Answer this question about Power Steering.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

TJDIV

TJDIV

UP of MI.
10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Threads
157
Messages
2,061
Location
UP of Michigan
Website
www.roamwherever.com
Having never owned a vehicle that's gone from NO P/S to having P/S, I'm wondering how much doing the conversion will eliminate that "wander" I get or "rutting" as it's called. I'm running 33X12.50 Thornbirds, and anytime I get a low line or on the edge of the yellow or white lines, the truck ruts bad. It's potentially incredibly dangerous, and I understand fully why the stock models came with narrow tires.

This being said, how much will converting to Power Steering assist to elminate that problem? I'm getting pretty f*ckin' sick of it.

Thanks.

Tom IV


<<<<<<<< It's going on that truck over there <<<<<<< ;)
 
There are A LOT of things that factor into the " rutting " or wandering that you and many others have expierenced.

Saginaw/Astro/Scout power steering will eliminate three pivot points that could be contributing to this.


What is your caster set at?

What is the condition of everything in the steering system?

There is so much more....


Good luck!


-Steve
 
Another factor I've noticed, but not heard mentioned often, is running swampers on narrow rims. For a while I had 32x11.50 TSL SXs on 15x7s and for some reason the combination was death on rutted roads. They absolutely refused to follow the ruts and tried to climb out at every opportunity, sometimes throwing me into the other lane. There may have been other factors such as worn TREs (definitely) and unknown toe-in (don't really know), but this tire/rim combo exacerbated the problem.

I switched to 33x12.50s on 15x8s and the problem went away. :confused:

Eric
 
If you remove the stock center piviot the Wander that you talk about will probably go away..

Did you do a SO??

Did you cut and turn the knuckles? Like Poser said caster and the stock center piviot are the main issues with wander..

Have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth. You look at the bottom of the center steering piviot. If there is ANY side to side movement in the arm you are toast..
 
well the power steering swap will put less "feel" into the steering wheel and that may seem to have reduced the problem,,, however whatever is causeing the wander will still be there.
how long has this been happening? gotten worse? i would bet you have some play in the steering gear AND the center pivot. it doesnt take much for larger tires to amplify a problem.
your tire pressure could be off, and i dont mean since last week, alot of guys run the wrong pressure thinking its right, check into it.
toyota also put ONLY 1* caster from the factory, might install a couple degree shim to get a little more.
afraid i dont have much to compare when i did my swap cause i also did SR,SOA, and 36" tires.
 
OK. I'm thinking about ditching the Thornbirds too, going with a Thompson (Baja Claw) or a BFG MT. We'll see. I looked at the Parnelli Jones' but the whole "PJ" thing in the tread is just fxxxing gay.

The steering system's gonna have to get a good lookin' at.
 
I'm thinking that just to cure the wander, the power steering will be a waste of time. Wander is more likely the combination of bad TRE's, plus worn center pivot. Other possibilities are caster, old suspension bushings and worn knuckle bearings. It is likely a combination of a little where in one area combined with wear in another. This might be a good chance to fix it all. First, though, get an alignment shop to measure the caster and start there. If normal, do the steering components and rebuild the knuckles too.

Power steering, once everything else is good, is the single best mod you can do to a cruiser. The various saginaw systems are excellent, though I really like the Scout mod which I have only seen on other rigs. It's clean and tucked in. Personally, I have the steering box mounted on the frame horn and it works great. i can turn in rocks pushing 35's with ease.
 
I guess I should kind of narrow down the problem. It's not a "wander" just driving down the highway. It drives straight and doesn't have a lot of play in the wheel doing so. The problem is when one of my tires comes up to the white or yellow lines, or a lower area in the pavement from vehicle travel, that I get pulled into whatever I run up against. I call this rutting, or tracking....as I dip into a rut or track onto a line that I touch with the tires. I was thinking P/S would make it much easier to avoid this, and Tie Rods, or a Caster adjustment would help, but not eliminate it?

Thoughts?
 
knuckles weepy at all??

CD, how can you say that Ps does nothing but then say that the Center piviot is one of the major issues?? Typically the center piviot is the item that is replaced (mini truck aside). And also, TRE's are typically replaced when doing a PS conversion.

Turds are probably not helping. But a good look at all steering issues will help.
Caster is probably the first place to start.

The more aster you have the more likely it is to want to track in a straight line.
Shackle lift or stock???

This your 45??
 
I think there is a night and day difference between P/S and stock. I would have to agree that the majority of the improvement comes from junking worn out components and eliminating half the moving parts in the stock steering system. Lack of caster plus any amount of play in shackle bushings can't help either. Shackle reversal and a Saginaw PS really made a HUGE difference on my 40.
 
Mace...

Yeah, it's my 45LV.

Not too much leaking on the knuckles at all. I checked that.

I know that it doesn't take much play to grab a tire and "veer" your direction, so the small things come into play a lot. I guess I'll just have to break it off, somethin' proper and see what comes of it. (< ghetto speak for "get it done")....

I'm just hoping the P/S conversion is worth it. I know it will be.

We'll see. Thanks.
 
Ditch the gay t birds, and get a good radial, BFG MT, GY MTR or a number of others if it's not a dedicated trail rig go with something less aggressive like this.
Butch
wild_country_radial_txr.webp
 
I found that agressive treads were the problem with my 40. It had a mind of its own going down the freeway. I switched to rain tread, same size, on the front and left the all terrains on the rear. It complete stopped the wondering.
 
Mace said:
CD, how can you say that Ps does nothing but then say that the Center piviot is one of the major issues?? Typically the center piviot is the item that is replaced (mini truck aside). And also, TRE's are typically replaced when doing a PS conversion.

??
Click to expand...

True enough, I didn't state it well. I should have said that replacing the worn components with either new stock components, or new components associated with power steering will help. But power steer alone without replacing the worn stuff will not help, I stand by that.

I had a very strange behavior on the front of my 60 when the drag link end got really loose. I would hit a bump or road rut on the freeway and the truck would dive to one side or the other. Really scary, but cured with a new TRE kit, replacing the worn components.
 
Tom,
Since it's both cheap and fast I'd suggest going ahead and putting in a 1.5* or 2* shim to pull the caster back. Even in light of worn parts and large tires it will at least put some safety factor back into driving.
 
A long time ago I had severe wander in rutted roads. I replaced all TRE and adjusted the center arm as well as the steering box. That eliminated 98% of the pulling in ruts. Sure PS is going to help with big tires and deeply rutted roads but I think you probably need to fix what you have first. If you just slap a PS box onto a steering system with play it's going to help control it but it's not going to fix the issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

IH8MUD Forum | Toyota, Lexus & Off-Road Community
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2026 XenForo Ltd.

© 2000-2026 Tie Rod Media LLC

Back
Top Bottom