Steering Wheel Conundrum

Any chance you forgot the steel sleeve in the poly bushing? If the steel sleeve is in there, I would be curious to see what it looks like. Like, maybe it's collapsed lengthwise.

 

Golden sleeves are present. Its probably time for a new rack. They don't last forever. I'll just wait until the end of summer if I can

 

That was my guess as well, as that was the cause when I had the very same symptoms on a 86 Chrysler I owned back in the day. Drove fine, but sometimes the wheel was not straight when tracking straight down the road.

 

250 . I think that amount would crush the ears on the subframe, I can practically bend those by hand

 

Nothing is crushed surprisingly. I'm looking for the instructions. I might be an idiot.

 

i think the stock torque is like 115-120 ft lbs

 

250ftlb up front....I cliff noted the instructions because I'm a professional...110ftlb in the rear.

 

I don't think that's correct

 

Its Poly Performance's instructions. The FSM is way different.

 

that doesn't change the fact that you're clamping together a 1/8" piece of stamped steel between the bushings. That's why that piece of metal is bent.

 

I don't disagree. I already said I glanced the instructions and went full tilt. Its my error. I should have known better.

 

I would not be going to 250 ft-lbs on any component with a bushing. Hell, the wheel bearings only get torqued to 173 ft-lbs. The rest of the ball joints and control arm components are less than half this value, I'd question that number. If you have the total chaos reinforcement tabs, that would significantly beef up the thickness of the frame section there, so 250 lbs might be acceptable. I'd replace that taco tab and go to maybe 150 ft-lb, then recheck after a few hundred miles.

 

Said to hell with it. Just put in a new rack. The semi new Energy Suspension bushings from the old rack were fine but I picked up another set from O'Reillys.



New rack, new bushings, new control arms, and new taco tab hardware. The old rack had some play in it. We shall see. At least my steering wheel is straight right now.. Thanks all.

 

PSA TACOMAWORLD: TORQUE SPEC IS BULLSHIT

 

Its all about the feel. When the impact gun stops and it hasn't broke, you're good.

 

Oh hey OP. I had this issue a long time ago. The wheel kept clocking left or right for no reason. The rack was slightly loose and the torque from turning the wheels would shift it. Check your PS rack jam nuts at the tie rods and check your rack main bolts. Tighten that bastard up real hard. You may need an extra set of hands to hold the bolt while you torque the nut if you are still running the OR bushings.

If it's still occurring you may want to consider replacing the rack bushings as they are known junk that allow 1/4 of lateral play even when brand new. Polyurethane bushing replacements may be in your future.

Agreed. If you aren't capable of torquing things by feel then you shouldn't be wrenching unless you are prepared to repair a lot of broken bolts and pulled threads.

 

I think the thought behind the high torque spec is that you crush it into place and then it can't move to change the alignment. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't work in real life.

 

Yea I just went ahead and replaced everything that could be an issue. It wasn't cheap but it took the guess work out. 1 ugga dugga usually works on things that don't matter, but if I have the specs I'm going to use them

 

Crushed hardware is what you get at that torque. Maybe I'm a fluke. Tighter being better only applies to certain things

 

This torque value is incorrect and has been corrected by the manufacturer on these tabs in their instructions - 100ftlbs & 125ftlbs respectively