Loose Steering Question

[cxh10]

Ok, this might be a dumb question but I'll ask anyway. When I drive in a straight line my wheel normally looks like I'm turning left. I thought the wheel was off center but it actually seems that there's really just about a quarter turn of slack in the wheel. If I put the wheel "straight" while driving it will slowly start tracking to the right like it should with proper alignment. I'm running a stock setup. I replaced all the rods and rod ends last summer as well as the drag link and rod with Toyota parts. I'm sure the problem probably started then but I didn't notice till I got it on a 2 lane high way. Come to thing of it, I think there was a gap between when I did the tie rods and when I did the drag link and I want to say the problem started after I replaced the drag link...I'll check this out closer in the morning. But I'm not so sure that's the problem, I mean wouldn't turning the drag link just turn the wheel left or right? It wouldn't really get rid of slack. I put it on tight but I wouldn't say I put a lot of force into it...I'm also about to rebuild the center arm assembly...

 

[llih]

Sounds to me as if it is either the center arm or the box. The slop you are feeling is a large reason people convert to sag steering. The toy steering has to many extra parts that wear and gets loose. I am sure there are other with more experience that will chime in.

 

[John McVicker]

You may need to rebuild your center arm which is fairly easy & cost about $100 in parts. A new rag joint will also help, cheap but can't remember the exact $$. Then check your 'toe in, toe out'. Simple & can be done in your driveway.

1st however, I would try this, as it is simple, cost nothing and may alone solve your problem....it will at least be 'part' of the solution: The drag link/relay rod is what you adjust to center the steering wheel. Give it a couple of turns, determine if it moves the steering wheel in the desired direction, if not, turn the other way.

HTH John

 

[Doug_S]

I just bought the parts for the center arm rebuild. They were around $200 for the "kit" that Toyota sells. Mine was doing just what your's does -- a lot of slop in the steering.

 

[F-junker]

Yes it is fairly easy to replace the steering arm assembly but a pita trying to get it back together on the truck. do yourself a big favor and buy a new fuji brand joint from MAF for 99 bucks. I rebuilt mine only to find there was wear in the casting. Go figure... oh well.
The new joint gave new NEW STEERING!! Also be sure to check your steering box and the joint that attaches to the steering arm.

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

Check the rag joint ( If your year has one) and tighten the nut on the steering box slightly to take up the slack from the cone wearing. There should be threads on this. There is a common head screw with a jam nut on top of the steering box near the firewall. Loosen the jam nut and tighten the screw inwards. Not too tight. You will notice a big difference, Don't forget to retighten the jam nut. I did this on mine and made a big difference.

 

[cxh10]

I took a look, the rag joint looks to be in decent shape, but since it's cheap I'll go ahead and replace it after rebuilding the center arm if it's necessary. CC has one for $18. I already have the parts for the center arm rebuild so that should be simple enough and then I'll try adjusting the steering box in small increments as I've heard this can increase wear to the box if tightened too much. Thanks for the input. I'm sure all these things should help. If not well I'm sure it will get by for awhile while I decide on the best power steering option for me. I really don't want to invest anymore money in manual steering if my box is going to need a rebuild. I know everyone says saginaw but I like to keep mine as original as possible and don't do much if any off-roading right now. Any problems with OEM ps besides being hard to find the parts?

 

[John McVicker]

I took a look, the rag joint looks to be in decent shape, but since it's cheap I'll go ahead and replace it after rebuilding the center arm if it's necessary. CC has one for $18. I already have the parts for the center arm rebuild so that should be simple enough and then I'll try adjusting the steering box in small increments as I've heard this can increase wear to the box if tightened too much. Thanks for the input. I'm sure all these things should help. If not well I'm sure it will get by for awhile while I decide on the best power steering option for me. I really don't want to invest anymore money in manual steering if my box is going to need a rebuild. I know everyone says saginaw but I like to keep mine as original as possible and don't do much if any off-roading right now. Any problems with OEM ps besides being hard to find the parts?

Can't help with info on OEM PS, and if you want PS I totally understand. I however, kept mine manual. In addition to what you are planning I also rebuilt my steering box. Fairly cheap & straght forward. Made a huge difference. Huge.

I've used my 40 as a DD on & off since I bought it new, so tight steering is important to me. A rebuild of the center arm & steering box, new TRE's and rag joint will really make your 40 track like it was new. Also do a search on the '2 cent drag link fix'. When they get tis old, you really need to address every steering component.

Good luck, John

 

[cxh10]

Yeah to be perfectly honest I don't really mind the manual steering. Just replacing the tie rods made it steer so much better I felt like I'd switched to power steering! Where did you get the kit to rebuild the gear box? All the sites I'm looking at I can only find rebuilt gear boxes, not the kit. I'm probably just looking in the wrong spots...

 

[John McVicker]

Yeah to be perfectly honest I don't really mind the manual steering. Just replacing the tie rods made it steer so much better I felt like I'd switched to power steering! Where did you get the kit to rebuild the gear box? All the sites I'm looking at I can only find rebuilt gear boxes, not the kit. I'm probably just looking in the wrong spots...

It's been 4 years since I bought the kit and it was OEM. But I don't recall just where I bought the kit. At the time I wasn't aware of Cdan, that is where I would suggest. Or even someone else in the MUD advertising section found at the top right of this page.

And while I call it a 'kit'. I may have bought the parts separately. It includes bushings, bearings, oil seals & shims. I think that is all that you need. Highly recommended.

HTH John

 

[cxh10]

When rebuilding the gear box is it normally just necessary to replace the shims, bushings, etc? I was looking at rebuilding mine soon and I noticed the major parts inside the manual gear box cost like $300+ if it's necessary to replace a piece. Frankly that's a little more than I want to invest in my old gear box...

 

[Coolerman]

You will not need to replace any bearings in the box unless it was ran without oil for years.

Gaskets, sector shaft oil seal , and the sector shaft bushing are all most need. Many can be restored to like new with just the seal and gaskets and shimming/adjusting the box properly.
Just make sure to check the sector shaft bushing! This can easily be removed and replaced but the bushing has to be "reamed" to fit when installing and may require the services of a machine shop.

I must have said this 10 times in other threads but it bears mentioning again.

The "adjustment" on the steering box mentioned above DOES NOT remove slop from the box! That screw adjusts the sector shaft end play, nothing more. By tightening it you get the impression that slop is gone, but all you have really done is add friction resistance to the box. Pin_head has also stated that if you go too tight on this adjustment the box can actually crack after hitting a large pot hole/rock. To remove the slop you have to remove shims from the box. The only way to do this is to remove the box and take it apart. It's really easy to do. My web site covers this in detail (Steering Column Rebuild) as does the FSM.

 

[cxh10]

Thanks Coolerman. I've actually been all through your site and I love your info on electrolysis. Haven't had a chance to try it myself yet though. Great write up on rebuilding the box. I have the later year box but I also have seen a write up on rebuilding the later year box on another Mudder's site. I was just wondering how often it is that the major parts are busted but you answered that. Unfortunately mine might fall into that "run for years without oil" description if I'm not lucky though. PO was not the greatest.