Steering wheel jiggle...

[MrEviLDeD]

I seem to be riddled with problems this time around... Sorry for being such a forums pest.

 

Since I think I have everything taken care of in terms of the out of province inspection I wondered about one last little thing.. I am not sure if this would fail me and I am sorry for the way the topic reads out..

 

When driving at any speed the steering wheel kind of jiggles.. By jiggle I mean rotates back and forth very very slightly like a shake.Overall the truck seems to drive straight. First, what things should I be looking at that might cause this.. Second would it be enough to cause a fail in an out of province inspection?

 

Again sorry for the almost relentless onslaught of questions.

 

 

 

[Nissanland]

I'm not going to say I know what your feeling, just from the description, I think you might have some bad tension rod bushings. If not those then maybe a loose anti sway bar/bushings. Before I did the 3 inch lift, I had a similar issue with the truck and since I replaced the bushings and ends the wiggle stopped. I still have the tension rod bushings to replace, but slack there could cause a back and forth motion. If unsure jack the front off ground and try wiggling the axle assembly front to rear, and tug on the anti sway bar, watch it at the ends and at the two bushings on cross member. Hope that helps you out maybe it just needs a bit of tightening until you can get fixed..

 

G

[Slartibartfast]

The strut rod bushings (aka compression rod bushings, aka tension rod bushings, no idea why we have three names for the same part) are a good thing to keep an eye on anyway, especially if they've never been changed. In some cases the rods wear against the frame bracket badly enough to get a thin spot and snap. I suspect you'd know something was horribly awry if one or both of the rods had snapped, but still, have a look. There's a thread on replacing strut rod bushings that's got some good tips.

 

I noticed no difference in handling after replacing mine, but the stock ones were still somewhat intact. I have heard of trashed bushings screwing with the steering, but IIRC it was more along the lines of the truck wandering all over the road than the steering wheel wiggling.

 

That said, it sounds like yours is more of a feedback issue than a handling issue.

 

One or both of the front wheels might be out of balance (missing weight or a big cake of mud on the rim), but I dunno if this would be enough to cause the shake at low speeds. Broken belt in a tire maybe? You might try swapping the front wheels/tires with your other rig to see if the wiggle goes away.

 

And don't worry about asking questions, it's what this place is for.