general problems of the 2005 Toyota Tacoma - part 1

Intermediate steering rod lower ball joint has failed , unable to steer truck safely this is very dangerous Toyota needs to look into this I bought this truck brand new in 2005 off the floor.

As I was driving I went to make a turn and the steering becomes very difficult and dose not respond as it should, Toyota is aware of this problem and told me the steering shaft must be replaced, I almost ran into oncoming traffic because of the steering problem. This problem has occurred numerous times on city streets county routes and us highway route 22 in the state of new jersey.

Started truck and when pulling out of driveway steering become extremely stiff. No unusual sounds. Stiffness is not always there, it pulsates. Fluid level and color all within specs. Belt within specs. I plan on putting it on a lift when I return home and preform an inspection. Suspect u joint failure.

My steering had started to get stiff during a trip to philadelphia. Since then it got to the point where it was almost impossible to drive. After about six months of this it became normal again. Now it is going back to being stiff and hard to transition from a turn to straight making it unsafe to drive.

We brought the truck in to have it checked for rust and corrosion that we seen, palmers airport Toyota said they seen none, the a-frame has rusted and corroded to the point of snapping and the metal is corroded and peeling with a crack going around the whole a-frame. The truck is now not moveable, the whole tire will fall off if we do move it, we made it back to our home with it luckily and Toyota corporate says there is nothing they can do.

When I steer the vehicle it feels as though the power steering gives out. This issue does not occur all of the time.

Steering gets difficult at the star of turns then loosens up as you turn, making it very difficult to control while turning. As if power steering is turning on and off?.

When turning, noticed steering very difficult to control. Very unnerving in heavy traffic. Told by mechanic that I need to have the intermediate shaft replaced. This appears to be an ongoing problem with these vehicles, as the universal joint gets completely rusted out due to no protection from road and elements, and in time, the steering corrodes. Please fix this!! very very dangerous. I had a child in the car when I was struggling with this issue. I was horrified to think of what could happen . I was driving to school and making several turns, steering was unpredictable and unsafe.

While driving at normal speeds (55 mph) and you try to move to the left or right the steering appears to be stuck, but with some additional effort I am able to turn the wheel.

Intermediate steering shaft u-joint is siezing leading to difficult to operate steering.

Steering suddenly becomes difficult while driving, all of a sudden hard to turn. Investigation appears to be failed bearings in lower intermediate shaft.

I experienced rough (stiff, binding) steering in both directions and within two weeks it was progressively getting worse. I thought I had a steering fluid issue, but the dealership immediately knew of this problem and confirmed it by turning the steering wheel. They knew right away that it was caused by a rusted u-joint on the bottom of the intermediate steering shaft (p/n 4520304020). In addition to the stiff steering going into a turn, the steering would not return to straight and I unexpectedly nearly went into the curb. I believe that this is a very unsafe condition and must be brought to the attention of all 2005 Tacoma owners. I have never been advised of any need to perform any special servicing of this part at any mileage interval. It appears to be a bad design that allows salty water from winter roads to get into the u-joint which then rusts.

Steering is difficult, as if no power steering exists. I checked online and saw others had the same problem. I lubricated the lower part of intermediate steering shaft, and it seems to work ok for now. If the part is rusted, I'm afraid the steering will go out altogether and cause loss of control. This is a safety issue. The frame has been replaced due to rust. Is this more of the same problem?.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the traction re-engaged on its own and the vehicle veered to the right when the steering wheel was turned to the left. The failure occurred while driving at any speed, when the gear shifter was placed into four wheel drive, when the traction control was disabled, and when driving over ice, snow, and/or sand. The manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 5,000.

Major rust damage on frame after only 8 years of vehilce being released, a 2 by 4 inch wide hole on both sides for the trucks frame causing warping and bending as well as unsafe driving conditions. When taken to Toyota dealership repairs took 9 months, and upon completion was send back to owners possession without test driving or verifying project completion.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. While driving various speeds, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact had to apply force to the steering wheel in order to steer the vehicle. In addition, over time, the steering wheel became extremely loose. The contact had to steer the vehicle in excess to keep the vehicle in position. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,000. The VIN was unavailable.

