ahickman

Hoping someone can help me narrow down the culprit on my 87 Runner that has a deadly steering problem on the road. Almost impossible to drive down the road. Flops left/right as it catches any bevel in the road. I thought for sure that the knuckle on the pitman arm was bad after having my daughter roll the steering back and forth and saw it wobble. Nothing else seemed loose when I jacked it up and pulled on all ball joints, etc. Replaced the pitman today and to my surprise, the sloppiness was still there. I jacked it back up and noticed that the stabilizer shock made a squishing sound as I pushed/pulled on the 35's.

Can anyone confirm that a bad stabilizer shock will give such symptoms? I can't randomly replace more parts and don't know that much about the stabilizer shock.

Thanks,

Aaron

MudSir

did you check the idler? Usally if one goes so does the other.

ahickman

Idler did not wobble.

MudSir

checked baljoints? When in 4dr is it worse?

ahickman

Upper and lower BJ's are tight. No difference in 4WD that I can tell.

rworegon

Unequal air pressure in tires? Bad alignment? Tires out-of-balance?

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

when's the last time the wheel bearings were serviced? could get some wandering from this.

it's probably just a combination of everything in the steering that's loosened up from turning those heavy 35s. even if you hardly see any play on one single item, all those little discrepancies add up - so check everything. bad stabilizer shock will not dampen the responses you're feeling at the wheel. a new one would definitely make a big improvement "in your hands" especially if it's the stocker still on there. I know that my OME stabilizer was about twice the diameter of the stock worn out one. made a huge difference in what i felt at the wheel.

ahickman

Bearings were repacked a few months ago and have had very few miles on them since. The damage I am experiencing showed up after playing in a ditch the other day. I stressed something and just can't figure it out. Gonna look at the idler arm again this evening to make sure it is not the culprit. Might even take it off and look at the bushings inside.

calypsocaveman

I dont know if this will help out, but I'll throw in my two cents. I knew I had a bad cv joint on the drivers side of my 4runner. ( due to a ripped boot for over a year. I tend to put things off until the last minute.) anyway one day while driving down the road. It felt as though someone grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the right. off and on it would happen. but always a heavy pull to the right. So I started checking the right side. I found the idler arm was a little sloppy not much but a little so I rebuilt it. went for a test ride and the pull was still there. more exploratory wrenching turned up a inner wheel bearing that had some discoloring as though it had gotten hot and burnt. replaced it, test drove and same pull to right but not as bad. More exploratory wrenching turned up a lower ball joint that felt rough. replaced it, drove it and although not as bad. the pulling was still there. none of these parts where in to bad of shape. in fact. according to the fsm. the lower ball joint was within specs. the wheel bearing was just discolored. yet each time I replaced a part the pull would be less and less but still there. I went ahead and swapped out the drive shaft on the left side. test drove and the problem was gone. I have been turning wrenches my whole life. I could not understand how a bad cv joint on the left side could cause the truck to pull so hard to the right. so after alot of thought, what I think was happening was.... a bad cv joint on the left (which was binding up) was compounding the small problems on the right. weird I'll admit. sometimes compounding problems become a larger issue. with 35" tires you can expect issues up front. search for the "brass bushing mod"and the brace for the idler arm. It should help. and I hope this long winded post helps as well.

mt_goat

A bad stabilizer shock could do that, also check the tie rods and a bad caster adjustment will do that too. Don't ignore it, look here: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/b...y-turn-231405/

jbtvt

[QUOTE=calypsocaveman;51681503]

^ Interesting.

If it's slop in the the response overall, probably not the damper. I have seen bad ones cause the "death wobble". On a Jeep of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj9PNNChVm4

ahickman

Calypsocaveman and mt_goat, I value your remarks owing to the fact that I do have a bad CV joint on the left side. One of those items that I have intended on replacing but never felt like I had the cash for since it neither seemed unsafe or necessary if I was not in 4WD.

Too another look at it last night and found that the idler arm is wobbling a bit. Not as bad as I have seen them before, but decided to get replacement bushings to rule this out. Nothing else seemed loose, however. The state inspection expires this month. Might just take it in to see what it fails on, letting them help me diagnose if the idler arm does not take care of the problem.

angrybob

I drove a friend's '86 with a loose idler arm and it tracked the grooves in the pavement regardless of my holding the wheel straight. Replaced it and the problem was gone. The other thing I would check as mentioned above is the hub bearing preload. Its an odd procedure to set the preload correctly.

When I bought my rig, I had vibration and a slight 'wander' at 62mph +/- 3mph. The preload was loose from the PO and when I fixed that, the wander went away. Most of the vibration went away too, but the tires still cause some imbalance.

ahickman

OK, I took the idler arm off and noticed that the shaft looked bent. Are they normally perpindicular to the flat surface, or bent inward towards the knuckle?
The local NAPA guy suggested that the idler arm I have may have been bent to accomodated the lift on my vehicle. Not sure this is the case since it is a 3" body lift and 35' with no change in suspension.

BrutalIntegrity

hey guys I have a question to the video from jvtbt....I purchased an 83 yota pickup lifted 6" with 35 mickey thompsons. long story short. truck had a bad trans so i swapped out the 5 speed from my 86 turbo pickup. put front range off road transfercase cross member on it. Took the driveshaft to a shop to have it bablnced and custom lenghtend. jsut got it up and running and drives fine until i hit 35-40mph while slowing down i get an uncontrollable wobble. I have heard of this before. not sure what could cause this. everything in the front end seems tight. can anyone help me out with some ideas.

mt_goat

Sounds like warped brake rotors.

jbtvt

Could be rotors if it's only happening when you're hitting the brakes. Definitely check your damper otherwise, small or old one with 35s could cause it, or a loose mounting bolt/bracket, wobble usually triggered by a bump in the road that I've seen. Wouldn't think it's driveshaft related, if you're describing a wobble rather than vibration, but does it make a diff being in 2 or 4wd? Other than that, get out the pry bar and check bearing, BJs, and tie rods.

Nice looking ride, BTW!

JDlikesgunsntrucks

i have an 87 with procomp stage2 lift with 36x14.50 mikeyt's. put new stabilizers and helped a lil but around 40 t/- mph i have a terrible death wobble. idk what to do either??? i can't find a tire shop to balance tires b/c of the size??

jbtvt

Sounds like somebody needs to start making http://kevinsoffroad.com/death-wobbl...ar-conversion/ for Toyotas. Aren't death wobbles supposed to be a Jeep thing? That said, you sure it's an actual DW? They aren't a consistent happening, like you hit 40 and it starts. Maybe people ARE mistaking driveshaft vibration for death wobble... Almost sounds like it. Read the link in the article above http://kevinsoffroad.com/techarticles/death-wobble.html describing the symptoms to see if everyone's talking about the same thing.

If so, balancing tires won't cure it. I had my 35x12.5s balanced at Sears, don't know if they can fit yours on though.

JDlikesgunsntrucks

when im driving down rd and let off the throttle,at any speed, i hear what sounds like the driveshaft rubbing against something. Kinda like a steel on steel sound, but i press on the gas a little and sound goes away. Far as the "wobble",, my wife has rode behind me and says looks like wheels are gna fall off and entire trk shakes almost uncotrollably when that happens.