Jumping/skipping on tight turns

[Francis K]

Just had a boat load of maintenance stuff done to the rig and it's running great other than this issue and an a/c issue I'll save for another thread.

It's jumping/skipping on turns at low speeds, say for instance turning into a parking spot. Would I be right in assuming it's most likely the birfs?

 

[lockd80]

Do you have lockers? If one is stuck engaged it will make the truck jump during turns on pavement.

 

[Whileemptyheadsdream]

I agree with above, sounds like a binding birf. Of course If your rigs locked that Is. Does It happen after you hit a bump ?

 

[Francis K]

No lockers and I'm not sure if it happens on bumps I haven't really looked for it. How would I go about diagnosing it further or fixing it??

Thanks for the help, I'm obsessed with having my truck run perfectly...

 

[Whileemptyheadsdream]

Did you do a full knuckle rebuild ? There could be many things that could be the culprit here. I will post one because Its dangerous If not preformed correctly, from a past post. Trunion's

The housing that your axle goes through attached to your steering Tie rod ends. Its what turns your wheel, there is abearing on top and bottom that Must have proper preload or you will have Death wobble. Here Is a quote from Dave 2000
Insufficient preload on the upper and lower trunnions are IME the biggest single cause of the 'Death wobble'. Check it carefully with a spring gauge. The death wobble needs something to 'set it off', the wheel bearings would have to be very loose to start it off, so loose that you would have virtually no brake pedal after driving about 10 feet. An out ofround tyre rarely is the cause as this gets noticed in other ways (noise/vibration). Even the steering damper has been blamed but again IME the damper will not stop the real thing, it may help but the damper is applied to the steering and not the suspension. A death wobble caused by worn or loose top and bottom swivels is not going to be helped by changing the damper, the affect s simply to strong to damp down.

As an sides and not aimed at anyone in particular, I have noticed that the 'Death wobble' gets announced for a simple vibration caused by an out of balance tyre or wheel, the genuine death wobble is not something that happens every time you hit 60 MPH, or a small shudder under braking. The real thing normally happens when on a curve and set off by a simple bump, the loading on the suspension being shuffled from side to side, or braking quite heavy i.e. when the suspension components are loaded up, this will throw the vehicle about quite violently and to the uninitiated can be quite scary, for future posters spend some time to make sure you have the real thing.

regards

Dav

Last

 

[Francis K]

I think that's it for me guys, I'm tapping out. Over the past couple years I've spent more money on my truck than it's worth and it wasn't on fancy toys like all of you guys get to play with it was on paying people to do preventative maintenance on it and replace wear and tear parts, stuff that you guys would be able to do with a hand tied behind your backs. I don't regret it one bit this truck is my baby I've owned it since I was 16 and I'm the first owner, that is unless you count Lexus Financial as the first owner because I bought it when it was coming off a lease with 25k on the odo in 2000. The only regret I have is that I never learned to work on it myself and I've been trying to do that but now at 31 it's just simply too late I don't have the time. I even rescued another LX with that very idea in mind, I planned on restoring it while also learning about my truck but it's been sitting in my warehouse since September and all I've gotten around to doing is a battery and a few interior replacement parts. I'm obsessed with having my truck run/drive perfectly and my mechanic looks at my like I have 3 heads when I show up and tell him what I want done with a stack of Ih8mud printouts in my hand and no matter how good of a mechanic he is if he doesn't know our trucks it's not worth a damn.

I'm going to post it for sale in the classifieds, both of them actually, hopefully a mud member will give it a good home and maybe one day I'll be able to beg him to sell it back to me. My hands are shaking typing this and I know that is a little over dramatic but I've gone back and forth on this before and after this thread I'm convinced it's the right thing to do. I'm not going to go send it to the mechanic for another 3 months just so he can do things you guys can do in your garages with half a tool set, she deserves better than that.

 

[Tools R Us]

Sounds like a VC locked up and/or CDL problem.

 

[inkpot]

Sounds like a VC locked up and/or CDL problem.

Damn good bet!

 

[bigfj62]

Viscous coupler

 

[landtoy80]

Did you grease the rear driveshaft yoke?
Did you put many pumps of grease in it?
Is it flinging grease from the yoke onto the muffler?
Does it do it when the vehicle is cold or just hot? That is, if you let it set overnight then start driving in tight circles right away, will it do it?

Drive again in tight circles on dry pavement. Then put it in low range and do again. Does it make the same jumping?

