Steering racking replaced

[04UZJ100]

Now, I said it before but you have and do drive the hell out of your car off road. Do you think for, dare I say, a mall cruiser that the day will never come to have it replaced?

I plan on doing a complete LCA, UCA, and suspension bushing replacement at 200k - but that's it.

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

Now, I said it before but you have and do drive the hell out of your car off road. Do you think for, dare I say, a mall cruiser that the day will never come to have it replaced?

Isn't that what these are built for? I guess that is the difference between a 100 and an 80. I'd still take my 100 over an 80 though..

 

[hoser]

I would suspect the extra angularity of the tie rods on a lifted truck to accelerate wear too.

 

[2000UZJ]

Now, I said it before but you have and do drive the hell out of your car off road. Do you think for, dare I say, a mall cruiser that the day will never come to have it replaced?

I plan on doing a complete LCA, UCA, and suspension bushing replacement at 200k - but that's it.

Hopefully that day will only come once, not 5 times...she's a overbuilt, fat, lazy SUV. It's hard to break, but it can be done. Surprisingly my ball joints, LCA, UCA bushings look decent (I can't say good...it's 13 years old) Which probably means the wheel will fall off tomorrow because the ball joint failed . I got hosed this weekend with cars. I dropped the truck off and had a hawk fly through the windshield of my other car.

 

[04UZJ100]

Hopefully that day will only come once, not 5 times...she's a overbuilt, fat, lazy SUV. It's hard to break, but it can be done. Surprisingly my ball joints, LCA, UCA bushings look decent (I can't say good...it's 13 years old) Which probably means the wheel will fall off tomorrow because the ball joint failed . I got hosed this weekend with cars. I dropped the truck off and had a hawk fly through the windshield of my other car.

Lovely, PM goes a long way. I dumped $2500 on my 4Runner for the 90k service + extras. Every 90k is nothing, though as oil changes are all thats needed between then.

 

[2000UZJ]

Lovely, PM goes a long way. I dumped $2500 on my 4Runner for the 90k service + extras. Every 90k is nothing, though as oil changes are all thats needed between then.

I am a stickler for PM. I like doing small items rather than wait for the small items to turn into a catastrophe. Not much you can do with the rack though. I wonder if one could fit solid aluminum/metal bushings in the rack.... Another 150K we go. I have the old rack in the back. Should be breaking it down this weekend. I dont see a way to open it. So it could be interesting trying to cut it open.

 

[hoser]

I just had my wifes alligned yesterday after cranking up the torsion bars and it drives worse now than it did. I hope this isn't a highjack, if so sorry. Also does any one know if there is any caster adjustment at all. I was told there was no adjustment by technision.

Caster and camber is adjusted at the upper control arm's inner pivot points. They are adjusted at the same time, not separately. This is why it can be tricky. Take a look here. After lifting, many have not been able to get caster back into spec.

I'd take your LC back to the alignment shop and ask them to dial in as much caster as possible (within spec), even if it means some added negative camber.

 

[OGBeno]

you are getting a new oem rack, right.? Do not do the reman, been there done that, garbage.

Toyota does not offer reman 100 series racks.

New from JTEKT only.

 

[Toy Fan]

Caster and camber is adjusted at the upper control arm's inner pivot points. They are adjusted at the same time, not separately. This is why it can be tricky. Take a look here. After lifting, many have not been able to get caster back into spec.

I'd take your LC back to the alignment shop and ask them to dial in as much caster as possible (within spec), even if it means some added negative camber.

Thanks for the info. I really think they just adjusted the toe and called it good. You are saying you can adjust both caster and camber? The alignment shop was the Toyota Dealership in town and they told me it had no adjustment of the caster on this model of Land Cruiser.

Many reasons why I run negative camber on my truck. Mainly is the additional cornering stability with oversized tires. When you do not have any camber (0*) and go around a corner, the contact patch (% of tire that is actually fully contacting the ground) on the outside tire will roll towards the outside of the tread. Camber is constantly changing as you go over bumps, and around corners. With positive camber (depends on how much + camber, but this is a general example) the outside wheel during a corner is going to roll over and you will be riding on the outside 30% of the tire. Reducing the contact patch on the road and effectively allowing the front end to produce understeer and slide/push. The inside tire is going to achieve a "zero" camber effect and have full contact patch. The inside tire is going to have more grip than the outside, understeer is still going to happen.

Now, with a negative camber setup, your wheels sit like this: /\. When you enter a corner the outside tire will acheive a "zero" camber position and result in 100% contact patch which will reduce the chances of understeer. Running a negative camber setup is great for cornering, however your have two other factors playing. Toe and caster. Mixing proper toe/camber is important. Camber doesn't effect the ride directly, the height of your front end is the main player. What are your hub to fender measurements? Also, I recently discovered that most generic "quickie" tire shops don't actually adjust camber/caster. They only play with toe, which can stop outside/inner tire wear and make your typical consumer think they aligned it because the tires stopped wearing on the inside/outside. I would ask what they adjust, specifically camber. Big 10 Tires in Atlanta does NOT touch camber, I had to beg them. I then went to Butler Tire (high end custom wheel/alignment shop in Atlanta) and had them fine tune it to my specs after reading multiple threads and consulting a lot of people about SUV's and camber settings.

Great info. Thank you. I may need to find a dedicated alignment shop in my area. My center of hub to bottom of fender is 21". They told me I may need a rack to fix the steering issues. I don't mind lowering it back down 1/2" but really don't want to if I can get the alignment right.

 

[04UZJ100]

Caster and camber is adjusted at the upper control arm's inner pivot points. They are adjusted at the same time, not separately. This is why it can be tricky. Take a look here. After lifting, many have not been able to get caster back into spec.