I can not control steering wheel,it gets to hard to steering.

The steering in my Toyota Tacoma began to bind suddenly when turning the steering wheel to the left or right. Upon inspection by the dealership, the intermediate steering shaft and steering yoke both needed to be replaced. The replacement part appears to be an updated part with a rubber boot to prevent corrosion of the shaft joints. I believe the failure of the original part was due to poor design, causing the part to begin to fail. If not replaced and the shaft or shaft joint had broken at speed, this certainly would have caused a crash.

I too experienced the stiffness while steering. I almost spent large dollars but decide to do some research on the internet. I learned that the cause of it was a rusted joint. After some heavy spraying with lubricants, I regained normal operations. But only until next winter. . Ugh! recommend Toyota takes note of this and decide on a solution for those who are not mechanically inclined.

When turning the steering wheel in either direction I have extremely stiff steering. It seems to stick and is not fluid when turning. I am concerned that this can cause an accident while driving. I have checked the steering power fluid level and it is at the correct level.

Felt as if power steering quit. Going around corners the steering wheel did not return to straight position, but required me to manually pull the wheel back. We found it low on ps fluid. That was filled and it appeared that to pretty much solve the problem, though not completely. Two weeks later the problem is back and the ps fluid level is fine. It is very hard to turn into corners and almost impossible park in reasonable tight spots due to difficult turning the wheel.

My Tacoma was approximately four years old with less then 50,000 miles when the steering began to lock up upon making a turn. I researched and found other Tacoma owners having similar problems. The quick solution was to spray lubricating oil or put grease on the intermediate no. 2 steering shaft at the universal joint - which I did repeatedly until now. The steering only degraded over time. The wheel became very slopping from failure of the universal joint that I had to replaced it last week at 95,000 miles. This appears to be a known problem with this shaft in the cold climates where road salt has been used along with the rotting frame issues.

The following is the dealer inspection report for my truck: "found extreme corrosion to frame. Tow hook and driver side sway bar mount unable to re-attach due to frame perforation front cross member missing (rusted off) found hole in left side of frame. Steering rack mounts extremely perforated, ready to detach. Do not recommend driving vehicle due to extreme damage to frame" truck purchased new, single owner, well maintained. . . . Updated 06/10/14.

While turning into a mild corner,steering started binding up,had to really pull on the wheel, as if power steering went away. Steering wheel would not return,had to pull it back to straighten out. I know my wife would not have been able to pull it to get through corner.

While driving steering suddenly got hard. Then it was normal again for a bit. I noticed that after making left turn it was hard to steer right and vice versa when turning right. Checked power steering and was good. Research on forums suggested a exposed knuckle on a part 45203a called shaft, steering intermediate, no. 2. After lubrication to the knuckle area the steering has improved though not 100%. Part should include at a minimum grease fittings for lubrication, preferably a type of protection from exposure to the elements such as a rubber boot. This loss of steering may result in the operator losing control of vehicle.

While driving I noticed the steering wheel would stick when rounding a curve. Then it would be ok . After further investigation and about 200 more miles the steering wheel had a lot of play in it moving from side to side without moving the tires. Further investigation showed the universal joint for the intermediate steering shaft had no bearings left in it. Scary. .

