91Toyota4x4

Something is up with my front left suspension/steering. It's causing the tire to uneverly wear and I want to figure out what it is before I mess up my new MT/Rs.

symptoms:

-wierd tire wear on the front left tire. Every other lug is worn down about twicw as much as the one before it on the outside. Inside lugs don't seem to be showing this.
-loud pop/clunk comming from that side under hard compression offroad (whoop tee doos ect.)
-was aligned last spring/winter when I first noticed the wear, tires rotated at the same time. Now the tire that was on the back is showing the same funky pattern.

I read the FSM about how to check the balljoints but it was kind of confusing.
Exactly what should I be looking for when inspecting them and how should I do it?

PS - I don't think the CV is making the popping noise, I think it's ok

ChickenLover

If I am understanding your description correctly, that condition is known as 'cupping' and it's usually caused by bad shocks.

If you take your truck to an alignment shop they will check all of your steering components for play (idler,tie rod ends, ball joints). I've done this many times at Big-O. It's free, and it's a very good place to start.

The people at Big-O told me my lower ball joints were shot, so I told them to show me. They jacked up the front of the truck, stuck a metal bar between the bottom of the tire and the ground, then pryed up on it hard. There was very noticable movement in the ball joint.

91Toyota4x4

I thought cuppping was when a single lug was noticably more worn from front to back, not when the next lug was alot more worn. How would bad shocks cause this?

91Toyota4x4

anyone else?

tc

I agree - bad shocks cause the tire to hop a little leading to weird wear patterns on the tire.

To check shocks, jump up and down on one corner, get the truck rocking pretty good, then stop and see how many bounces it takes to stop. Should be less than 3.

Sequoia'd

The test Big-O did follows the same instructions in the Tech manual... provided the movement was in the vertical plane vs. the horizontal plane. This means that up down movement would be seen if worn, not side to side movement. If really worn, this can cause probs like worn shocks only worse. Good Luck, keep us posted!

Injohneer

Sounds like Ball Joints to me.
My buddy OutdoorFever also had that happening on his truck, we ended up replacing most of the front end though... balljoints, tie rod ends, idler arm and in short, everything EXCEPT the shocks...

It can also happen with bad driving, like going around curves too fast, I do that...

Be sure you check out this thread
.
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91Toyota4x4

So by reading that thread I can probably get away with removing the ball joints without totally taking the knuckle off. And if I cant get a puller a pickle fork between the knuckle and BJ will probably be enough to separate them? I dont care if I screw up the BJ I just dont want to mess up the knuckle or anything inportant

I really need to get in there and look at all of this stuff again. I havent looked at my front end in a while.

mach4

Yes, you can work around the spindle and brake lines depending on what type of suspension you have....very carefully.
My front end was on a 95 T100 4x4 and so the lower ball joints aren't compressed in. If you have a 91' truck you might be lucky.

If your setup is like mine, the first joint will take a while until you see how it comes apart and strategize a plan to spread upper and lower control arms. You'll have the second joint out quickly and back in.

As you saw from the thread it took me one night (attempt) and a second afternoon/night to replace the lower ball joints.

Now, some of the members have had luck with ebay hardware.
I decided to go with OEM parts and of course that was more costly but I didn't want any fit issues.

That being said, the stealer will double the cost of the parts to do the job.

Check your idler arm and all the other joints...relay rod, pitman arm, tie rod ends to make sure you don't leave a weak link.

Good luck.

91Toyota4x4

Im taking the thing in for the relay rod recall next week. There is some play in the joint that connects the idler arm to the relay rod that I could feel.

mach4

I had the same problem.
Replacing the idler arm stiffened that joint up.
I also had the infamous worn out idler bushing so I decided to replace the whole idler arm.

Very easy and quick to do, and the play is gone.

The stealer wanted $179 with no labor charges to replace the idler arm since the relay rod replacement work essentially removed the idler arm from the rod.

If you go with OEM parts, you can save ~$50 by doing it yourself.
I got my idler arm for $129 online, OEM part.

My rig goes in next Friday for the relay rod replacement.

ThomasJ

You should figure out what it is before you get the recall done. Then you can repair it and get a free alignment from the recall and be done with it. If you do the recall now they will align it with bad parts. Then you will still have to fix it and pay for another alignment.