Fitting 35’s with minimal trimming NOW ADDING LONG TRAVEL AND 934 CV’s

I had to smog this thing yesterday. Drove down to JD fab to pick some stuff up and to help clear the emission monitors since this thing has had its battery disconnected for so long. I drove it again to work this morning. Parked it next to my coworkers truck.

 

Yours on the right?

 

Left.

 

dang look at that bendy bus, what a sexy machine. Kinda hard to see behind the gray trucks

 

Anybody ever mess with an under hood fuse box relocation? I'm looking at the possibility of moving everything I can to the back seat area. Battery, fuse box, Switch pros etc. Plan is, when I cage it to run forward with the caging and tin in my own inner fenders. The fuse box relocate is a pretty common deal in the car world to tuck an engine bay. But would like to see if anybody has ever gone this route. Figured the thread with all of the crazy people was a good starting point.

 

I'm trying to diagnose a steering issue. This morning while making two sharpish turns at around 10 mph it didn't want to return to center. It felt like I broke a tie rod or something. Like the tires were fighting each other... I thought I was going to look under the truck and see something obvious. PS fluid level was good, no play in anything, nothing out of the ordinary. I cranked it back up, racked it left and right, drove and swerved and made similar turns and couldn't repeat the problem...

I've had a clunk in the front. Almost like a bottom out clunk and mostly sounds like the passenger front, but I've had it for over a year on multiple set ups. Almost like a loose wheel or the cab hitting the frame maybe- very hollow sounding. It's nothing suspension related since I've changed everything under there at least twice by now. I've recently started thinking it was steering related, but fluid was good and no play in anything so I let it be. I don't know what's normal, but I'm able the wiggle that shaft to the steering column at the u joint quite a bit...I don't want to replace the rack if it's a pump or rag joint or the shaft...any ideas?

 

Intermediate shaft, the piece that connects the steering rack to the rest of the steering shaft. The U joint can bind in turns. A quick "fix"/diagnosis is to soak it in PB blaster or WD 40 and that'll free it up, but you should just replace it. About $160 for OEM.

 

time for a quick steer upgrade

 

https://parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-steering-shaft-4520304021

 

Yeah that's what I was leaning towards. Any worry about centering the steering wheel or just make sure it doesn't move and witness mark things?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-lair.495066/page-1729#post-17351582

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-lair.495066/page-1735#post-17358252

 

Tie down the steering wheel so it can’t spin. I usually bungee it to the seat slider rail. Witness mark it, pull it out. Transfer witness mark locations to your new one. Before tightening everything, center the wheels and check if your steering wheel is center. If not repeat the process and clock the splines in a different position until you get it center. Keep in mind there is a black seal/cover at the top of the rack valve body. It might freely rotate. Be careful placing witness marks there. I learned that the hard way.

 

I've had that clunk ever since I went to poly bushings on the cab then with the cab mount relocate it got even worse.

 

Steering wheel holders are like 50$. Anybody that's wrenching on their own stuff/messing with steering should have one. Simple and super fast.

 

Thank you for making that easy...ask Jeeves? No thanks. Ask Randy.

 

I've had mine before the poly bushings. I've given up on it. I doubt it's the shaft. Might even be the hood- it sits a little higher on the passenger side. I thought for sure it was the LCA...two LCA's ago haha

 

Best way to trace clunks like that is a set of chassis ears instead of shotgun method. It really could be anything and it may sound like the PS but it's just traveling that way and tricking you.

 

You probably checked, but slider to pinch weld contact?

 

I've been chasing a phantom hollow type of clunk, it seems suspension induced, but doesn't happen on bottom outs or top outs, even though it sounds an awful lot like a top out. I'm wondering if it is sagging stock engine mounts, hitting a bump in *just* the right way with the driver side front tire when no power is being applied and engine is 'floating'.. causing the oil pan to hit the diff. I can't see any witness marks anywhere yet. But it is a strange sound and I am quite sure it is not the cab mounts. I had poly cab mounts for a short time, hated it and put new OEM in and those are in good shape and quiet.

*edit* I also have trimmed the pinch weld, have almost an inch of clearance there with no witness marks

Any other tips or tricks you gurus can impart to me for diagnosing? I don't have any kind of chassis ears... and not sure if those will work when you only hear something driving offroad at 10+ mph and it is very intermittent, and I cannot make it happen, it just shows up randomly on some terrains (not even always on a compression movement) Thanks in advance...

Do chassis ears have a remote sensor, magnetized or something like that, and a bluetooth to phone for readout of the noise decibels it is sensing? A stethoscope sort of tool would not work as this isn't a noise the engine makes when idling...