Sudden steering swaying (1 Viewer)

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Hi there,

I've been having an issue since last spring on my 91' RHD PZJ77 which has been getting progressively worse. When the front left wheel reaches the center of the road or when I'm driving on roads with deep ruts the truck will suddenly sway to one side or the other. I can't feel any play from the steering wheel end so I'm guessing the damper is hiding any upstream play. I've asked someone to move the steering wheel back and forth while I was feeling for any play along the tie rods, tie rod ends, relay rod, pitman arm etc. and the only place where I could feel any play was on the passenger side relay rod end. The castle nut was still tight in place and I couldn't feel the tapered pin itself moving within the receiving part of the associated tie rod end. The play appears to come from inside the relay rod end under the rubber boot (see attached picture and repair manual page). Its hard to quantify but the play I'm feeling appears to be less than a millimeter (approx 1/32") in the hand when wiggling the rod end around. Is this enough to cause the swaying I'm experiencing or should I look elsewhere?

relay rod end play.jpg

relay rod end.jpg

(I believe this manual shows the LHD version)

What puzzles me is that I replaced both tie rod ends and relay rod ends on spring 2019 (555 kit from Cruiser Outfitters) and they went in fine. At the same time I installed new wheels, new tires, had the truck aligned and it ran great all summer and winter of 2019. No off road driving or abuse of any kind. I first noticed a problem this spring when swapping out winter tires and rotating the summer tires introducing the still unused spare tire. I had a pretty severe shimmy at the front. I tried swapping tires around again cleaning the spacers (6mm) in the process to make sure I hadn't introduced any dirt and after a few swap attempts the vibration went away and didn't come back (new spare still unused at this point). I assumed this was because the spare wasn't balanced properly or because there was a very slight wear difference between the spare and the other tires although I had driven less than 3000km on them at that point.

Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
Put your spare back on and see what happens. I did the same with mine and it appears that my spare does the same, but haven’t tried again over the last few years. Rim could be slightly bent. Could try running the spare on the rear until time to rotate and see how it goes.
Thanks for the reply. I'll have the spare checked and rebalanced but considering I only had it on the truck for a few days and a few kms I doubt this alone could have caused premature tie rod end wear.

I don't recall running into or over any specially vicious bumps or potholes in the last year and a half so can't explain how it is that only this TRE has worn out so rapidly. While I wait for the replacement I'll open it up to see what happened.
 
Tie rods can definitely cause sway. But, based on your description I doubt it's that.
My guess is going to be tires. You could have a sidewall failing allowing the tire to wallow as it moves side to side. This can cause some very strange feeling feedback.
If you aren't getting any chatter or choppy feeling with the side to side movement, I would think it wasn't shocks,suspension or the like.
 
Hi there,

I've been having an issue since last spring on my 91' RHD PZJ77 which has been getting progressively worse. When the front left wheel reaches the center of the road or when I'm driving on roads with deep ruts the truck will suddenly sway to one side or the other. I can't feel any play from the steering wheel end so I'm guessing the damper is hiding any upstream play. I've asked someone to move the steering wheel back and forth while I was feeling for any play along the tie rods, tie rod ends, relay rod, pitman arm etc. and the only place where I could feel any play was on the passenger side relay rod end. The castle nut was still tight in place and I couldn't feel the tapered pin itself moving within the receiving part of the associated tie rod end. The play appears to come from inside the relay rod end under the rubber boot (see attached picture and repair manual page). Its hard to quantify but the play I'm feeling appears to be less than a millimeter (approx 1/32") in the hand when wiggling the rod end around. Is this enough to cause the swaying I'm experiencing or should I look elsewhere?

View attachment 2507167
View attachment 2507169
(I believe this manual shows the LHD version)

What puzzles me is that I replaced both tie rod ends and relay rod ends on spring 2019 (555 kit from Cruiser Outfitters) and they went in fine. At the same time I installed new wheels, new tires, had the truck aligned and it ran great all summer and winter of 2019. No off road driving or abuse of any kind. I first noticed a problem this spring when swapping out winter tires and rotating the summer tires introducing the still unused spare tire. I had a pretty severe shimmy at the front. I tried swapping tires around again cleaning the spacers (6mm) in the process to make sure I hadn't introduced any dirt and after a few swap attempts the vibration went away and didn't come back (new spare still unused at this point). I assumed this was because the spare wasn't balanced properly or because there was a very slight wear difference between the spare and the other tires although I had driven less than 3000km on them at that point.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

If you want to extend the life of that rod end, there is a "five-cent fix" Pull the cotter pin and disassemble the rod end. Clean it up, re grease it and then reassemble with a nickel between the cap and the socket. Tighten as far as you can and then back it off until the cotter pin lines up and it shouldn't have any play.

1606425076247.png
 
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I’m thinking along the same lines as @coldtaco and @clintnz. Could be a bad steel belt in the tire. Sometimes they are defective from new. I’d have a good tire shop take a look, when they are checking the rim and balance.
 
If you want to extend the life of that rod end, there is a "five-cent fix" Pull the cotter pin and disassemble the rod end. Clean it up, re grease it and then reassemble with a nickel between the cap and the socket. Tighten as far as you can and then back it off until the cotter pin lines up and it shouldn't have any play.

View attachment 2507352

I did attempt removing the cap yesterday but it was stuck in there pretty good so I decided to risk forcing the boot off to see how the ball joint looked inside. Turns out is was so corroded that some of the thinnest parts simply snapped off (I removed most of the rust on the picture below). Water must have gotten under the boot and stagnated there. I had painted the TREs upon installing them but didn't think to remove the boots and apply paint under them as well. Is this what is typically done on TREs when used in cold climates?! Anyway, I'll remove the other rod ends and have a look under their boots as well...

Thanks!

IMG_20201127_092721.jpg
 
So after disconnecting all tie rod and relay rod ends I noticed a bit of play at the pitman arm. How much play is acceptable?

I also noticed a "detent" at the center position on the right side knuckle which is inexistent on the left side. By that I mean that when moving the hub front to back through its travel it will snap into place by its own when I approach the center and will require a slight nudge to move out of it again. Nothing that could be felt through the steering column but noticeable when pushed manually. I've been contemplating a knuckle/bearing rebuild kit for a while. Should I also plan for other parts while I'm at it?
 
Yuck! Bad luck having that joint crap out so quickly - was the rubber boot not seated properly?

Not sure on Pitman play - should be none or not much I think. You can adjust the steering box backlash with the screw+locknut on top.

The detent in your knuckle is most likely a worn kingpin bearing - these are usually included with a knuckle rebuild kit.

Cheers
Clint
 

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