Ball joints.
Tie rod ends.
Front suspension arm bushes.
Steering Rack play.
Shockers.

Is it a 150, I know some of the earlier 120 had a steering knock caused by the steering shaft I think it was

Hey Jimmy,

Are you still on factory or after market suspension?

Bottom strut ringeye bushes can cause noise, and you'll feel that through the wheel as well. Could also be other possibilities as Piggy and stephcott pointed out, the most likely culprits are rack ends, lower intermediate shaft unit joint, then steering rack bushes.

You need to get your Prado up on a shaker hoist to diagnose which it is, Pedders in Alice may have one?

Good luck tracking it down!

Best

Mark

My 120 has only done 135,000klms, it has this knock as well, very annoying. I have had all the steering and suspension checked out by so called Toyota experts, two dealerships, apparently too complex for the master techs to find, no surprises there,..... I reckon its the steering head bearing closest to the steering wheel, I could be wrong but that is what it feels like.

Hey,

There are several diagnostic tests you can do yourself;

1. Bottom strut bushes: Drop your front struts out, check the bottom bushes for tears/splitting/crush tube offset. This is one of the most common.

2. Top strut bushes: check the nut is down tight, if it isn't the shaft can rattle.

3. Inner rack ends: Turn full lock in reverse on an incline, if your ball/cup assembly in the inner rack end is worn, it can make an earth shattering loud bang under those conditions. Also speedbumps you'll hear a less intense noise.

4. Lower intermediate shaft uni joint: get underneath the Prado and grab the lower uni in your hand. Get a helper to rock the steering wheel back and forth. If the uni bears are buggered you'll feel the slack in the uni by hand.

5. Steering rack mounting bushes: get a prybar in under the rack and see if you can flex it up. If yes, the rack mount bushes are flogged.

6. Lower control arm ball joints: not common to see these buggered. Jack up the front, leave enough clearance under the tire to get a big bopper pry bar in, I use an old bent Patrol axle. Get down on the ground and lever the tire up and down...check for play in the lower ball joint. Little bit of play is nothing unusual...big play will be easily seen and you'll feel a lot of slop.

All of 1-6 can give you bad feedback through the steering wheel and make you think the IFS is about to fall to pieces!

The best thing you can do is get your Prado up on a shaker hoist at either Fulcrum or Pedders, and you'll quickly find the problem!

Best

Mark

Thanks for your advise Mark,

I replaced my original ARB OME front struts before out last trip (only done 5,000klms since) rear swing arm bushes also replaced 30,000klms ago after having wheel alignment issues (Cooper ST Maxx were the problem)
I have spent hours under the 120 with a prybar, I have had the mrs in the 120 shaking the steering wheel and no noise under the car, I have had it on the hoist at work as well, everything under the 120 seems ok and tight, it steers fine now, its just an annoying bumperteebump over rough and corrugated roads.

I might book the old girl in a Pedders like you suggest, thanks mate.

FWD17

I've had the same rattle in my steering for 18 months and could never work out what it was. It happened after tapping a deep rut at speed.
I went to Pedders in Alice during a trip last year and they weren't helpful at all.
I replaced my drivers side rack end which helped a little but the feeling was always still there.
Finally got the car on a shaker hoist at Pedders Hoppers Crossing a few weeks ago. They gave me a bill for almost $3000 if I wanted to fix everything that was wrong with the car but I took their list and worked out that it was the passenger rack end that was no good.
Replaced it 2 weeks ago and the car has been beautiful to drive ever since.

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I have a few checks ahead. Sounds like a trip to Pedders will be able to help with a quick solution (hopefully)

So I found the issue!
Tie rod end on the driver's side is shot. I may have to start asking questions of the mechanic as to why they didn't find it. Jacked car up from lower control arm and held the wheel at 9 and 3 and shook... clunk, clunk clunk.
Uploaded a video to youtube showing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRqdG9fjI_Y

Ordered 2 new ones (good idea to do both sides). In my checks I found that one of the boots on the front sway bar links is perished, not knocking but one to look at soon.
Cheers for the help!

I'm about to ask my dealer the same questions - how come they didn't pick it up when they did the 80k service earlier this week...

Service is done by the apprenter not by mechanic. Thats why.

The thing is that it took me, a guy who learned how to check them from a youtube video, 30 seconds to find.
If I was even a first year apprentice i'd know how to shake a wheel.

The issue is very simple... The rattle comes from the microscopic tube on the steering wheel which when worn out lock becomes loose>>> Replace the lock and you are good to go>>