Taking up slack in my steering... Advice please... (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Threads
9
Messages
18
:cheers:

Hello All-

I've got a lot of slack in my steering that I'd like to be rid of. I figure I'll just start replacing stuff until it finally gies away. I thought I'd start with new tie rod ends and a new Steering Stabilizer since they both have close to 200K miles on them (Don't think the P.O. every replaced anything.) If that doesn't do the trick, I just keep working my way up until everything in new. Is there any opinions out there as far as which Steering Stabilizer to buy? I was thinking OME. Is there a better one out there for FJ60s? Bilsteins? Don't know if they make one? Any advice would be great. Thanks-

85 FJ60 189K
 
That plan sounds expensive. Have you tried lifting the front end off the ground and having someone else turn the wheel while you crawl around and look for the play? It worked for me.
 
Trevor-

Haven't done that yet. :doh:
But these are all things that need to be replace anyway is how I look at it. 189K is a lot of mile for parts like these... and I want to get another 100K out of it.
 
Is the slop in the box or downstream? You can tighten up the box. Factory ball joints come with new rods. You can get 555 parts for reasonable prices, and they are high quality.
 
What are 555 Parts ???
 
When you crawl under your rig and have someone turn the wheel for you make sure to check your center arm. I know on the fj40s they wear out pretty good after a while. They were designed to take the abuse instead of the energy of all those bumps transfering to the steering box.
 
This is a little off-topic, but do 60-series have a center arm? I've never crawled around under a 60 before.

Edit: For what it's worth, the center arm on my FJ40 is where I eliminated most of the play.
 
I don't think so or at least nobody sells them or rebuild kits for them. I just did some looking and didn't find squat.
 
I'm nearly positive (99.999%) sure they don't, I don't remember seeing one on the 62 i was working on last weekend, and when you swap a 60 box to a 40, it eliminates the center arm.
 
Center arm is for manual steering. 555 is a Japanese parts company.
 
[quote author=cruiserman link=board=1;threadid=5817;start=msg46416#msg46416 date=1064975917]
Center arm is for manual steering.
[/quote]
Late 40's and (IIRC) minitrucks with PS have them stock.
 
Adjusting the sector shaft in the steering box can reduce some play in the steering box - it can also trash the box if its too tight. It won't improve the rest of the steering linkage. When adjusting the box, feel the play in the pitman arm - not down at the wheels. On my 60's I've noticed reduced steering slop after rebuilding both ends of the relay rod (drag link) Both ends have a ball ended bolt clamped in cups. The cups are loaded with a spring. The spring is quite stiff and a small amout of wear in the cups greatly reduces the preload from the spring. In a Toyota Trails article some years ago, a story rec'd adding a penny as a shim to restore the preload to a worn joint. I've added the penny on both sides, screw the end plug in until the spring goes solid, then back the plug out one turn. Also clean and pack the cups with grease. I've still got some slop up at the steering wheel, but it feels much tighter than before rebuilding the joints.
 
On my high-milage 87, I did the following:

1. Replaced the tie rod ends. Huge improvement.
2. Adjusted toe-in. Also huge improvement, tracks straighter.
3. Measured play at steering wheel. It's w/in factory spec (1.5 inches I think).
4. Adjusted the steering box. I felt a brief sense of accomplishment, but the steering play was no different.
5. I've also removed the shield behind the steering box, and it's clear that all the remaining play is w/in the box itself.

Since my power steering pump and steering box leak, I guess I could have them rebuilt, but it's cheap to replace the fluid, and I have other things to fix first.
 
And the following was... what?
 
[quote author=CruisinGA link=board=1;threadid=5817;start=msg46418#msg46418 date=1064976350]
Late 40's and (IIRC) minitrucks with PS have them stock.
[/quote]

I don't think that's true, but I don't have 40, and I sold my mini a while ago. With stock, TLC, cross-over steering, there's no need for a center arm. If you add mini power steering to a 40 with a center arm, that's different. I do see that SOR offers rebuild kits up to 1980, but that makes me curious if '79/'80 fj40 power steering is different from cross-over.

Mini PS setup is different.
 
Don't under estimate looking at/replacing the end links for the from sway bar if they are bad.

I did this just this afternoon on my 60 (SOR pack $30 or so for both), after discovering that they were making virtually no contact due to worn bushings and bent bolts while changing shocks a coupla weeks ago.

The test drive afterwards found significant improvements in both general turning at speed and body sway. Which makes sense of course when essentially the swaybar was non-functional before.

Cruc
 
For general handling issues, leaf spring bushings get worn and contribute to wander.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom