What could be bad? Wheel influenced by minor rocks and bumps while offroad

[rschap1]

As mentioned above...
steering rod connections can wear out.
I had an Expedition that had slop that made for 1/8"-1/4" backlash in the wheel.
It was the u-joint all worn out.
Made a little clunk clunk each time you changed steering direction.
Not sure if what you have happening, but something to check.

 

[Nex]

Maybe I am not understanding your issue, but it all sounds normal to me. A fist sized rock will impact your steering. That's a good size rock (unless you have small hands like @The Car Stereo Company).

30 psi is street pressure. Try lowering down to under 20 while off-roading. 15 is a good starting point on non beadlock wheels.

 

[Jhollowell]

Also, check the tapered shims on the shocks. I've seen shops not install those correctly. there should be one on top of the shock bucket directly under the 3 nuts that hold the shock to the bucket. the other one is on top of the shock hat which is not visible with the shock installed. You'll have to loosen the 3 nuts and let the shock slide down to visually see it on top of the hat. If those aren't installed correctly, your shock angle could be off causing your issues. I'll try to find some pics of how it should look.

 

[pat247]

Does your truck have trucknuts by chance as this is a known issue?

 

[Canuck714]

As NEX said 30 psi is still pretty high. I run 35 on the street on a 37 inch tire for example.
High speed off-road I run 20-22 depending on terrain.

Also, I dont recall mention of what tire you are running. When I had Toyo M/T's they were stiffasshit and would deflect off anything larger than a roll of quarters..
The stiff sidewall and E rating was not compliant at slow off road speed unless you ran 15 psi.. It makes a huge difference.