general market)

the shake comes in around 65, it gets a bit less noticable by 80 but is still present. it does not seem to be dependent on if I am on the throttle. I should check if it is under braking, but it is rare that I am on the brakes over 65, generally I'll have coasted down below that before I am on the brakes. It does go away if there is any steering force, such as on curves in the road.

I'm not so sure I'm willing to drop a ton of money to do all 4 front ball joints preventatively when I can only find play in one of them. $300 in parts cost isn't a ton but it isn't insignificant either.

 

Everyone’s prob right about the lbjs but OP, do you know if your tire balancing was a road force one?

I only ask cause I had a tiny bit of shaking going on mostly in the steering wheel and looked up road force balancing machines by hunter. Don’t know the specifics but they use a roller on the tire to simulate road use to find problem areas. Not all the shops use it/have the machine, guess sometimes you got to ask for it specifically, but after I got mine done w road force AND a rotation, it’s is noticeably better at higher speeds even on the crappy roads of NJ.

not saying that’s the cause but since you mentioned tire balancing thought I’d throw my two cents in! Maybe worth a try just to eliminate causes

 

Also I’m not a mechanical guy so maybe @shifty` and others can chime in, but if one LBJ is showing signs of play, can’t one assume that under normal conditions that the others would follow suit relatively quick also or is that too general of a thought process?

 

Definitely get those LBJ replaced. They're overdue. I'd proactively replace with OEM at 150k if showing no signs of wear, but I'm a also spazz, some would say. New LBJ, and if they've never been off or overtorqued, you could probably re-use the bolts if you are actually torquing back on, but your call...

The shake you're talking about, if felt only through the steering wheel, sounds like tire balance to me, minus the 'goes away during steer event' (at least if it goes away for a period of 5+ seconds, i.e. significant time). I would rotate the tires front to rear, just to see if there's any notable difference, or take it to a shop for balance/rotate and see if it persists. I wouldn't be surprised if one is out. Simply rotating front-to-rear may make things go away if it's a single wheel with balance problem, and it's such a no-brainer 15-minute thing to test.

I would jack up the front, both tires off the ground do the push/pull test, you know, basically the process outlined below (1st video I found, not our trucks, just shows one general process). Lift up/down on things, look for looseness and play, missing cotters, nuts, that kinda stuff. There are other things that can cause shake/shimmy. Wheel bearings, driveline balance issues (ever replaced carrier bearing or had driveshaft out?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M2D_XtuXZQ​

 

Pay now or pay later. The consequences are high for failure of these. BTW, how's you timing belt?

 

I've done the push/pull test. My testing with channel locks was because I could feel nothing with pushing and pulling on both front wheels. did both 12/6 and 9/3 positions.
I'm thinking I'll order that one lower ball joint and get the tires balanced. I bought the wheels and tires used off another tundra since they are recent date codes and look in good shape. old tires were worn out, had excessive wear in the outer tread block on the front left which might be related to this issue, or might have been because I wasn't rotating them like I should.
Timing belt is good. has been replaced at 98k and again somewhere in the 210k range, 6 or 7 years ago. timing belt is about the only preventative maintenance this vehicle has ever had, everything else was only ever done when something breaks or shows symptoms, and the problem with these trucks is nothing ever seems to break until it's 20 years old and all the soft parts need replacing. I just did spark plugs 40k miles ago and they were factory, and all 3 diffs got fluid the first time a year ago. transmission is still original fluid, but that's one for another day.

 

road force! And gl OP

 

If you can afford it (~$100/LBJ), you really should replace both LBJ at same time, just get it done with. If for no other reason than ... if your LBJ goes, truck is potentially totaled ... and if it happens at-speed, you may be totaled too.