Hi, I have an open file with the toyoto corporation at 1-800-331-4331, my name is susan luckow and I live in fairbanks, alaska. Case # 1408190699. In sept. Of 2012 my truck was at 61,000 miles and I took my vehicle in for maintenance and they checked a recall on the spiral cable and told me that my truck didn't qualify for the recall because of the serial number on the part. I didn't mind I wasn't having any problems. However, at 65,000 miles it is now not working properly and they want to charge me to fix it. I've tried to reason with them and point out that its obvious there is something wrong when a truck with 65,000 mile, garaged year around and never in an accident would be having problems. I honestly thought safety systems had life time warranties. I am extremely concerned that they are working very hard to not feel obligated to fix the part and hope you can help me with this formal complaint against the Toyota corporation and the kendall Toyota dealership located in fairbanks, alaska. I would like to know how many other people are experiencing this problem and how many other spiral cables are having problems that are not within the recall. Please feel free to call me with any needed additional information. My phone number is 1-907-388-0260.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph, the steering wheel suddenly became extremely difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. The technician stated that there were rusted components within the steering wheel. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph and completing a turn, the steering wheel slowly returned to a straight position. The failure recurred whenever the contact was attempting a turn in either direction. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.

Sudden onset of steering intermediate shaft u-joint seizing making steering difficult. Also lost return-to-center of steering. This could pose a serious risk of over-steering into oncoming traffic when making a left hand turn at a tee intersection. The unprotected u-joint is exposed to striking of road debris and salt spray. The u-joint does not have grease fittings or any obvious means of lubrication. Internet research suggests this is a very common defect for Toyota Tacomas with approximately 75k or more miles starting with model years 2005 and newer.

While driving the steering became very difficult to turn to the left or the right direction. This is caused by a faulty design of the steering shaft universal joints. The frame is also rusting very badly and I am concerned about the integrity of the vehicle.

2005 Toyota Tacoma first issue is the steering, on several occasions while turning the steering has "locked up" , the steering gets extremily hard to turn in the middile of driving. After my own research I discoverd the universal joint on the steering shaft will lock up or get extremily hard to turn if not greased. The joint is open to the eliments and has no protective boot over it. There is no mantenance procedure from Toyota for the joint. This is extremily dangerous and could cause a crash. If the operator does not have the upper body strength to force the steering wheel to turn when the joint locks up it may cause an accident. This issue is often misdiagnosed by mechanics cause expensive unnessicary repaires (new steering rack). The second issue is frame rust. The frames are a poor design, have no protective coating and are made of inferior metal. A simple internet search for "tacoma frame rust" will show plenty of horror stories of frames literally rusting away from the bottom of the truck. The oldest 2nd generation Tacomas (2005 production year) are now 9 years old, a frame on a 9 year old vehicle having rust issues is completly unaccaptable. This is a serious safety hazard. Along with the frames rusting away all componants attached to the frame can fail. (leaf springs, shocks, motor mounts etc). Toyota did the right thing with the 1st generation Tacomas that had this issue. They issued recalls and bought back trucks. Consumers were led to believe the frame rust issues were corrected on the second generation Tacomas but they were not. As of now Toyota is handling frame rust issues on a case by case basis. Some people are fighting to get new frames and some people are left with a truck that is rusting away with no help from Toyota. Frames rusting away to the point that a hole the size of a hand can fit is a major safety issue.

I have a 2005 Toyota Tacoma prerunner 4x4 with only 83,000 miles. There is recurring issue with the front wheel bearings going out. Front left has been replaced 3 years ago, then front left stub axle was replaced less than a year later under warrantee by Toyota. The right front wheel bearing also when out 2 years ago and were replaced and now the left side is going out again.

Tl contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. While driving at 10 mph, the contact stated that the steering wheel became very difficult to turn . He had to manually pull the steering wheel back in position when making turns. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but now it was more frequent. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000. The current mileage was approximately 78,000.

I was driving about 40 miles per hour my 2005 Toyota Tacoma on the freeway in light rain. The steering completely went out of control and my truck began fishtailing. I tapped on the brakes lightly but the truck continued accelerating faster. I ended up hitting the concrete barrier and was placed in the ambulance. I now suffer from lower back and possible torn ligaments in the neck. Before the accident there has been a couple of incident where the steering veers of for no reason and sometimes the steering shakes when I drive.