Steering jams sometimes to left sometimes to right (1 Viewer)

[Rouke]

Merry X-mas all.

After a short 4x4 track I changed back to H4 and I heard some knocking noises from under the truck and also some squealing. I unlocked the hubs, which stopped the noises but at the next sharp left bend I couldn't turn left. Had to do a few forward and backwards to get around. When back home I jacked the front axle up, turned the wheels left and right. Sometimes they will go to the right and not to the left and sometimes the other way around. I noticed the left front ball joint has been weeping a bit of oil. Could it be that I lost all the diff oil over time and have been running the diff dry? And could a dry/damaged diff cause the steering difficulty I described above?

Cheers,

Rouke

 

[OGBeno]

Time for a front axle rebuild.

 

[Loober]

Diff has nothing to do with steering, but it sounds like something broke inside the knuckles binding it up, so at the least you'll have to rebuild those

 

[Rouke]

Because I wasn't able to disconnect the two front wheels from each other (I didn't have a ball joint separator), I decided to pull apart the wheel that had been weeping oil and on which the manual free-hub wouldn't turn entirely to the free position. I found nothing wrong with it, replaced all seals, wiper, bearings and put everything together again. The manual free hub works again, although it releases a little slowly. Good practice run, but it didn't solve the problem.

Then I took apart the other wheel and found this (see attached pictures). Obviously my BJ74 was a three-wheel-drive only! I won't need your advice on the cv joint, I can get a new one, but the shaft has a small amount of damage where it fitted into the cv joint. I think it's insignificant, although the spring clips were a bit bent. There's a small amount of damage to the swivel housing but the seat for the shaft seal seems to be intact. There's also a bit of damage to the outside of the brass bearing on the spindle unit. I would like the opinion of more experienced mudh8ers.

Cheers,

Rouke

 

[Rouke]

Also, looking at the attached Toyota diagram of the swivel unit, it looks like the order of the seals at the rear of the swivel unit is incorrect. In the diagram the soft metal ring sits in the seat on the back of the swivel housing, followed by a rubber ring, then the felt ring and then the two half metal plates. In my opinion the rubber should sit in the seat in the swivel housing, followed by the soft metal ring, followed by the felt ring, all held together by the two half metal rings. What would otherwise be the purpose of the soft metal ring in a metal seat in the swivel housing? It wouldn't seal anything.

 

[Rouke]

And last (probably not); I'm unable to find a workshop manual that covers the BJ74 - 1988 model. There are plenty of very good instructive youtubes, but they all seem to refer to 'THE manual' for torque specifications. Does anyone know where I can find, either the full manual, or at least the torque specifications?

Thanks,

Rouke

 

[CharlesHS]

I am sure one of the forum members has access to the manual or can direct you to a PDF of the manual you need.
When I purchased my 93 PZJ75 the only service manuals I had were the PDFs until I located and purchased the original paper manuals.

 

[OGBeno]

And last (probably not); I'm unable to find a workshop manual that covers the BJ74 - 1988 model. There are plenty of very good instructive youtubes, but they all seem to refer to 'THE manual' for torque specifications. Does anyone know where I can find, either the full manual, or at least the torque specifications?

Thanks,

Rouke

Here are a few applicable manuals for you:





60-70 Series Chassis and Body Manual.pdf

 

[jblueridge]

I had that same problem but I knew from the start that I’d exploded a birfield. Cruiser Outfitters sold me a used replacement shaft. If it were mine I would file that bronze bearing bushing a bit and keep using it. Check where the oil seal rubber lip will ride. Consider a Speedi Sleeve if things don’t look perfect.

 

[SHREDwagon]

And last (probably not); I'm unable to find a workshop manual that covers the BJ74 - 1988 model.

You need the RM183E. If you can't find it, PM email for a PDF. Torque specs from the 80 series manual are the same and available here:
40-50-60-and-80-series-fsm-for-a-hell-of-a-price

 

[Rouke]

I had that same problem but I knew from the start that I’d exploded a birfield. Cruiser Outfitters sold me a used replacement shaft. If it were mine I would file that bronze bearing bushing a bit and keep using it. Check where the oil seal rubber lip will ride. Consider a Speedi Sleeve if things don’t look perfect.

Thanks. I've put everything back together. The amount of damage on the bronze bearing was too minimal to file. I managed to get the shaft back into the new Birfield, secured the rubber oil seal with the metal seal to the swivel unit. Looks much more logical to me. And just went for a test drive and the LC drives very nicely now. Just have to dig up the torque specifications and undo everything to double check the torques

 

[jblueridge]

I think the link to the Chassis and Body manual Onur posted above is what you want. I used a spring force gauge like a fish weight scale for measuring pre loads

 

[Rouke]

I think the link to the Chassis and Body manual Onur posted above is what you want. I used a spring force gauge like a fish weight scale for measuring pre loads

Thanks for letting me know. I missed that.

 

[Rouke]

Here are a few applicable manuals for you:

60-70 Series Chassis and Body Manual.pdf

Wonderful stuff! Thanks very much Onur.

 

[Rouke]

The manual is very specific about the order of the oil seal set. Can someone explain to me what the 'steel ring' does if it's sitting in a flange in the steering knuckle?

 

[2fpower]

the steel split ring is wider than the flange on the knuckle, so supports the rubber and felt ring.

just buy the shirt, so you can recall all the order and specs.

80 Series Front Axle Reference Screened Shirt V2- Men's

80 Series Front Axle Reference Screened Shirt V2- Men's (SLS-5)

absolute-wits-end.com

hey, this one is new... thanks @NLXTACY

HD 70 Series Front Axle Reference Poster- 18"x27"

HD 70 Series Front Axle Reference Poster- 18"x27" (REF-3)

absolute-wits-end.com

 

[Rouke]

the steel split ring is wider than the flange on the knuckle, so supports the rubber and felt ring.

just buy the shirt, so you can recall all the order and specs.

80 Series Front Axle Reference Screened Shirt V2- Men's

80 Series Front Axle Reference Screened Shirt V2- Men's (SLS-5)

absolute-wits-end.com

hey, this one is new... thanks @NLXTACY

HD 70 Series Front Axle Reference Poster- 18"x27"

HD 70 Series Front Axle Reference Poster- 18"x27" (REF-3)

absolute-wits-end.com

Thanks for the explanation. It now makes sense. Very important to me! I don't like doing things that I don't understand and I can't remember them either

The t-shirt is a nice idea. I'll wait until there's a 70-series front-axle-reference-screend-shirt

Thanks again and a happy 2020 to all!