Wheel wobble help? (1 Viewer)

[60Man]

So lots of info on MUD about wheel wobble. I have been reading and reading and I am stumped.
87 stock fj60. 140,000 miles, never been a trail truck, I have had it for the last 6 years, about 10,000 miles. The wobble is on front driver side. It is always able to be seen even when on a lift and you spin the wheel by hand. You can feel it at about 40 or so and the faster you go the more pronounced it becomes.
What I have done so far. In Order.
Rebuilt steering box, west Texas off road. Was leaking anyway
New tires 10.5 x 31 x 15 on stock rims. Needed new ones.
Elignment
Switched tire with spare and it wobbled the same.
Complete axle rebuild all new seals and bearings, was leaking and time for it anyway. Full kit from cruiser outfitters. Great stuff, by the way.
New Toyota dealer rotors and pads.
Followed all directions in the factory shop manual, and used proper tourqe settings and preload.
Cant see any bend in any of the tie rods and other than the wobble the truck feels tight and smooth.

Nothing I have done has made it better or worse.
Not sure what to do next? Shocks?
Thank you in advance.

 

[OSS]

Shocks won't help and a loose steering box won't cause it. Is there any axial free play at all in the wheel when man handling it rocking to top & bottom? Absolutely sure the wheel bearing preload is right? The relay rod tie rod adjuster tight? Does the wobbly wheel wobble if mounted on the other side? (Maybe the spare is a wobbly wheel too).
Does the wobbly wheel wobble when spun up on a balancing machine at the tire shop?

 

[60Man]

The wheel is tight. The grab at at 10 and 4 test passes.
The preload looked good. And it is behaving the same before and after the rebuild.
I can try and swap driver side to passenger, and i can go in for a balance and an alignment as well I went with a lifetime.
Now the tie rod adjusters, Honestly I don't know what that is?

 

[OSS]

It you can see a wobble in the wheel went it is jacked up and just spun, then it's not caused by the tie rods. Make sure that there isn't anything behind the wheel when it mounts to the hub that could cause it to not mount flat against the hub.

 

[SteveH]

My 40 mph 'wobble' (in long sweeping turns) was indeed due to tire imbalance. I was a bit annoyed that 3 of my 4 tires were ~1 oz. out of balance within 9 mo. of purchasing, but Discount rebalanced them and the wobble went away. This makes me want to get the balance checked more often than 'never', which is my usual time frame.

 

[g-man]

You switched the tire and wheel with a spare and it's still wobbly suggests a problem with the hub/spindle. I'd pull the wheel hub off and check the spindle and the wheel bearings for damage. Also make sure the bearing races are pressed in square to the hub and fully seated. You'll need to pull the rear seal off the hub to get to the inside bearing/race.

Before you do any of this check the knuckle to see if it moves away at the bottom of the axle housing. The knuckle should only move side to side while turning and NOT in and out on the axle housing. The bottom trunnion bearings are famous for coming apart and when they explode the knuckle will flop around on the lower bearing pin (ask me how i know). The spindle is bolted to the knuckle so it will all flop around if that is loose.

 

[60Man]

Okay thank you for all the input. So I can take the hub apart and inspect it. I am just asking myself with all new bearings and seals, and the wheel being tight, what are the chances that I put it together the wrong way and it just so
happens that it was exactly the same wrong way before I rebuilt the knuckle and axel?
I suppose i will start with switching the tires from passenger to driver, see if that gives a result, and then take the hub apart again.

 

[Seth S]

Did you torque the wheel bearing nut to 42 inch pounds or 42 foot pounds?

 

[60Man]

Great point. I did tourqe all fittings as per the shop manual. I am glad that i did because as i was taking it apart I found on the passenger side spindle hub nut was barely finger tight from work the PO did. I could see the marks from the flat head screw driver because the did not have the 54mm socket.

 

[lcwizard]

Loosen the clamps on the tie rod ( wheel to wheel ). Turn the tie rod one full turn either out or in. Toss the wrenches in the truck and take it for a spin. If the wobble goes away or gets better you're going the right direction. If it gets worse, return the rod to the original spot and go one turn the other way and go for another spin. Worse case you have to return to where you started but I find this works more often than not. I haven't bothered with an alignment rack on a live axle Land Cruiser in 20 years. The times I did use a rack
long ago I was usually disappointed and had to make additional adjustments

 

[60Man]

Sounds easy to try. I will give it a go.
Thank you

 

[Seth S]

Great point. I did tourqe all fittings as per the shop manual. I am glad that i did because as i was taking it apart I found on the passenger side spindle hub nut was barely finger tight from work the PO did. I could see the marks from the flat head screw driver because the did not have the 54mm socket.

The final torque should be 42 in/lb....but the pretorque is 42 ft/lbs. So I imagine there are a lot of people out there who are driving around on bearings torqued much too high

 

[60Man]

Yes. You are meant to set the nut at 42 foot then back it down after everything is seated properly.

 

[60Man]

Ok, so its been a while with the wobble. I finaly figured it out. I knew after all the work I did on the truck it must be something stupid. It was. The steel hub cap or sleeve that covers the locking hub. Was a bit bent and would not allow the wheel to come flush against the rotor. I removed it and the truck drives like a dream.