 

well I got the tires balanced on a road force machine. My local discount tire only charges $10 to put it on the machine, an extra $12 if they need remove and match mount the tire to the wheel. in my case, one wheel was off by 3/4oz and the other was just fine, neither needed to be match mounted. I only did the fronts because I am cheap.
Hard to judge by one trip but I think it is significantly reduced the vibration.
I checked my paper FSM and it says the maximum allowable play for the LBJ is 0.5mm or 0.020".
based on some measurements of frames from the video and using the head of one of the 17mm bolts in the video as a scale, I'm seeing about 0.75mm of play, which is out of tolerance, which is enough to convince me to order the front left LBJ.

 

I know you're cheap, but best to replace them in pairs

 

This, x2.

Already overdue. It's ballpark $100 more to add the other.

 

Considering that small sum of money is what stands between you and this: https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-lunch-table-general-discussion.60450/page-1689#post-3299017

 

I know your not the spending type OP, I’m not in the best situation myself… but I would take the advice of those who’ve been around the block and know what to do to get the most out of your truck, which really only boils down to timing belts, oil changes, LBJs and frame rust, far few compared to other platforms. I sure as well am since I am new to it myself. Some ppl on these forums I feel should qualify to write the newest edition of the owners manual.

way I see it is that I don’t mind biting the bullet on spending high prices that ultimately affect the safety of me and my family, i.e. air bags, brakes, proper headlights, steering, etc. Everything else can follow once you have the money to spent. A extra 100$ or more is well worth the ease of mind that the pictures others have shown you doesn’t happen to you driving 60+ on a busy highway.

 

To this point @pjtruslow you know you can buy the recall kit, get two new OEM LBJ for like $200-225, right?

 

you have a part number for that kit? I'm seeing 04006-62134 elsewhere but they won't verify fitment, so i'm on my own if it doesn't fit. is it any different than just buying a 43330-39466 and 43340-39356, which at parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com totals about 214 after tax and shipping. If I can't find anything that shows the kit of fitting the 2001, I'll just go with the other two part numbers which I know do fit.
as an aside, it frustrates me that mcgeorge is my local dealer, i have bought cars there, yet I can't get the online parts price without shipping the parts to me.

 

Also if you know the part numbers for the LBJ bolts, I may order them as well.

 

Info we've compiled from other members and recall reports are here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/lower-ball-joints-part-numbers.97100/#post-2465807

That post also links to bolt p/n too.

I'm surprised McGeorge won't allow direct pickup. I bet if you order through the 'official Toyota' portal site for McGeorge here they will allow it, but you may not get the same discount percentage on the parts. Your call. McGeorge has 3 different websites, only one of those is integrated directly into the Toyota Parts system, I think?

 

I ended up ordering separate ball joints, the part numbers I said before, and 8 lower ball joint bolts.
while I have everything apart, I'll take the time to get a good look at everything else, in particular the strut end bushings, control arm bushings, and the inner tie rod ends. I also know I need a CV shaft boot, maybe I should have thrown one of those on the order too.

 

Follow up: Wheel balancing took care of most of the wheel shake. I replaced the lower ball joint yesterday. to my amazement, everything came apart with almost no cursing. tie rod end came out of the LBJ bracket with one hit with the hammer on the side of the bracket and some light tapping on the tie rod threaded part to get it out. ball joint popped free of the LCA with a pitman arm puller I got from harbor freight with no trouble. I then lifted the upright assembly with a bottle jack and a piece of wood under the brake rotor, steadied by my father and installed the new part, and lowered it back into place with a big screwdriver supporting the upper control arm against the coil spring.
I did the whole swap with a floor jack under the lower control arm to keep it from being shot down as I broke the LBJ loose. I don't think it was necessary but I wasn't sure if there was still any pressure on the strut so it was there just for insurance.

at the end of the day, the rattle was still there. turns out it was a bracket for the front bumper on that corner that was a bit loose and rattling. oh well, it drew my attention to a ball joint that coincidentally needed to be replaced. the steering wheel shake is now miniscule, and only occurs at about 72mph.

LBJ replacement is probably the easiest suspension replacements I have ever had. It could have been much worse, but I got lucky with it being super easy.