I got my new Old Man Emu Steering Stabilizer in the mail today and I decided to put it right on. Well that was at about 4 pm. A word of advice before you decide to put this on. Make sure you have ALL of the right stuff. It ended up taking me 3 hours because I kept having to go to the store to buy different tools. Here's what I recommend having:

ratchet
12mm, 14mm, 17mm, and 19mm sockets
socket universal joint
rubber mallet and regular old hammer
wd40 cant hurt
ball joint separator (VERY VERY IMPORTANT)

i wish i had just gone out and bought the bj separator in the first place. UKMyers has a write up on this where he called it a pickle hammer and I had no clue what he was talking about (i dont know much about tools) But after an hour and a half of trying to use a crow bar and a hammer to get the stud out of the hole, I gave up and headed over to Oreilly's and bought the separator. 15 seconds and 5 whacks with a hammer later, i had that stud out of the hole. Thats just my advice for the day, and really my first experience doing anything with my 4runner.

 

 

i didnt actually take any pics of the install since i was so frustrated with the whole thing. so sorry about that. but here's UKmyer's write up on the install. Mine was more of...helpful tips.

 

Hey....I'm about to do the same thing. What size separator did you use, i.e. was it the standard 15/16ths? Thanks.

 

I think there's a tech writeup for this already...

 

I remember changing my outer tie rods...without a pickle fork! LOL The drivers one came out relatively easily after about an hour of working on it....the other, well lets just say the neighbors learned a bunch of new cussword phrases...the neighbors that live 1/4 mile away! lol

2 whacks from a 10lb maul on a pickle fork took care of the other tie rod, damn man for that want of the proper tools!

 

 

the actual slot in between the two bars is about an inch wide...i thought it would be too big at first but it ended up working just fine.

 

T
Thanks. And don't feel too frustrated ... if this was the first job, and didn't have the right tools initially, you should feel pretty good if it was only 3 hrs and nothing broke! Good luck!
D

 

Seems like everyone recommends a pickle fork. Is there a certain size that you need for this job?

 

measure the diameter of the bolt protruding through the steering linkage and get a pickle fork as close to that size as possible- there are many different sizes.
alternatively, you could get a screw driven separator that would hook over the linkage and when you turn the screw in, which would be centered on the bolt, it pushes the part out of the other side... similar to how a pulley puller or steering wheel puller operates.

the thing about pickle forks is that they damage dust boots and sometimes the joint itself making it unable to be reused, which may be a bad thing depending on your intentions.

 

Sorry to bring this from the dead but I think they re-designed the OME Steering Stabilizer. Either that, or I received the incorrect one from TRDParts and made it work. In the tech article there is a stud piece that you have to push through the grommet, so both ends start as open ends/loops. The steering stabilizer I received, there is only one end with an open loop and the other was round and I had to use vice grips to hold it in order to tighten only one nylon lock nut. Here is a picture I took of it installed, maybe it will shed some light on what I am referring to:

 

I just used an OEM replacement by Monroe

 

You're an OEM replacement by Monroe.

Haha. Im bored.

Ive still got the orgional one still on my truck.

 

Since when did Monroe start making OEM stuff for Toyota?!!? on 'Bleederdude!

 

lol, what???

are you drunk?


yeah, I REPLACED my original with that one:

 

The underneath of your truck looks almost as bad as mine...almost

 

Instead of a pickle fork, get a pitman arm puller- they are WAY more useful for Toyota steering. Much better at forcing stuck parts

 

Yeah, but he just replaced basically his entire front end, sweety! I'll be doing the same after my lift is installed, locker, and new rubber.

 

I replaced all of my steering components!

The angle and how the stock one was facing towards the rear I could not fit a Pitman Arm Puller in there really well to get it centered. I actually ended up borrowing a kit from my local Advanced Auto.

The large one to the right is what I ended up using.

That kit made replacing my steering components cake. Just have to watch when the bolt/thread breaks loose...many o' many of knuckle busting scabs on my hands.