Oh, I'll get it worked out - I've come this far, there's no turning back now.

No solid bites on the Taco yet, but I haven't put a whole lot of effort into it and won't until I get the Runner set.

Fink

 

Rebuilt calipers installed - damn thing still pulls to the right.

If this site wasn't as family-oriented as it is this entire post would be filled with expletive's.

I have no idea where to go from here.

The only things I can think of are the LSPBV (which should only regulate front-to-back braking and not side to side) or maybe caliper hard lines as a stretch.
Other than that I'm thinking it may be in the steering - the frame is straight according to the body shop.

It tracks almost perfectly straight on the road even after the lift with no alignment.
It pulls slightly to the right after tracking for 100yds or so but that all depends on the road and how much of a slant the road has for drainage.

I'm just at a loss now.
The LSPBV is a little over $100 from the dealer - I'm going to run out of cash here soon.

If that isn't enough, we figured out that my driver side spring sperch is slightly rounded off - meaning the spring is slightly curved where the perch is.
Nils at ARB said it's very common with older trucks and it's not going to hurt the integrity of the spring yet.
I guess that will be another item Brian and I can fix on the next trip - we'll need to probably beat the crap out of it with a BFH and then gusset it.

As for the braking - does anybody have any other ideas?
I tried the torque rod and that didn't do much of anything not to mention most swaps and SFA's I have seen don't even run them.

I think I'll just go ahead and get new caliper hard lines since they're so cheap just so I can eliminate that as a possibility.
If that doesn't do it then I guess the LSPV will be my next choice.

I gotta go to the gym, I'm fuming after typing this all out.
I guess that's what I get going from an '07 to an '85, huh?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Fink

 

Might have a bad line going to the caliper, line maybe crushed somewhere or just clogged. Try bleeding all the lines out (Sorry didn't read all through this to see if you have done it or not). Then go for the LSPV, maybe disconnect it and move it around a bit then bleed it all out...it will take some time but I'd rather spend time than $.

 

Yeah, it's been bled at least twice.
Once by Toyota and once by Wabbit.

When I get it home I plan on checking all the hard lines, at least the visible areas to see if they got smashed somewhere.
I know there is plenty of fluid flowing out when we bleed them, may just not have the pressure it needs.

I hate the stupid LSPV such a PITA but I agree - it is better to spend time than money, that's for sure.

Fink

 

Is it still pulling just as hard as it use to? Is it better, worse, or the same? If it seems like it's changed at all in other words it's better or maybe even worse it might be a good idea to just go ahead and get it aligned. If you have Steven do it you get unlimited amount of alignments for 6 months. I'm just thinking about some of my rigs in the past and sometimes they would pull a little during normal driving and then when I would brake the pulling became much much worse. It might be possible that the alignment is out and so it's naturally pulling a little but you really only realize it when you apply the brake.

I'm just throwing out idea's hear I haven't driven it so I'm not sure how bad it really is.

 

Yeah, I was thinking about trying to get it aligned - whether he'll be able to do it or not I have no idea.

It pulls just as hard now as it did the day I bought it from you so it should feel the same as when you had it.
Back then we both just thought that the brakes were so old and used up they weren't functioning right - while that was true, the pads were almost gone, there is obviously still an underlying problem somewhere.

Fink

 

that rig looks familiar! i'll keep thinkin on the brake issue. give me a ring if ya need anything.

 

Wish I could have driven it a bit while you where here so I could have a better feel for what is happening. I think that it may be the old steering setup just worn, Maybe a little slack in the draglink,rodends. Dunno though?

 

I was wondering if it was steering related too.
I wish we had more time when I was there too but you know Brian, doesn't get in a hurry to do anything.

I'm not going to be able to afford high steer for a while so I'm hoping it isn't the stock steering.

Fink

 

At this point my money is on the steering. Seems to me you have done quite a bit of work to the breaks and they should be working just fine.

 

I've thought about that but Brian and I fixed the rod that you had cut when you moved the axle.
I don't know what else it could be.

I do need to go to high steer but it will be a while before I can shell out that kind of cash.

Fink

 

You may have fixed the sleave but that didn't change anything about the steering. Unless you went in and replaced the bushing and joints. You have to consider it's a 24 year old truck and stuff like that just doesn't hold up that long. I high steer is $$$$ so I'd just wait until you have the cash for it and see if that fixes ur problem.

 

for what it's worth (which may not be much based on my experience and limited knowledge)......

if you were to lock up or otherwise unevenly apply brake to one of the rear wheels (in your case the right rear) it would pull to that side lke a skid-steer operates.

(Don't laugh at this next suggestion).....can you put it on jack stands and mark the tires with chalk, give it a little gas and hit the brakes to see if all the chalk ends up equal??? i'm sure there's a better (and safer)way of doing this, but i think you know what i mean. in my head, that would show if the brakes were actuating evenly or not.

if that suggestion was totally stupid, say so , but remember i'm no mechanic.

 

That's an interesting idea, never even thought about that.

I think the next thing I'll do is adjust the LSPV like Roger was saying, have it bias more towards the rear and see what that does and then do the same for the front.
That might help narrow down where the problem is.

I was really hoping the new calipers would fix it but apparently it's just not gonna be that easy.

Fink

 

yeah, i've been thinking about my THEORY...

i guess it won't work unless all 4 wheels are getting equal power......they don't, right?

 

In 4WD they should, at least pretty close.
I'm not sure that would tell me that much though, because it still wouldn't have the weight of the car behind it.

To me, it seems like one caliper just isn't getting enough fluid or pressure to stop the truck equally on both sides.

I could totally be wrong though, given that everything I've done so far hasn't worked.

Fink

 

Got the rig back today.

It brakes a little bit differently and is slightly better but still pulls bad.

I talked with my tech at Toyota, he spent about an hour going over the stuff he checked for me .
He measured it from a pre-existing point on the frame that Toyota labels as a measuring location to the ball joints.
The axle is a little bit less than an inch further back on the passenger side than it is on the driver side.

I have no idea how that could be since the front spring hanger is welded right to the front rails and the frame shop said the frame only had a sag in it which they fixed.
I'm beginning to second guess the frame shop.

He said the only other thing he would try is completely disconnecting the rear LSPV - he said in theory that would allow the maximum amount of braking pressure to the rear.
In turn, that may help reduce the severity of the passenger side pull.

He said it could be a kinked line but when he bled them the lines had plenty of pressure and it was even from side to side.

I'm stumped.

He did mention a bracket that he used to put on his dirt track cars that allows you to adjust the angle of the axle without having to cut and re-weld the hangers.
He tried to explain it to me but I probably wouldn't do it justice explaining it on here - I'll try and find it on Google and post it up.

Fink

 

pain in the ass.. best of luck...

 

PITA for sure.
Thanks for the luck - only thing keeping me going is that everything else on it, mechanically, seems to be working great.

Fink

 

Fink: I just woke up (night shift sucks) but I don't recall seeing ball joints on an SA Toyota....might consider another Tech