3vzePower

While changing front brakes and calipers on my 4runner I turned the wheels while sitting still and engine off. In doing this I broke something in the steering column. My steering wheel will turn almost a quarter turn before it will start turning the wheels. I sure as heck glad this thing broke in the driveway not out on the road or trail!! At first I thought I had broke the "steering relay rod" since I have not yet had this recall replacement done. But turns out the steering relay rod is the bar under the front that the tie rods connect to. My problem was under the dash in the column. I pulled the entire steering column out of the dash and found that a plastic coupling was busted. It connects the steering wheel shaft to the intermediate shaft in the metal column. The two shafts meet where the steering column pivots to adjust the steering wheel height. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before?
I think it was caused by worn bushings in the metal steering column because the the intermediate shaft has a lot of play at the top end where this coupling is. at the end of the shafts is a fork the forks meet up but loosely. The plastic piece is shaped sorta like a gear that has only four teeth. These teeth fill the void space between the forks of the two shafts. I can give more details here if needed. I plan to get some pictures of it this and repost when I get a chance.

I went to the dealership yesterday and showed the guy the plastic piece and he looked through a diagram but me and him both couldn't find it. I think it may come together with the two shafts? I am taking the steering column to the dealership in a few so maybe we can figure out what part to order. Does anyone know what part I need or what it is called? --There are actually two of these plastic pieces back to back with a spring between them. One of them broke in half and fell out, as did the spring, the other one is still in the forks.

Also I tried to get the shafts out of the column. It looks like the column comes apart easily where it pivots but I spent an hour trying to get the pivot pieces off I don't know how they are attached. I think they un-thread but there is nothing but a thin shoulder on the outside to get a grip on. There are threads that stick out where the nut holds the guide connectors but there aren't enough threads there to double nut it. At least not with the nuts that come on them. How do you disassemble this thing to remove the shafts??? (I will post pictures if you need to see.)

mt_goat

Roger has quite a bit of info on steering shafts because he makes and sells body lifts, its about 3/4 of the way down here:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/BodyLiftKit.shtml

I've had mine apart but I can't quite picture what you're talking about. I think that plastic peice is suppost to break to keep the steering shaft from being pushed into your body in the event of a crash (weak link).

3vzePower

Alright so I made some significant discoveries But first here are some pictures of
the steering column, the coupling between the shafts and the plastic pieces.




pivot joint for tilt steering column


Notice that the two forks overlap but not enough (I believe this caused the
failure I will explain in detail below). If you look closely you can
see the plastic piece that remained in the steering wheel shaft fork.


Above is the plastic piece that broke in half and fell out along with the spring.

3vzePower

To continue... I was finally able to get the column pulled apart so I could get
the shafts out of it. The columns are connected where it pivots. I discovered
that the pivot bolts (for lack of better terms) are pressed in not threaded.


Notice the nut at bottom center of pic. This threads on the outside of the
pivot bolt. take it off and remove bracket and spring ect. To remove the pivot
bolts a washer can be placed behind the nut and the nut can be tighten down
and turn further until the whole pivot bolt turns. Turn the entire unit with the
nut while prying out against the washer. It will pop the pivot bolt right out.
(Took me forever to figure this out as I assumed that the pivot bolt was
threaded in and I used pliers in a vain attempt to unscrew the whole thing.)

mt_goat

Wow, ok I see now...that's not the plastic peice I was thinking of. Never heard or seen that before So the dealer was no help huh? I think I'd go looking for a donor truck from a bone yard for a transplant operation. Is this on a 4wd?

3vzePower

Now That I had the column apart I was able to pull the shafts out. Of course
the steering wheel has to be removed from the steering shaft, as does the
universal joint from the bottom of the intermediate shaft. The Steering shaft is
held in by a clip ring as well.





Above is the two shafts put together with the plastic pieces.
Notice the amount of overlap the forks have here. A good inch or more.

