[2004ej]

I have a 2004 TRD Ext.cab w/V6, and about 31,000miles. My steering wheel is about 1 inch off to the left, truck does not pull but if I keep the wheel stright it wants to go to the right. Now I have noticed in the past when rotating the tires that on both upper balljoints there was allot of grease on the outside of the boot of the balljoint. Now is this grease leakage normal for Toyota's? And does anyone think this could be contributing to my alignment problem? I have not hit anything very hard that would cause this alignment problem so I have ruled that out. I have also checked the tire pressure and both front tires are the same pressure. I rotate my tires about every 5000 miles. Thanks.

 

[mudferret]

I have a 2004 TRD Ext.cab w/V6, and about 31,000miles. My steering wheel is about 1 inch off to the left, truck does not pull but if I keep the wheel stright it wants to go to the right. Now I have noticed in the past when rotating the tires that on both upper balljoints there was allot of grease on the outside of the boot of the balljoint. Now is this grease leakage normal for Toyota's? And does anyone think this could be contributing to my alignment problem? I have not hit anything very hard that would cause this alignment problem so I have ruled that out. I have also checked the tire pressure and both front tires are the same pressure. I rotate my tires about every 5000 miles. Thanks.

Could have a tear in the BJ boot, joints could still be good tho. If the balljoints are indeed bad, it can affect alignment.

There's also the possibility that your steering wheel wasn't centered properly when you were aligned last, damn annoying for sure.

 

[bb609]

I'd guess they are two separate issues. Overextending your suspension (as in full droop) will cause the ball joint boots to leak. Mine do the same. Eventually the lost grease will cause your bj's to fail. I'm on 60K in my '03 and mine are still okay. You can buy a rebuild kit for under $20.00. Mine are on the bench waiting for my lazy ass to install them. lol! As far as the pulling goes, maybe start with an alignment? That should show up most any other problems.

 

[2004ej]

No tear's in the boot, and no problems from last alignment because I haven't had one yet. I'll take a closer look at the boots however and see if it has a hole. Thanks for your help!!

 

[Jay04Taco]

My sterring wheel on my truck was off from the dealership, i bought it brand new, and mine is off to the right though. about a couple inches.

 

[hytenor]

If you got your truck new with the wheel off center take it back and have them re-align it.