Was wheeling at the Mojave Road, didn't see a decent size rock and hit it pretty hard at ~10mph. Wasn't aired down, tires/wheel are fine but it was decent thump. After inspection notice one lower knuckle stud sheared off, other 3 still tight. It actually drove straight after but steering wheel off center by 45deg. I drove it out of trail and drove it on road, aside from very slight pull and steering wheel off center it actually drove relatively normal. Was able to drive it back home 200+ miles no problem.
96 LX450 125k, suspension all stock except 2.5 OME heavy lift, 33in KO2's.
Did some investigation:
- Steering wheel is 45 deg off to driver side. Aside from it being off center it drives pretty straight.
- Knuckle bolt sheared off, I was able to drill it out with arm in place, no problems. I plan to replace all 4 and perhaps rebuild knuckle
- Knuckle arm looks ok to me. I reference a couple pics online and it doesn't appear bent to me, but let me know if you think it is. See pics.
- Tie end rod and and relay rods looks straight. Tie ends have no play
- I measured the relay rod at 42.75" which from what I looked up close to spec
- The panhard bar looks ok, straight part still straight and I measure it to be 31.75" which also looks to be to spec. Bushing looks ok.
Mounts on both side looks solid.
- The pitman arm looks ok, can't imagine that can be bent
- I pulled off pitman arm to check sector spines. It looks straight to me. See pics
- I did measure if the front axle is off center. It's ~1cm shifted to driver side. Not sure if that's from the lift or increased from this incident.
- I turned steering wheel to center to see how much lateral movement at the relay bar it would translate to and it's about 1cm
- From the off center position, I turn steering wheel to dead lock on both side and it's about equal, so that tells me the steering
components after steering box is pretty much centered.
So I'm trying to figure out what's causing the steering wheel to be off 45deg. If just off a little I'd just adjust the relay bar and call it a day.
I see a good amount of discussion and concerns after trail hit twisting sector shaft so I'm concerned it's compromised.
What's confusing me is the splines looks completely straight. Is it possible for the shaft to twist further up or something inside
steering box? or some other damaged part? Want to get people thoughts before I go down the path of 105 sector shaft.
I've also read it's possible for steering shaft to skip a spline at input shaft connection. I wasn't cranking the steering wheel when it hit
so don't think there was much pressure on it. This could explain it but I find it a little hard to imagine for connection to skip a spline.
Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
??
Thoughts?
96 LX450 125k, suspension all stock except 2.5 OME heavy lift, 33in KO2's.
Did some investigation:
- Steering wheel is 45 deg off to driver side. Aside from it being off center it drives pretty straight.
- Knuckle bolt sheared off, I was able to drill it out with arm in place, no problems. I plan to replace all 4 and perhaps rebuild knuckle
- Knuckle arm looks ok to me. I reference a couple pics online and it doesn't appear bent to me, but let me know if you think it is. See pics.
- Tie end rod and and relay rods looks straight. Tie ends have no play
- I measured the relay rod at 42.75" which from what I looked up close to spec
- The panhard bar looks ok, straight part still straight and I measure it to be 31.75" which also looks to be to spec. Bushing looks ok.
Mounts on both side looks solid.
- The pitman arm looks ok, can't imagine that can be bent
- I pulled off pitman arm to check sector spines. It looks straight to me. See pics
- I did measure if the front axle is off center. It's ~1cm shifted to driver side. Not sure if that's from the lift or increased from this incident.
- I turned steering wheel to center to see how much lateral movement at the relay bar it would translate to and it's about 1cm
- From the off center position, I turn steering wheel to dead lock on both side and it's about equal, so that tells me the steering
components after steering box is pretty much centered.
So I'm trying to figure out what's causing the steering wheel to be off 45deg. If just off a little I'd just adjust the relay bar and call it a day.
I see a good amount of discussion and concerns after trail hit twisting sector shaft so I'm concerned it's compromised.
What's confusing me is the splines looks completely straight. Is it possible for the shaft to twist further up or something inside
steering box? or some other damaged part? Want to get people thoughts before I go down the path of 105 sector shaft.
I've also read it's possible for steering shaft to skip a spline at input shaft connection. I wasn't cranking the steering wheel when it hit
so don't think there was much pressure on it. This could explain it but I find it a little hard to imagine for connection to skip a spline.
Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
Thoughts?