OK……so. I’ve been digging into my 91 runner, fixing random things that have been neglected for years, and I came across play in my steering assembly. When the front was jacked up, I torqued on the wheel back and forth to see what would happen. All the joints (tie rod ends, pitman and idler arms) move front to back, which translates into side-to-side movement at the wheel. I assume the joints are bad throughout, and there are several options for replacements:

Does anyone have experience with mivotech? I was thinking about ordering these….http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/de...MEMES2376.html[/COLOR]

I also saw this kit in my search…. Any experience with these parts?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330250902293&ssPageNam e=ADME:B:WNASIF:MOTORS:1123#ebayphotohosting

Thanks for the help and advice!

 

Try and find japanese built parts. They seem to be the best quality.

If you do not mind paying the few extra dollars, get factory parts. They last a lot longer, and can be had for decent price from toyotapartsales.com

 

you're saying that you can move a wheel (tire) left-to-right and back and the tie-rods, drag link, idler arm and pitman arm all move but the steering shaft input to the steering box doesn't? ... or does the input shaft to the steering box move but the steering wheel won't?

It could be, as DC mentioned, poor quality components...
... or could be the pre-load of the pinion in the steering box itself may be set incorrectly...
... or the coupling disc may be worn...
... or your alignment may be off and is being perceived as 'play' in the steering wheel, or a delay between moving the steering wheel and feeling the vehicle change directions, often caused by incorrect toe, usually positive toe, but excess negative toe can cause a similar 'numbness'....
... could possibly be worn control arm bushing or ball joints.
Anything worn in the front end creates slop and that can be hard to track down.

 

Let’s see…… I’ll try and describe it better. When I torque the tire on a vertical (y) axis, there is no play and everything seems fine. When I torque the tire on a horizontal (x) axis;

The pitman arm stays mostly stationary, so I think the power steering system is good, but the joint attaching it to the tie rod moves in the socket front to back.

The idler arm stays mostly stationary, so I think it’s good, but the joint attaching it to the tie rod moves in the socket front to back.

The joint on all the tie-rod ends move in the socket front to back.

This front to back play of the joints translates into side to side movement of the tire……. of about an inch :-0

I would by moog components….. or at least I’ve heard there’re pretty decent….. but I’m broke right now!! It isn’t my daily driver, but I’m fixing it to be so.