Lost Steering in my FJ60 SCARY!

[panama]

Yesterday after a 40 minute ride on the interstate I pulled into my bank parking lot and I could not steer my truck. We looked to see the steering linkage came loose. I had to duct tape it to get it to the dealer. they didnt have the parts and could not get them for a week. What do I need to buy to make this truck safe. If it had come off on the interstate I could have flipped over.
This is what came disconnected.



I want to make the truck safe but just lost my job so I would like to do this myself. I have lots of tools and have always done my own work (including a tranny swap). Has anyone done this repair? Would you rate this repair as difficult? Can this be done in my driveway or does a tech need to put it on a lift?
Thanks for all your help.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

You need new drag link ends.

That one looks rusted and bad, like it was never greased. It probably wore out the seats.

You could try taking the link apart, shim the inner part with a nickel, then crank down on the outer one fully tight and back off 1/4 turn. That might buy you a week or so to get the new drag link ends. Then keep the new ones lubed up.

If it were me, I would not drive it until new ends were installed.

 

[Landcrusher83]

Holy
Same thing happened to my 60 a few months back, had to park it and order a new tre kit. took forever to get it though, as it was involved in a train wreck en route! I would rate it a 1 bananna job.

 

[D'Animal]

Holy
Same thing happened to my 60 a few months back, had to park it and order a new tre kit. took forever to get it though, as it was involved in a train wreck en route! I would rate it a 1 bananna job.

Welcome to MUD! Landcrusher83.

The TRE was involved in a train wreck?

 

[Landcrusher83]

Thanx!
Yeah, the TRE took about a month to get in, ordered it from Cruiserparts.net. At first my order didnt even go through,so finally a week of emails and i get it shipped , only to get another e-mail stating "ORDER DELAYED DUE TO TRAIN DERAILMENT" Two weeks later I got a box that looked similar to if not exactly like all the horror storys you could imagine about UPS F*%#'ing up your delivery.Fortunatly, its kinda hard to kill a TRE and the kit went on great!

 

[NocalFJ60]

I would change all your tie rod ends and draglink. It is not worth breaking something else and being on the highway when it happens. It is not difficult just can be a pain with rust and the original ones. A big hammer and propane torch will help out. You will need to check the toe alignment if you replace the tie rod ends. I would replace all 4 ends and then get the alignment done but you want to get it close before driving to the alignment shop.

 

[Heartworm]

Your best friends for this job are (a) a can of PB Blaster; start now and (b) a pickle fork and big hammer. You can also use a puller but it would be more money. You will need to have the toe-in done at an alignment shop. There is a DYI method on this board if you wish to economize (try search).

 

[haryv]

consider your self lucky

I had the misfortune of buying a 77 dodge van at a auction. It was perhaps the worst decision I ever made. The steering box mount broke not once but twice. Second time was a bit terrifying. Imagine driving 30 mpg then the steering box support brakes casing WILD occilations in the steering and rocking the van back and forth violently.

Second time Could not get it started. Van was put in park and jumpered it from underneath the hood. Van started up RPM s picked up and it took off in reverse! No one in drivers seat. I jumped into the drivers window and almost got crushed by the fence trying to jam it into park which it was .
To say the least it was my most colorful moment in my life. Resulting damage was my crushed bumper of my car behind it and it bumped into car behind my car. The van died after it pushed my car into body shops employees car.

IF those cars were not there it would have kept on going colliding into a business. Never will forget that day and today do not trust automatics when it started with no drive at the wheel.

Its always best to inspect your steering for wear, cracks and what not. Give it a good tug.

 

[jvazquez53]

Replaced mine in about 30 minutes.

 

[alaska60]

Holy crap!!!!!!!! This happened to me a few years ago. What a scary ride this can be. I had to order one from the dealer and have it flown out to me in remote Alaska. It took about 6 weeks for mine to arrive to me. In the mean time i welded it together with a custom made bracket I fabricated. it held but I was sure glad to have the piece of mind of knowing the right part was in place. You are very lucky you avoided great disaster!

 

[JoeCanadian]

if it had come off on the highway, your ride would have got very exiting very fast. cool,.... better look under your car more. the s*** under there is like 20+ years old. they made it to last, but not as long as we need or want it to. good luck

 

[jb welda]

two things you need:

1) more duct tape

and

2) more cowbell

oh and what andrew said.

one love
jah bill

 

[zuluzeugma]

This happened to me in 5 PM traffic in downtown Birmingham, AL at 70 MPH on I-20 several years ago. I prayed a lot, downshifted into 3rd and the truck went down an offramp on its own. Duct-tapped mine back together and drove the other 500 miles back to NC. Replace all the TRE ends at once and be done with it. This IS NOT something to take lightly.

 

[mminter1973]

With all the responces saying this has happened to them i feel like i need to go check mine. Its only got 310K they are good for twice that right!

 

[Trapper50cal]

Man...

Man am I glad I have Allpro hysteer with custom rods and 80 TRE's

 

[vtcruiser60]

rockauto.com has replacement tie rod ends. They may have that part as well.

Cruiseroutfitters.com sells the entire tie rod end kit for a very reasonable price, aftermarket...but cheaper than the dealer. Cruiserparts.net sells a set up as well.

You can borrow the tools, if necessary, from autoparts stores like advance autoparts or autozone.

Good luck.