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Spiral cable question

Discussion in 'Solid Axle Suspension' started by slander, Jul 4, 2016.

  1. Jul 4, 2016 at 8:13 AM
    #1
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Im working on my steering and i have been doing pretty good with not moving the steering wheel. Well last night i was filing splines on the column and got out of sequence and lost count regarding how many times and what direction i spun the wheel. Any tips on how to know the limits before the cable breaks so i can recenter this wheel? This is on a first gen tacoma.
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2016
  2. Jul 4, 2016 at 8:17 AM
    #2
    Clearwater Bill

    Clearwater Bill Never answer an anonymous letter

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    Is it still attached to the box?

    If yes, can't you hand align the wheels/tires or spindles straight ahead (or very close to that), which should align the column.
     
  3. Jul 4, 2016 at 9:02 AM
    #3
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    No its not attached to anything right now.
     
  4. Jul 4, 2016 at 11:14 AM
    #4
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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  5. Jul 23, 2016 at 6:56 AM
    #5
    Ritchie

    Ritchie Well-Known Member

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    Slander,
    Have you purchased the spring yet?

    When I pulled mine out of the box, there was a plastic locking pin which kept the spring in position. I installed as is and no issues.

    While I was phasing the u-joints (with the wheels straight), I cycled the steering wheel before attaching to get the turn signals in the correct position too, all this with the steering wheel nut off and wheel loose so I could get it straight.

    You almost need 2 people for this but I managed.

    Does that help?
     
  6. Jul 23, 2016 at 7:05 AM
    #6
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Nope evreything works! I heard a big ass crunch and felt ripping and figured i broke it, during the test drive evreything works includeing the cruise so i dont know what i did, but didnt break the cable.
     
  7. Jul 23, 2016 at 7:25 AM
    #7
    Ritchie

    Ritchie Well-Known Member

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    OK... are your blinkers clicking off in the correct location after use?
     
  8. Jul 23, 2016 at 8:02 AM
    #8
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Close enough for me, the cruise and horn works so all the important stuff for me is workin
     
  9. Jul 23, 2016 at 2:33 PM
    #9
    1999RegCab

    1999RegCab Well-Known Member

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    Oh boy, I need to pay attention to this tech cause the shop is about to start setting the steering and I want to make sure things don't get messed up.
     
  10. Jul 23, 2016 at 3:25 PM
    #10
    Ritchie

    Ritchie Well-Known Member

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    ^^ If I had to do it over again, I'd use large zip ties to lock the wheel straight which would also keep the steering wheel from moving while the new joints & shaft(s) are being installed.

    If you have any further questions or need part numbers, let me know.
     
  11. Jul 23, 2016 at 8:50 PM
    #11
    1999RegCab

    1999RegCab Well-Known Member

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    I hope the shop will keep things intact. They build modern Jeeps so I assume they know how to deal with these steering wheel issues.

    Still waiting on PSC parts. When they move into the actual steering shaft, I will need some of those part #s
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2016
  12. Jul 24, 2016 at 8:21 AM
    #12
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    I did great keeping it from moving until i was hooking up the steering shaft, i got out of sequence and lost count of how many turns i made what way. Hooked it up to the box and heard crunching while testing it out, thought i broke it, guess not. Cruise worked for 8hrs yesterday.
     
  13. Jul 24, 2016 at 12:57 PM
    #13
    1999RegCab

    1999RegCab Well-Known Member

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    good for you then! Everything ok with the long drive?
     
  14. Jul 25, 2016 at 7:18 AM
    #14
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Yup made it here, my duals were chattering the whole time due to a deiveshaft imbalance and thesw swampers are visably not round so the truck was shaking pretty bad from those. Getting ready to run one of hardest trails here for a shakedown run today, i hate my friends sometimes...
     
  15. Jul 25, 2016 at 10:12 AM
    #15
    1999RegCab

    1999RegCab Well-Known Member

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    Anything super swamper ends up not being highway friendly :D

    Don't cave in to peer pressure. Hit a fee easy trails first to see how things work in the truck!
     
  16. Aug 1, 2016 at 12:35 PM
    #16
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Well i broke the cable sometime over the week, signals still shut off at the required time, i just lost cruise control (fun for 16hrs of driving) and the airbag.
     
  17. Jan 13, 2018 at 1:08 PM
    #17
    1999RegCab

    1999RegCab Well-Known Member

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    Forgot to post an update on this thread.

    My clock spring was damaged during the SAS. Horn stopped working and the air bag light was permanently on. I don't have cruise control, but that would have been gone as well.

    The OE part from toyota costs around $275 :eek:. There are a bunch of aftermarket ones on ebay that are super cheap brand new.

    But I learned the hard way that there's two variations on these clocks springs whether they are OE or not. The difference is mostly in the the plug that connects to the air bag (two different sizes). Everything else is virtually identical between the two variations.

    If you need to replace the clock spring I would recommend that you take a pic at your clock spring plug that connects to the air bag first, so that you can see which variation the clock spring you need.

    I ended up buying an OE one used from ebay. Everything is back working normally. If for some reason the clock spring breaks again, I will not replace it anymore. Been wanting to get an aftermarket steering wheel anyway, so that will be next.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2018
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    #17
    slander[OP] and Ritchie like this.
  18. Jan 24, 2018 at 11:27 AM
    #18
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Snowy gave me one from an early model Tacoma and it didn't work, I think it was the plug and the bolt pattern. I may replace it, or I saw someone moved the cruise control stalk to the dash so that's an idea. I really just want cruise and my horn back. Air bag would be nice but i doubt that would save me anyway in this thing LOL.

    My wife quit her job so my funds for the truck have dried up, so now my quest to be cheap for fun is going to be me actually being cheap so let's see how this goes.
     
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  19. Jan 26, 2018 at 5:11 AM
    #19
    1999RegCab

    1999RegCab Well-Known Member

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    So now you are going to be cheap? :D

    I'm glad to finally have a functional horn again.

    BTW...apparently the clock spring can be fixed. I read an old thread on yotatech of a guy that claimed he fixed his with a soldering iron. I recently opened my old/broken clock spring and took the ribbon cable out. Those are some really thin wires but it does look like they could be resoldered with some patience. I'm gonna give it a try one of these weekends.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2018
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  20. Jan 26, 2018 at 9:41 AM
    #20
    slander

    slander [OP] Honorary Crawl Boi

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    Mine exploded into a bunch of pieces, complete with plastic shooting out from behind the wheel LOL!!! It was actually kind of funny, but good thing it happened on the trail and not in town because the steering locked up for a second and BAM!!
     

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