Remove rear driveshaft and drive in tight circles. If it still does it then its not the viscous coupler or the t-case, its very worn birfields.

 

[SmokingRocks]

 

[ReformedJeeper]

I had the same thing happen to me. It was a seized viscous coupler. I was able to determine this by removing the front driveshaft and going for a drive. I did not have to lock the CDL and it drove just fine. If you had a good VC you would get at least some slip before the car started to move.

I turned 34 last week and had no interest in working on vehicles until 3 years ago when I bought a jeep XJ (I learned, I have an 80 and a 1st gen 4runner now). There are a lot of helpful people in the world and on this forum. I have 3 daughters under the age of 6, if I can do it so can you, you are definitely not too old. Look at it this way, if you don't work on your truck you are going to sell it, what have you got to lose?

Getting the cruiser has been the best thing I've ever done. My girls have got to see actual stars, play in lakes, grab lizards, see a rattlesnake, etc. You've had that truck forever and have taken care of it. Don't give up because of something simple. If you live in socal, PM me and bring it by. I'm sure we can figure out what's wrong.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Don't be a quitter. Step back. Take a deep breath. This s*** ain't rocket science. I'm 40 and don't know a 1/4 of the s*** guys like @Tools R Us and @inkpot know. But what I do know is to listen to guys like them. Ask questions, then listen. Follow the advice of them and accept help from guys like @ReformedJeeper.

You live in SoCal. There are literally hundreds of Mud members within 2 hrs of you. And a lot of them will help you. Just ask. Some great dudes. I met a couple a few days ago.

 

[landtoy80]

An aging 80 is not something you want IF you have to PAY someone else to work in it UNLESS your are rich and know a good FZJ80 mechanic. That's just my observation from reading this forum. If you want an 80 and want to keep it, you better be repaired to get your hands dirty and learn how to turn a wrench. If you can read, have a garage and have time, the 80 is not that hard to work on. The Toyota Factory Repair Manual is easy to understand. And what you don't understand, IH8Mud will help you out.

I spent many a nights laying under my 80 in 20 below zero weather (uninsulated garage) trying to figure out what was wrong, only to be rewarded with a frozen can of Keystone Light Beer (left the case in the garage and 99% of the beer froze). That was before Ih8mud. Now you just click "create thread" to get your problem solved.

 

[BILT4ME]

Drive it to my house, I'll buy you a ticket home. I'll transfer the title into my name and you'll be fine. You will never have to worry about it again.

 

[Francis K]

Okay so I put it in 4x4 low last night, drove around for a little and then back into high and it stopped. Pretty sure I still need new birfields but it's not slipping anymore, could that have simply un-seized it?

 

[Box Rocket]

Okay so I put it in 4x4 low last night, drove around for a little and then back into high and it stopped. Pretty sure I still need new birfields but it's not slipping anymore, could that have simply un-seized it?

Definitely could have. If the VC was sticking or you had a bad CDL solenoid that would not disengage the CDL it would cause the skipping you described. My old 80 has this problem and would occasionally take some persuasion to get it to unlock. Putting it into low range will for the CDL to lock, and then coming back into high range would unlock it (assuming it's working as it should) and maybe that's all it needed to get it unstuck.

 

[slow95z]

@Francis K , if you ever get a problem just PM me an i will do my best to help you out and link you to a thread that has detailed steps on any issue you have. dont sell it, you will hate yourself down the road.

they are such great trucks that i DD one, my wife DDs one and my step son is about to DD one. i own 6 of the damn things now and would buy another if i didnt already have everyone a spare one sitting on go . you just need to understand that pretty much everything you can think of has already been answered on mud. i might seem like a cruiser guru to my friends but the truth is i just use the search feature on here.

with you being in socal you should have no trouble finding help. so bad here in my redneck town that the local dealer ask me questions on 80s...

 

[Francis K]

Hey thanks fellas it means a lot, I'm still going back forth on it but I'm thinking I'm going to give it another run at keeping her. I just can't bring myself to sell her and you guys definitely back up that sentiment.

@slow95z thank you brother that means a lot it really does and I'm sure I'll take you up on that offer. I wish I was in socal then maybe I could find an experienced mechanic but unfortunately I'm Michigan not even close.

 

[slow95z]

well i promise you there are more cruisers there than middle GA. you dont know how many times i get told i need to get a "real truck" that has a "real axle" and not some lame IFS toyota to go riding in.... and that is even from solid axle toyota guys.