She just stopped steering... Need some advice (pics of the carnage) (1 Viewer)

[cruiserhunter]

So I was driving home after a good friend helped get my sliders welded on trying to get home to dinner when:
I lost all resistance in my steering and i started to slowly veer to the left.
Thankfully i was hunting for parking and was going pretty slow

When I got under her i noticed that my pitman arm was no longer connected to the relay rod.

Thankfully had a couple of hangers and rigged up something to limp to a parking spot. (see below)

1. So where do I get the pitman arm and the part that attaches the pitman arm to the relay rod?

2.As you can see alot of my rubber is getting worn. What else should I replace while i'm at it.

Earn some good cruiser karma

Thanks for your help

Patrick

 

[dohcdelsol93]

holy rusty metal batman!

Looks like you might need to go through that entire front end.

There was a vendor in here that had killer deals on the tie rod ends, maybe someone can chime in and put in a link as i cannot remember.

 

[brian]

yeah, so what you need is a tie rod end(TRE). the new ones will have the ball joints in them.
there are a handfull of them under there, you [strike]want[/strike], need to replace them all. and judging by the look of things there, it will a job and a half. those things need to unthread from the rods.....you lost one already, the others are likely not far behind.....you will feel how bad they were once the job is complete and the steering is way tighter.

 

[DavidAW]

Looks like it's all been deep fried.
I got the TRE/Drag link kit from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters for about 100$. 555 brand Japanese
Start soaking in PB Blaster now.
Get a TRE puller or Pickle Fork from Harbor Freight or similar.
I had to use heat to get the TREs off.
Heat, Bang, repeat.
Also heat helped un-seize the threads into the tie rod.

Good Luck

 

[seanzy1105]

Easy work if you know what you're doing, you're going to have a hard time twisting out the rod ends with that much rust.

 

[Kynot62]

What actually broke is not a tie rod end but the relay rod end. Tie rods connect the two wheels together. The relay rod is what is connected to the pitman arm. There is a major difference in the two. Especially to a parts guy who doesn't know Land cruisers.

Get a factory service manual at the same time you get new ends for the relay rod and go ahead and replace the tie rod ends while you are at it. You need some serious maintenance on that front end. I would be more concerned about it than the rock sliders you just put on.

Tony

 

[60wag]

The relay rod ends come with a NEW rod from Toyota. In your case, it will be a blessing.

 

[Bomar]

With it in the shape that it is in. I would spend the money and get them from CDan and you will get new rods with it and just toss out what you have. You will spend hours trying to get the rod ends off and you still have some rusty ass metal rods.

The Illi has been ill on that front end.

 

[cruiserhunter]

Did the front end rebuild last year..
now to work on the steering.

God damn all the illinois salt crap they lay down.. 6yrs up here has reeked havoc on my once rust free 60. Did help that i had to street park her.

thanks for all ya'll help

Patrick

 

[lehiguy]

Call Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. Get everything, those parts are not going to separate from each other, not in this life anyway.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Looks like it's all been deep fried.
I got the TRE/Drag link kit from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters for about 100$. 555 brand Japanese
Start soaking in PB Blaster now.
Get a TRE puller or Pickle Fork from Harbor Freight or similar.
I had to use heat to get the TREs off.
Heat, Bang, repeat.
Also heat helped un-seize the threads into the tie rod.

Good Luck

X2 on getting the kit from Kurt.

I did mine last winter. It wasn't bad on my rig, it's been in the desert all it's life. Still I started soaking the linkage threads with penetrating oil a few days before I started working on the truck. Going over the exposed threads with a wire brush will also help.

A trick to use with a puller is to get plenty of tension on the joint, be it TRE, Ball Joint or pitman arm, then give the screw a whack with a BFH or impact hammer. Repeat as required.

 

[chitown40]

Patrick,

Lemme look in the garage, but I may have an entire relay rod and tie rod assembly. I think the tie rod has a very slight bend in it, but the truck it was on steered straight before it was removed. You can have it all and I'll even help you put it on and align it if you want to make a trip to the burbs sometime. I'll let you know what I find.


Rob

 

[cruiserhunter]

Damn it Rob,
How the hell am I ever gonna pay you back for all the times your helped me out??
When you gonna have some kids?
If ya got one I'd really appreciate it. I'll cover food and beer if ya got some time.
And hell i've driven out the Scott's house. I really doubt your much farther away than he is.

Gotta love this board and the people on it.

Thanks brother

Patrick

 

[PhilC64]

Drag your junk over to my garage so Rob and I can fix it. The fridge is full of frosty beverages!

 

[chitown40]

Ok, I got 'em. We can make it easier for ya (and probably safer) and meet down at Phil's sometime soon. I have a tie rod and relay rod, and while it's still serviceable, you should probably order a set up tie rod ends and we can replace them while we're at it. The relay rod end looks ok.

Let me know when things work for you and Phil and I'll try to coordinate with that.

 

[cruiserhunter]

SWEET!!! Thanks Rob. I'll PM both of y'all my messed up schedule and see what works for ya'll

What all should I buy and what do you have?

should I just get this? Tie rod end kit from cruiseroutfitters

Cruiser Outfitters

Anything else i should get while I'm at it?

Patrick

 

[tclark]

Forget PB Blaster, get some Kano Kroil. Best stuff I've ever seen

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

Anything else i should get while I'm at it?

A new front axle with all steering components.

 

[cruiserhunter]

aw... it's all just surface rust. Nothing a little rattel can paint can't remedey. You think one can or two?? Probably need one more coat hanger to make that thing bullet proof.


cheers,
Patrick