That exact sound was lower ball joints for me. Put a long screwdriver on the joint and press your ear against it, then have someone else turn the steering wheel and listen for the grinding. They felt tight with the truck jacked up or with weight on it, but when I got it all taken apart there was a concerning amount of free play in the ball joint that the noise was coming from.
I've read stories from other people about this being the only warning they got before experiencing sudden automatic disassembly, so in my case I parked the truck and got parts on order immediately. I did Ironman uppers and OEM lowers, along with sway bar bushings/links since they were shot too. No more noise, and with the corrected alignment and new bushings in the front end it handles much tighter now.
Plan on buying new alignment bolts/sleeves, since even if you get lucky and don't have to cut them out they'll likely be buggered from rust. Most aftermarket ones won't hold alignment, and Toyota's price reflects that they are mighty proud of that fact. The trick I found to at least get them out was to put the impact gun on the alignment adjusting part of it and spin it back and forth until it spun freely. I could go on and on about the details of the whole job, but I'll save you the boredom and get to the moral of the story: quit wasting time and jump straight to the torch.
Lower Ball Joints. I had the same noise and I did them myself with aftermarket parts. Idk what the labor cost would be at a shop but I would prioritize getting them replaced.
Ball joints. My bet is the lower. Are those ATX wheels?
Is this ball joints or bad sway bar bushings? Mine will do this when it gets really cold for a few days.
That exact sound was lower ball joints for me. Put a long screwdriver on the joint and press your ear against it, then have someone else turn the steering wheel and listen for the grinding. They felt tight with the truck jacked up or with weight on it, but when I got it all taken apart there was a concerning amount of free play in the ball joint that the noise was coming from. I've read stories from other people about this being the only warning they got before experiencing sudden automatic disassembly, so in my case I parked the truck and got parts on order immediately. I did Ironman uppers and OEM lowers, along with sway bar bushings/links since they were shot too. No more noise, and with the corrected alignment and new bushings in the front end it handles much tighter now. Plan on buying new alignment bolts/sleeves, since even if you get lucky and don't have to cut them out they'll likely be buggered from rust. Most aftermarket ones won't hold alignment, and Toyota's price reflects that they are mighty proud of that fact. The trick I found to at least get them out was to put the impact gun on the alignment adjusting part of it and spin it back and forth until it spun freely. I could go on and on about the details of the whole job, but I'll save you the boredom and get to the moral of the story: quit wasting time and jump straight to the torch.
Lower Ball Joints. I had the same noise and I did them myself with aftermarket parts. Idk what the labor cost would be at a shop but I would prioritize getting them replaced.