Steering wobble after alignment and balance.

The rack will do that if your moving it by hand with the vehicle off. (funny noises)

 

For realz? It just didnt sound right at all. Ha. Maybe I'm overthinking things then. I'd imagine it's on its way tho. Certainly has a (fairly) fresh leak going on tho. Kinda wanna just replace all this crap anyways and be done worrying about it.

 

Yes because your pushing fluid around by hand. Causing it to suck fluid and air back in the return hose to the rack.

 

Hm. Just didnt think about it like that. Makes sense tho now that i think about it more. Especially with it not running. Probly not the greatest thing to do then eh? Ha. (turning the wheels quickly by hand with engine off like that).

 

Well i got my spindles back today. Napa said it took everything their 20t press had to get one bearing out. Everything interchanged well with the 4runner spindle tho. Currently working on the slug adapters right now. Got the old ball joint pressed out of the 4runner spindle and pressed in the new slug adapter. Which took a lot to press that sucker in so that was good. Because the old spindles race was certainly bad with that play it had and how the slug just slid in..

I've decided to not press out the slug on the opposite side as that one still seems to be nice and tight. Didnt wanna remove it if i didnt need to. Seems like the more you press stuff out/in the more chance to bugger up/wear out the race. I'll just keep an eye on it for play and replace it if it ever comes to that..

On a side note, i also decided to drop the uniballs and clean them out. They're pretty gunked up. But still seem smooth in operation. Should have the spindles back on tomorrow. Then on to the steering rack. Hopefully after all this my vibes will disappear! Ha. If not, then its GOTTA be a balancing issue.

 

Does anyone know if theres supposed to be any small o rings on the rack fittings? The new rack was supplied with a small baggie that had cotter pins for the TRE's and 2 little o rings. There wasnt any on the lines/fittings/old rack...

 

Wasn't any right on the tip of the line?

 

Nope. The two lines that go into the rack right? Nada. Not even any debris. Odd because they werent leaking..

So they go on the tips of the fitting?? Or set them inside the inlets of the rack ports then plug the line in? They look like they're too small or would just fall out if put on the tip of the fitting.. Or do they get wrapped around the flange of the lines?

 

Thinking something like this.

 

Ah ok yeah thats what I was thinking. Thanks m8.

On a side note, the poly bushings seemed to have been deteriorating too. At least the big one that wraps around the rack. It was a lil corroded and crumbling a lil on the inside lip. I put those on maybe 4 years ago at most. Guess ill have to get some new ones. The rack did come with new rubber bushings for the left side pressed in, but not the big one on the right.

 

Same as mine.

 

What's the verdict? Did wheel bearings cure the vibration?

 

Still working on this other shit. I dont have a whole lotta time to work on her. But I had a grease zerk on my camburg uppers strip out so I gotta re tap at least that one. Ugh. Hopefully Tuesday ill have it all back together. Just gotta put in atf fluid for power steering and bleed. Put in uca's and spindles. Then alignment. I'll report back.

 

Jeesh. I should just rename this thread to front end rebuild. Basically what I've done.. So just another update, as I got around to working on her some more.

I did a little research on the rack fittings and it looks like the o rings are in fact not used, as the rack/fittings use the flange type fittings. Found a ttora thread that confirmed that too. Just because I wasn't sure if the new rack was supposed to have maybe an updated o ring type and need adapters. I didn't think to compare the two fittings or anything before I took the core in. So just a little fyi in case someone's learning these things as ya go, like me. Ha.






Annnnnd. Yet another set back. With the 4 runner spindle.. Was about to button her all up and put the wheels back on.. When the rotor and the caliper wouldn't slip on far enough. Turns out the dust shield is ever so slightly different. Guess I should've had them swap the shields too. Just didn't think about it. I did briefly compare the two and they looked the same. Just some very slight differences. Sigh.... Oh well. Nothin a lil bending and cutting can't fix I guess. I had to bend/hammer one part in slightly that the rotor was grinding on . Then tomorrow ill have to cut off the outer most edges of the shield as well to clear the caliper. Bleh. Should have it done tomorrow. Just gotta fill and bleed the rack after that. Then alignment. And maybe right back for a second balance after I test drive it and that vibe is still there. Which means it will certainly have to be a balance issue at that point. Because literally everything is new/rebuilt up front. Unless it is in fact a rotor that got tweaked. But from what others said, doesnt sound like it'd be enough to warp it permanently. Only when it's first torqued down improperly/imbalanced. And should correct itself after a retorque. (Is what I gathered from that anyways).

 

Also got new zerks for the camburg uppers too. The threads are a lil buggered on the ucas. But the new ones threaded in "ok" and are holding grease. So I didn't bother re tapping them. Hopefully they'll stay that way. The zerks are either 6mm or 1/4, dont know which. But the 1/4's threaded in tighter than the 6mm's. The next size up is a big jump to 8mm or 1/8" and not sure if that's a good idea to bore them out that much..

 

Glad you got the rack figured out. Sounds like you'll have a completely new front end.
8mm=5/16

 

Yea those look like inverted flare fittings. I believe toyota uses those on all types of hydraulic lines. They should seal without anything extra, just make sure the flare is clean.

 

Yeah those were just the next size up in grease zerks that are available in standard or metric. Probly use helicoils if I do have to tap it out next time. I'll keep an eye on the fittings and see if they leak. I hope not. Those control arms are not fun. Ha.

 

Question for ya guys regarding alignments. Is it not part of an alignment to recenter the steering wheel and/or rack? Under normal conditions I would say that only toe/caster/camber is needing adjusted. But if parts are replaced, such as the rack and is needing recentered, as well as the steering wheel recentered, is that considered an adjustment not included in an alignment?

Also, the shop tried telling me they would have to remove the entire rack to recenter it as well as the steering wheel. I had to talk to the tech to straighten him out. And tell him all that needed done was to remove the two bolts above/below the rag joint, lift the rag joint up and disconnect from rack, recenter the rack and steering wheel, and slide the rag joint back on the splines on the rack. That easy. Or is that not the way to do it?? I've heard of people say to adjust the tie rod ends equal turns on both sides one way or the other to straighten the steering wheel. But then that will make the rack not centered, no?

 

I believe the rack has a blind spline. Only goes on one way. They can't adjust the toe rod ends to get it centered? You can move steering wheel one spline.