Newbie FJ40 Owner...Steering Issues (wandering on old or worn roads) (1 Viewer)

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follyfj40

Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Threads
4
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24
Location
Charleston, SC
Hello All,

I am a newbie 74 FJ40 owner and have read most of the threads on steering wandering/darting issues. Like most, I have the same issues with the rig changing lanes on it's own and trouble keeping it straight (especially on our older 2 lane roads where there are ruts and worn areas). While it is not my DD, I do use to to and from our beach and get it on the road 4 days out of the week. No imediate plans on off roading and want to focus on keeping it straight on the roads.

I had my local shop change out the tie rod and ends (thier advice on how to clean up this problem) but the problem still was there (even on the ride back from the shop) once I hit the worn roads.

I also manually tightened the steering box to remove play in the wheel, (now it almost a workout to try to turn the rig) but the problem with wandering on the two lane road still persitst (I do not have any problems on the main roads in better shape).

Have checked the center arm play (with the wife turing the steering wheel right/left while I made sure the center arm stayed on the vertical axis) but everything looked fine (no noticable left or right shifting during wheel turn -- or maybe I am overlooking)

The stabalizer is defintily old (from appearace) and this brings to to my question, would a replacement help with these steering issues with the old roads and tire ruts. Any ideas if I should attempt a replacement on my own or pay my local shop (again, "Newbie" is pretty close to "Clueless" in my case).

Any ideas I am overlooking to help control the rig and keep it in the proper lane?

Thanks for any advice you all have.
 
I had the same problem; fixed the same things you did, and that helped some.

Replacing the steering stabilizer would be a good idea; they are not that expensive. In my case, the tendency to self-steer on bumpy roads is MUCH reduced, now it only occasionally happens with large rocks in the road.
 
Replacing the steering stabilizer wll do little, if anything, to reduce your steering wander issues. Is your rigged lifted with longer shackles in front? This can affect steering in 2 ways: (1) changes (reduces) the caster angle of the front wheels which will increase wander, and (2) longer shackles generally result in larger deflection of the shackle bushings due to increased leverage, and therefore promotes wander and following ruts. Best thing I ever did to improve steering on my '68 FJ40 was to replace the worn shackle bushings with new urethane bushings. Helped much more than new TRE's, etc.

Cheers, Blake
 
My bone stock rig has the exact same problems. I will be watching this thread with anticipation. The only thing I changed was the shocks. It still has the worn out shackle bushings which I will be changing this summer.
 
The caster angle plays a huge part on a wandering truck. With stock shackles, all new tie rod ends, and a rebuilt center arm, mine still wandered. I put on longer shackles, without caster shims and it was back to about the same before changing all the front end parts. Switched to saginaw steering, still no shims, way better, but still a bit darty. Got the right shims, now it's perfect. So, check the shackles, if they are longer, first try shims. If it's still wandering, go saginaw and don't look back. Power steering is by far one of the best modifications you can make.
 
follyfj40 said:
Hello All,

I have the same issues with the rig changing lanes on it's own and trouble keeping it straight
Thanks for any advice you all have.
Click to expand...

Do you get wondering on corners as well as straight away's? If your rig only wonders on straight aways, sounds like you have a worn steering box. All the tightening in the world won't help.

My 82 FJ40 does great on corners, just wonders on straight stretches (especially changing lanes). I've already rebuilt the front end (worn knuckle & wheel bearings) and in the next few weeks, I'll be replacing all the TRE's, rebuilding the center arm and changing to Toyota P/S.
 
The SOR catalog describes how to fix this wandering problem. I'll try and find my catalog and post what it says to do.
 
On my 1968 I repaired the problem by removing some of the shims inside the steering box, I'm not sure if the 73 and later steering boxes have the shims inside. On the 68 making the adjustment on the outside just made the steering wheel harder to turn, removing some of shims corrected the problem. If it can be done on the later steering boxes the FSM should show you how it's done.

John
 
I had the same problem. After changing almost everything in the front end it came down to some castor shims, which solved the problem. I would start there, there cheap.
 
definitely second the shackle bushings; replacing those made a HUGE difference, particularly in ride quality.

I also second the steering box adjustment; we took a shim out and that reduced the play in the steering wheel substantially.

steering wander is also dependent on tire size...........going to a narrower tire helped in my case
 
crushr said:
Replacing the steering stabilizer wll do little, if anything, to reduce your steering wander issues.
Click to expand...

I am referring specifically to self-steering and sterring wheel backclash
 
Your caster is near zero or in the positive (bad) range. Get some caster shims and I bet your problem will be solved. Your description of your problem screams caster or your lack of it.

Once you add shims and get some caster you will wonder how you ever drove the truck before, I know I did.
 
my .02 cents just on the steering stabalizer debate, I had GREAT results with my rig wandering very similar to what you described (search eleswhere in these Tech forums where I talked about swapping shocks and my SS and my wandering steering issues) for changing out my old, beat down SS to a new nice Rancho 5000 SS. made a huge difference for me.

not that there may not be other issues, but a new SS versus an old beat one was very noticable to me.
 
Thanks for all the feedback...I really appreciate it.

To answer some of the questions:

I am running on 32 tires (11.5 width). Rig has been lifted, but am usure how much (is there a quick refernece to measure) See profile image of my FJ below for lift.

After a quick crawl under the FJ this evening, I found there are NO shims, only the regular spring leaves. Took a pic, and please let me know if I am overlooking.

Shackles measure about 5 1/2 inches from center of bolt to center of bolt or 4 inches in width.

Looks like adding these shims in might be a good (and cheap) start to imporving the steering versus replacing the Steering stabilizer?

Thanks again for all the advice.

John

Shims...or No shims in this pic?
thFrontDriver.jpg


74 Fj40
thprofile2.jpg
 
Caster shims, shackles, etc.

So if you put longer shackles you are tilting the front end forward on the top and this is positive (bad) caster, right?

Caster shims are presumably triangular, and go between the springs and perches to tilt the top of the front end towards the rear?

Any comments on how a shackle reversal would affect the wandering issue?
 
Sor

This problem is described in the SOR catalog, as I mentioned earlier. You need a center arm repair kit.

Good Luck-
 
What he NEEDS first off is caster correction shims, once this is done the steering/wander issue will settle down....tremedously. Center arm repair kit will do nothing !
 
toddslater said:
Center arm repair kit will do nothing !
Click to expand...

sorry, not true
 
follyfj40 said:
(big snip)
Have checked the center arm play (with the wife turing the steering wheel right/left while I made sure the center arm stayed on the vertical axis) but everything looked fine (no noticable left or right shifting during wheel turn -- or maybe I am overlooking)
Click to expand...

I am sorry but all of you people who are telling this guy to rebuild his center arm are doing him a disservice. What part of his above quote did you not read? He later told us that his shackles are 5in" hole to hole, way longer than stock, which with his lift is DEFINITELY a caster issue.
 
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