Suspension parts (1 Viewer)

[Scota4570]

I drove my 1970, see avatar photo, to get the headliner attached by a pro. It turned out great.

Driving was not so great. It has a significant side to side oscillation at around 60 MPH. The tires are new, they were balanced. All of the front end parts, springs, steering damper, and probably the shocks are all original equipment. I am thinking of buying all of it and installing new. Overkill? Just do it? What do you think?

 

[POPO AGIE]

How much play is in the center pivot that your drag link, relay rod and steering stabilizer have? FJ40 steering system has way too many parts and each piece can get loose and can cause problems. Check to see if the steering arms are loose at the knuckles.

I am changing out the whole system with FJ70 tie rods and tie rod ends and upgrading to FJ80 power steering box.

Mine used to follow the ruts in the interstate from the heavy trucks and it would try to follow them and wear me out.

 

[peesalot]

Upper trunions worn/loose, steering arms loose where they connect to knuckle, shackles loose, spring & shackle bushings worn or gone, u bolts loose, steering tie rod ends, and/or link rod ends bad, toe in set wrong, wheel bearings bad, or a combo of.

 

[65swb45]

/this\

 

[Paul_A]

If steering pivots are loose it drifts and requires over steering, but jumping side to side sounds like the toe-in is out of whack.

 

[pb4ugo]

Upper trunions worn/loose, steering arms loose where they connect to knuckle, shackles loose, spring & shackle bushings worn or gone, u bolts loose, steering tie rod ends, and/or link rod ends bad, toe in set wrong, wheel bearings bad, or a combo of.

Don't forget the caster angle too.

 

[Scota4570]

I found a mechanic who is enthusiastic about working it. He is not a front end shop, soon he will be moving to work from home situation. Around here none of larger the front end/tire places are interested or knowledgeable about antiques. The will sell there services then not do a good job. The previous ly mentioned mechanic looked it over and pointed out sever problems in a couple of minuets.

 

[lcwizard]

They were meant to be great and reliable on dirt roads. No caster means easy steering with manual steering on irregular surfaces but also
squirrelly on pavement at higher speeds over anything but smooth pavement. Crowns on the road and grooves from traffic wear confuse the
front end. Stock settings, it's at home on gravel rocks and sand. A few front end mods and perhaps power steering, it's a different beast on the highway

 

[Goldbug]

I did: new U bolts (flip kit from @lcwizard ), new Bilstein shocks, body mounts, drag link and drag link end from BTB and Iron Pig Offroad, Toe In, and shims from Valley Hybrids to correct castor angle. Also adjusted and tightened everything between the steering wheel and the tires. This was to address lots of side to side wandering and play in steering wheel.

Of all those things, the shims to fix the castor angle had the biggest impact. I'd think a good mechanic should be able to do everything above, but you'll want to source the parts from the specialty cruiser shops.