Wheels are bowed out & steering wheel rotated

Hey guys, noticed a clunk sound when truck was fully locked turning two days ago. Sure enough this morning around 5:30 it happened again. Then 5 minutes later I heard a loud pop coming to a stop 15-0mph, and steering wheel rotated 2-3 rotations but truck stayed driving straight. Hopped out and right wheel is heavy bowed outwards, driver side looked bowed outward as well but it was hard to tell. (Sorry it was dark). No whining in steering pump, no fluid on the ground and truck was able to limp home (under 1 mile away from breakdown thank jesus) and power steering was still working perfectly (steering wheel was obviously no longer centered though). While driving got a rubbing sound (sounded like front right tire but couldn't confirm by myself). I've read up as much as I can (at work right now), and it shows some signs of steering rack but also signs of cv axles, or maybe balljoints. (I haven't been able to lift truck and check yet) The truck is a 2010 4x4 lifted 6" on 37's with coilovers and differential drop. I do hit the trails and drive quite a bit, I'm not upset about breaking down but would like any input ya'll have.

Thank You so much, I'll update with more facts once I'm home.

 

Need to inspect everything in front suspension and steering, things are broken for sure. My guess is ball joint, UCA bushings. You could have also pulled the CV axle out if the tire/wheel is off as you describe. 37s cause a lot of stress on components, so a deep inspection is in order.

 

Holy smokes. sounds like something got nuked.

 

Ball joint, but both wheels are off and steering is clocked off center?

More apt to think of an issue with the steering column, rack or tie rods.

I believe the 6” lifts relocate the steering rack, so I would assume the rods and column would also be modified. I know they drop the CVS and diff so they typically have better cv angles than the usual 3” lift.

I would inspect the mounting hardware on the drop bracket and verify both the tie rods appear normal as well as the steering rack mounts. Good luck.

 

Thank you all for your helpful input, turns out the driver side wheel is turning and straight, only the passenger side is messed up.

 

Turns out the uca snapped

 

Good thing that didn’t happen at highway speeds.

damn.

 

I'm obviously ordering new ucas and hardware, what else should I replace? It's a bummer because when lifting the truck I asked about ucas and was told so long as the alignment wasn't an issue I'd be ok. No crying over spilt milk, just my fault for not doing it anyways. I don't mind spending the coin. But I'd like to get everything in one shot. Thanks guys

 

it looks like they are the factory control arms? check out the for sale section here.. they pop up pretty frequently.

2019 OEM UCA’s

FS: OEM Upper Control Arms - '21 Tundra

OEM Leaf Springs & UCA

 

I have a set of factory UCAs in AZ if you want to pay shipping. But it sounds like you need to look at aftermarket.

 

Yea they're factory, thank you for helpful direction dude

 

Thanks TRD, I'm thinking aftermarket is the way to go as well.

 

The bolt broke off? I would expect some kind of really hard impact to be required to make that happen!

 

Got the passenger side in and sure enough the driver side was loose when I checked it! Got the driver side off but now am unable to get the uca knuckle to line up with the top of the coil over. Any ideas? Seems like the spindle going into the transfercase is what's in the way

 

If the axle slipped out far enough you may need to rotate it to push it back in.

If the UCA fasteners were loose, that's likely the cause of this failure and would cast some blame on the suspension shop.

 

Sure enough, was just able to rotate the front spindle and got it to line back up. Thanks

 

I see you found the problem, but be careful going full lock. The steering racks are known to crap out in the older year tundras and going full lock makes it worse. My 2010 did it while turning in a mall parking lot. Dealer wanted about $3k to fix it.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/the...olutions-updated-10-2020-in-first-post.33539/

 

Thank you for the link, it was on my list of possible problems and boy am I glad it wasn't that. I was laying under the truck looking at it. Doesn't look like a fun time at all!

 

What company offers ucas for our trucks that work with 6” lifts? Just received an email from jba saying they don’t have anything for my setup