bullcrew

OK I replaced the upper control arm bushings, tightened and repacked bearings, replaced ball joint, idler arm bushings and had it aligned. Toyota said the idler arm BJ feels a little sloppy and there seems to be a little play in the steering gears. Apparently the steering rods roll a little bit but they are on ball joints so that should be normal I would thing.
It aligned correctly and drives good TILL i put it in 4X4 then it likes to pull to the right and you have to hold the wheel with pressure to the left, let off the gas and it dives back so you have to make correctiosn fast with the steering wheel. There is a truetrac in the fron and rear of it and 5:29 gears front/rear.

It drifts a hellovalot in the front end when in 4x4 and when in 2wd NO ISSUES AT ALL. Its pulls real bad, when I go into the snow and accelerate It seems to lock in like normal due to slippage and the LSD engaging but driving when off the accelrator is doable as soon as I put a little gas it starts to walk righ/left depending on acceleration. Its a constant pull to the right when driving and then if I hit a uneven patch sometimes itll drift back to the left then back to the right again. Its to the point Im going to sell the damn thing and buy something else!!!! Wifes VW passat 4motion kicks my rear big time in any condition, my old 4runner was better than this......

Need help as we have icy roads, snow covered and I have kids I tote around in it!

Thanks in advance!

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Never had any problem with the front TT in my '85, it was 10X more stable in 4WD than in 2WD. Might want to check that the air pressure in the front tires is the same and that they have equal wear. Also, might have someone watch the front tires as you drive to see if anything weird is going on.

bullcrew

When looking from the driverside open window at the tire when I punch it, it almost seems as if the tire sometimes turns out a little bit.
Ill check air pressure and rotate tires just to make sure but its all over hte place so much its too spooky to drive in 4x4 on the road.

Granted I have no front sway bar but that shouldnt effect the steering just the swaying.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like there is still something loose up front that allows the tires to pull from side to side.

Hophead

Not sure but I'll throw this out - I just replaced similar stuff on the front of my '92 and aligned it myself - I believe that I don't have the toe adjusted correctly - possibly toed out. The reason is the truck seems to want to initiate a turn to quickly and follow the ruts in the road too much and this seems to be amplified when in 4wd. I almost have to countersteer against the crown in the road - again amplified in 4wd. I would say check your alignment - I would think that the TruTrac would also amplify any alignment issues especially when in 4wd.

Just my $.02

bullcrew

I agree, I just got it done this morning by the Toyota dealer here. Had the printouts and all on what the alignment was and is. Couple of them were out pretty good, now within spec.
Lets put it this way when Im going down the road straight and the steering wheel should be at 12 o'clock with little adjustments, its not. Its at the 10-11 o'clock position and holding there with resistance to keep the truck straight. Im not ggrunting with exertion but its a solid steady pull to the right and I have to pull the steering wheel to the left and keep it there. Then the road changes a bit or the wheels come on ice, bump or whatever and it corrects for a minute making me have to take the steering wheel back to the noon position or greater to keep it from darting the other direction then back to the 10-11 position again to keep it straight.

bigt

my hilux kinda does this sometimes.. im driving and i need just a little pressure to the right on the wheel to go straight and if i let go of the wheel it will pull slightly.. then if i make aturn some something its fine and drives straight as an arrow..

just went through saftey and got a new idler arm...

but most of the time its ok...

904_runner

^ sounds like an alignment problem to me

apalmer1

typically toe isnt what creates a pull in an incorrect alignment because power will follow the path of least resistance, IE your tires will be pulled straight by the force of your truck moving forward. this is amplified when in 4x4. a hard pull is usually caused by a camber or caster issue, too much negative caster being what makes your truck turn quickly as you mentioned. though i dont beleive caster is adjustable in the older trucks because of the torsion bars. just to clarify

tc

Yes, caster and camber ARE adjustable on the preTaco torsion bar IFS.

But most shops won't touch it as it's adjustment dramatically affects the camber (which is a tire wear factor) and then they have to readjust that ... it's the right way, but not the fast way.

I say take it back and tell them how it's driving (or have them drive it) and make them adjust the alignment to fix it. They are factory trained TECHS not "alignment machine operators" like you get at Sears, or BigO, or whatever.

They should prove to you that it is NOT an alignment problem.

bullcrew

Ill call them, they said the rest of the parts were in good order and working aside of a little looseness on the idler arm.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Also, is the pulling from side to side in situations where you have uneven traction on the wheels? Such as one wheel on pavement and one on snow/ice. If so, some pulling to one side or the other will often occur with an LSD up front. I have an LSD in my FWD VW and it'll want to jerk the steering wheel to one side or the other when accelerating if there is uneven traction or dips/bumps in the road as you pull away from a stop. This is because the wheel with the traction will tend to pull harder and make the steering wheel turn to the opposite side. Takes a little while to get used to, but not a real handling issue, it is just letting you know that the LSD is working.

bullcrew

FIXED:
Tire up front was hammered due to bad alignment (tire was actually 1/4" less rubber height outside tread than the inside tread closest to vehicle! 4wheel aprts W did the original) this + idler arm was toast (bent and wiggling) this was the cause. Did the repairs and it straightened out considerably!
Still need to take it in and have it realigned but way better! Little play from a couple of other components but nothing major!

Matt16

Maybe max out the camber while you're getting aligned, or do the caster and camber in your driveway then get the toe done professionally, as that's all alignment shops are really good for anyways.