I'd take your LC back to the alignment shop and ask them to dial in as much caster as possible (within spec), even if it means some added negative camber.

I researched them, Toyota didn't skimp out on anything. What other outside companies do they use?

Denso: basically everything electrical
Aisin: transmission
Timken: bearings, which by the way we use at work for severe duty in heavy industry (think 10,000HP motors and 7,000 ton presses) applications by the THOUSANDS
JTEKT: steering

Anything else?

 

[OGBeno]

I researched them, Toyota didn't skimp out on anything. What other outside companies do they use?

Denso: basically everything electrical
Aisin: transmission
Timken: bearings, which by the way we use at work for severe duty in heavy industry (think 10,000HP motors and 7,000 ton presses) applications by the THOUSANDS
JTEKT: steering

Anything else?

Besides, Timken, those are all Toyota keiretsu companies...ie, companies that were different branches of TMC and were spun off but are still either minority or majority TMC owned.

Others:

Toyoda Gosei
Toyota Boshuku
Toyota Auto Body (formerly ARACO)
Gifu
Aisan (different than Aisin)
Kyosan
Koyo
JTEKT
Toyoda Industries
Aichi Steel
Kanto Auto Works
Denso

etc...

The Toyota Group is one of the most diversified companies in the world with hundreds of supplier subsidiaries.

Sometimes it is almost impossible to know where components, subcomponents, sub-sub-components come from.

 

[04UZJ100]

Are there any good books about the history and structure of the entire company? I want to read the Story of Lexus about them spending $1 Billion developing the LS when they first entered the luxury market.

To keep it tech, I changed my PS fluid for the first time in 100k miles on the 4R yesterday as the steering was getting a little stiff. I went 120k on the cruiser and there was no change in performance.

 

[OGBeno]

Are there any good books about the history and structure of the entire company? I want to read the Story of Lexus about them spending $1 Billion developing the LS when they first entered the luxury market.
.

I wish there were. There are a number in Japanese but that don't help!

"The Toyota Way" is a pretty good book with an over view of the corp and specifics about the development of the Toyota Production System by Ahno as well as the philosophical foundations of Toyota culture and what they learned from WWII. Great book.

Most of it is gleaned from timelines for different subsidiaries. Each one of them shows their growth out of TMC into their own entity. Think about Aisin and Denso as suppliers--both Forbes Global 100 companies with over 100k employees each and tens of billion in revenue. These guys aren't slouches. Most domestic US makes have as much Japanese components as Toyota does US components. And we'll see the big 3 cooperating more and more with their Japanese counterparts as the entire global auto industry rationalizes techniques and technologies...

Tech: Arakawa Auto Body, ARACO, and Toyota Auto Body have all owned and manufactured LC's in one plant in Japan until about 2008: The Yoshiwara Plant in Toyota City. With the 200 series Toyota, for the first time, brought LC manufacturing in house by assembling them at the world famous Tahara Plant.

 

[2000UZJ]

Well, my brand new OEM rack has leaked ALL the fluid everywhere, so the truck is going back in. The dealership is going to replace the rack again since they fear the loss of fluid has damaged something. I doubt it's damaged, but on their penny I'm letting them deal with it and I am keeping my mouth shut. I took it in yesterday because I was having quite a loud banging/knocking sound going over bumps. I figured loose shock or wheel bearings. Apparently it's the rack. They are going to do it in a day, bringing in another LC master mechanic to work side by side with the other master mechanic. I lowered the entire truck 1.5", so they are going to set the alignment with a little (-) camber, and adjust the toe to my liking after a few drives and tweaks.


As for not having any fluid left, they are going to inspect the power steering system, if anything is somewhat broken/damaged they are going to replace it as well. Which means my shredded PS system may be replaced


Sucks it happened, a true waste of time and money (for dealership) and probably could of been prevented if somebody had inspected the fittings and seals. I'm not happy with what happened, but not having to come out of pocket at all, I honestly can't complain too much, other than not having the 100 for a day.

 

[KS-Ryan]

The Lexus Story. 232 pages of hardcover goodness about Lexus. I was able to thumb through one when I was working for Lexus a few years ago. Interesting, though not sure it's worth the high price tag.

Are there any good books about the history and structure of the entire company? I want to read the Story of Lexus about them spending $1 Billion developing the LS when they first entered the luxury market.

 

[2000UZJ]

The Lexus Story. 232 pages of hardcover goodness about Lexus. I was able to thumb through one when I was working for Lexus a few years ago. Interesting, though not sure it's worth the high price tag.

What all does it cover? The factories? Anything on the 100's? The prices seem quite high, there is one for $10 with shipping ( not sure if legit or not). I may take the plunge just to check it out. After I'm done ill just send it to the next guy. If anybody wants help fund the purchase of a new, I will be happy to purchase it on my account. Read it and send it to those who contributed to the funds.

 

[KS-Ryan]

I don't remember if there was anything on the LX450/470's. It does cover the history of Lexus, how the LS400 was designed. It's interesting for a thumb through.

 

[04UZJ100]

$1 BILLION dollars, 900 engine prototypes, 250+ body prototypes, and 2.7 MILLION kilometers during testing.

There is not a single US manufacturer with that kind of investment.

 

[Yukon LX]

Nick, how much did your rack alone cost. I have a local guy that says he can get an OEM rack for $347. that seems a bit low?!?!

 

[2000UZJ]

Nick, how much did your rack alone cost. I have a local guy that says he can get an OEM rack for $347. that seems a bit low?!?!

I think I paid around $600 for a brand new OEM rack. Not the best deal, but I had to have the brand new one replaced with another due to leaking. The 2nd one made all sorts of sounds, so I had a 3rd installed and its perfect now. I think that is the ONLY time I've ever used the warranty on anything I own.