Rusty winch AND alignment problems

[LowFour]

Hi, don't know if this is the right forum, but it's home for me with my BJ74.

I bought a new Magnum 9k winch a couple of months ago, and mounted it about a month and a half ago. I've taken the cable off it, because I've ordered some Amsteel Blue. OKOffroad is having trouble sourcing the offset fairlead, so it's been sitting with no wire or rope on it since I got it. There hasn't been any rain here since then, and won't be until Christmas, although the humidity is starting to creep up. But I noticed the other day there's a bit of superficial rust appearing on the drum.

Should I (a) go down to ARB and rant and rave, (b) wire-brush it, rust-proof it and repaint it or (c) forget about it.

Also, I've had ongoing problems with the truck pulling to the left. It now requires a fair bit of effort to keep it on the straight and narrow. I got some nice new Coopers put on it almost two years ago, and that was the start of the serious alignment problems. I asked the guy who fitted them to re-align it and he muttered something about how LCs are impossible to align. He had a go, but not much difference. I took it to another place later, the guy there said the first guy should be publicly flogged but it wasn't much better after he worked on it either.

I can generally work on anything on a car but I've always been wary of wheel alignment, as I had front wheel drive cars before the LC, and I realise there are issues with aligning driven wheels. But is there anything I can do about this goddam thing before I find myself in a spoon drain while rolling a smoke?

thanks, Peter

 

[roscoFJ73]

If your winch drum has rust ,it needs more use Just pour some oil on it.

On the alignment issue ,there seems to be some element of truth about being difficult to align.
The shop I go to says they are designed for flat roads and when you have a cambered road ,they want to drift to the left.
The shop also says some landcuisers align better than others. (he liked my HJ61 but not my FJ73 when it came to alignment time)
The owner deals with 20 landcruiseRs a week and has owned quite a few.
However your's sound excessive. Maybe you need to get the wheel base and track measured.

 

[LowFour]

Thanks Rosco,

I've heard about the camber issue before, but this thing pulls left on a carpark. I'll ask around for a good workshop in Darwin, and ask them to have a good look at it.

About the winch, you might be right

Oil sounds a good way around it.

 

[maximBJ70]

This may be a little basic but have you tried all the little things, like tyre pressure and balance.

Tie rod ends can make it go back and forth but probably not one way
How about trying another mechanic who is a little more competent at alignments. My 70 was pretty straight forward (we did it by eyeball and verified with a tape measure). I think we did 2" toe in at front, nothing at the back on mine


Just trying to give ideas, hope something helps.

 

[TwoThirtyDirty]

IME pulling consistently to one side is usually because of uneven tire pressure or a dragging brake. Recently though I found that my newest rig pulled to the right because it came from Japan with one of those coil spring equipped steering dampeners that was set up improperly. Decided that thing was stupid, replaced with a conventional stabilizer, problem solved. Shot in the dark but maybe yours is the same.

Worn steering components, bad alignment or bad castor (ie long shackles w/o installing pinion shims) will cause a truck to wander more than pull consistently to one side...again IME.

 

[hoser]

I got some nice new Coopers put on it almost two years ago, and that was the start of the serious alignment problems.

?? Did you try swapping both left tyres to the right side?

 

[LowFour]

thanks, I should look at the basics. I figured they would have balanced the new Coopers when I got them, it said that on the receipt. I check the tyre pressure once every few weeks (alright, maybe once a month). And I got the brakes checked recently, think they're alright. It's been a while since I moved the tyres around, I'll try that first.

 

[hoser]

Tires can balance near perfectly but still exhibit a "pull." If your LC tracked perfectly before the new tyres, then I would first look at the very component you changed. Otherwise, it could also be a combination of small problems compounded into one. (worn steering components, misalignment, tyre pull). So, swap the tyres left to right and report back.

Have a read here: Hunter GSP9700 Road Force Measurement System

 

[boogie74]

Bump!!

LowFour, did u get the the bottom of your alignment problem?

I have same issue. Pulls to the left and I've tried lots to fix it but no joy

How's your rig riding now?

 

[Tinman]

I have had my 1991 HZJ75 tray back since new. I had a problem with it pulling to the left from new and chewing out the left front tire. Toyota didnot want to no about it. the did a wheel alighnment and said it was fine. I had a number of wheel alignment on it and it was recommended i get a caster kit put on it. The first set of 7.50 x 16 road grippers only lasted 28000klm as well as having to replace the tie rod ends and the second set not much more. I then change to 10R15 desert dualers. It still had the problem but was not as noticable. I got about 80000 out of this set of tyres. When I replaced the first set of dualers Desert dualers at Jax tyer Capalaba Qld I told him about the problem (understerring to the right and oversterring to the left as well as chewing out the left front tyre)and he ajusted the wheel alignment I think it was about 1 degree out of spec. I have now done over 100000klm on these tyres and they are still good. It steers a great deal better aswell.

 

[boogie74]

Hey Tinman,

I see this is your first post. Mud is an awesome site. You'll find heaps of great info here. I'm interested to know, do you know what Jax did to your cruiser when they did the alignment? I have had two alignments and one of those was with a 'cruiser guru' apparently. No joy tho. I might get new steering arms to see if that helps.