Help, I broke the truck!

If I'm understanding correctly, the impact was essentially an axial load on the wheel, which when you consider what you hit, is very reasonable to think its a bent spindle. In fact, for the tire to contact the UCA, its one of the very few possibilities. I'd also be checking that rim and hub for run-out and would be inclined to replace that wheel bearing as well since it took a pretty good axial impact.

 

you didn't bend the spindle.

you bent the tab that keeps the cam in its place (see photo) and it now way out of spec as a result. you will have to have that tab welded back into place and an alignment done (or mark the spot, if your lucky it didn't actually rotate... just because it matches the other side doesn't mean squat)

fix, remove load from wheel, REMOVE LOWER CONTROL ARM. the heat from the weld will fry the bushing, re-weld tab, put back together and either re-align or mark where its at before you remove and cross your fingers. any alignment shop should be able to do the repair and it should be fairly inexpensive



for reference, another members photo which gives a better view of the bent tab... your eccentric it just sitting ontop of it.

 

I believe e the OP has stated that he had already inspected the tabs and that they appear to be intact and not damaged

 

^^

 

op is incorrect in that case. go put your head under your truck and look at ANY of your eccentrics

please take note of the below image and notice the tabs to the left and RIGHT of the eccentric.

i've been under the truck enough and aligned my own truck myself with a fastrax alignment tool to be 100% certain in this.



the eccentric itself most likley didnt spin, but it runs horizontal and you just gave it an extra 1/4+ to move, thus pushing the CAMBER out enough for the wheel to contact the UCA.

 

What are we supposed to see in that pic ?

 

Oh please..my taco is the most beat up /abused taco here, but I know for a fact my eccentrics are straight...but my spindles are not so straight even with gussets meh..

 

please also take notice of the 1/4+ GAP that now exists on the other side, which the eccentric should be flush against.

 

OP didn't post that pic (post http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/257624-help-i-broke-truck.html#post6260765), steve o 77 did and was showing what a bad cam tab looked like

 

What now!?

 

bwhaha your right. well then, screw everything i said above. LOL. hopefully for the op, in that case, that is whats the problem and it was simply overlooked

Good luck with fix either way.

 

I almost commented on how nobody notice his bad cam tabs after his post and thought...there is no way nobody caught that lol..then noticed ok not OP

 

lol this thread blew up, sorry about the confusion

 

Bent her pretty good! if I'm lucky ill still make kickoff!

 

No worries. Thanks for the help. Wasn't convinced I coulda bent the spindle going that slow, bad angle or something... On the home stretch to recovery!

 

Not that it matters now, but we were using different words for the same part. Toyota calls it a knuckle. The rest of the automotive community has called it a spindle. They bend on 4runners and GX470's pretty easy too. You can knock those eccentric adjuster tabs back easily with a hammer and punch.

 

Time for aftermarket spindle gussets....

 

The term spindle comes to mind because older vehicles with repackable wheel bearings had a long spindle/hub sticking off of the knuckle assembly. It was a 2 in 1 deal. 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

 

Just took a test drive. All good with 20 to spare til kickoff. Thanks to everyone for the help and input.