3vzePower

Yeah this is a 4X4. The dealer on my second visit, taking the entire column told me that I would need to buy the two shafts. That they come together with the plastic inside. As shown in picture above. I'm not convinced that I cant just get the plastic separately. Maybe some here will know? The two shafts run $300 at the dealer and I had no luck finding them at the local parts stores. I might just take your advise and go clunking through the junk yard for it.

mt_goat

Here's another thought, take the broken plastic piece to a machine shop and see if they'll make you a replacement out of delrin.

Or maybe even brass.

3vzePower

In conclusion of why I think this part broke... I have a three inch body lift
thanks to one of the previous owners. It seems that they forgot to
disconnect the steering shafts before lifting the body. As you can imagine this stretched the steering shafts harshly. I found a steering linkage lengthener in the glove box when I bought the truck but didn't know until now what it was for. I guess the guy who did the lift kit didn't know either. Shame Shame on him. Anyway as I mentioned the overlap of the forks earlier, I think it pulled down on the intermediate shaft and pulled the forks apart at the pivot joint. Notice also in this picture below how the intermediate shaft bushing was riding down against the retaining clip. As I was saying the forks separated and didn't overlap but maybe a half inch. This added stress to the plastic pieces as they didn't meet up well and only the tips of the forks touched them. The added stress of big tires and steering stabilizers weekend it until me turning the wheels with truck off (no power steering) broke the plastic.


This is just my personal opinion of what happened. I really hope that this part broke due to the lift kit installation and not normal wear and tear. If any one has ever seen or heard of this happening please advise. This is not something you ever want to happen. Especially not on the road as this causes a severe loss of steering capability. When the piece broke it began to jam up and I would have to jiggle the steering back and forth to get it to turn again. Not to mention it would freewheel a quarter turn before the forks would touch.

3vzePower

Thanks for the ideas Mt_Goat. I really appreciate all the help these forums are. I hope this will help others as well. I will let you know what I end up doing and how it works out.

mt_goat

Sounds like a very likely theory. I've never heard of anyone having a problem with that part, so you'd probably find a good replacement at the bone yard.

You're very lucky you weren't speeding along on a twisty mountain road when it broke. May want to buy a lotto ticket while your luck is flowing.

3vzePower

Well, after an unsuccessful visit to one of the local junk yards, I was determined to get my ride back on the road. The junkyard I visited gave me a glimpse at the striking reality that these trucks are hard to come by. I mean they didn't even have a Toyota pickup or 4runner period. None what so ever.
So reluctantly I finally broke down and dropped my wallet off at the dealership. I went on and spent my life savings for this plastic thing and some other parts. I got new upper and lower bearings in the upper steering column. I also got a new bushing and bushing sleeve in the lower steering column. I would not have needed to replace these but they had been worn due to the improperly lifted body, mainly from the steering shafts being pulled down with such force and the steering angles being changed in the lower section. I figured if I was going to spend $300 for the new shafts and coupling, that I might as well spend another $50 for the new bearings and such.

So all was well until I realized that the steering shaft lengthener that I had was too long to fit. However, I was able to engineer my own by buying a new rag joint rubber kit, and buying some longer bolts. Although, I don't plan to use this as a permanent fix, it is working very well for now. I don't, by any means recommend this mod to anyone, as any modification to the steering system can be very dangerous resulting in loss of vehicle control should something fail or break. That is not to say that this cannot be done safely. I did take a look at the site http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/BodyLiftKit.shtml
and I plan on purchasing a 1 inch rag joint spacer from them. And I do recommend this.

Its amazing how much smoother my steering feels now. It doesn't make that whining / rubbing sound that I used to hear either!

signalmtnyota

congrads on the fix...wish it had been cheaper for you though!

mt_goat

Yeah thanks for the update. If your local bone yard doesn't have Toyotas try here next time:
http://www.car-part.com/

Lion

3vzePower
Sorry for upping such an old topic, but can you repost your photos? It seems I have this plastic thing broken too
Thank you very much in advance!