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Can you elaborate on how you centered the steering wheel? I was not aware there was adjustment for that in the steering box.
No, there isn't. I have a steering wheel puller. The splines on the wheel are pretty coarse. Moving by one spline seems like about 15 or 20 degrees.
The reason it was off was because I didn't get the pitman arm on the correct spline of the sector shaft when I installed the box. I was working alone at the time and should have had my son sit in the driver's seat and hold the wheel centered. The splines on the sector shaft are finer than the steering wheel but it's a bigger pita to remove the pitman arm than the steering wheel. So I got lazy and took the easy way.
No, there isn't. I have a steering wheel puller. The splines on the wheel are pretty coarse. Moving by one spline seems like about 15 or 20 degrees.
The reason it was off was because I didn't get the pitman arm on the correct spline of the sector shaft when I installed the box. I was working alone at the time and should have had my son sit in the driver's seat and hold the wheel centered. The splines on the sector shaft are finer than the steering wheel but it's a bigger pita to remove the pitman arm than the steering wheel. So I got lazy and took the easy way.
Ahh ok, gotcha, makes perfect sense now. Thanks for the explanation.
Finally carved out a couple hours and put the new shocks on yesterday. They feel much better than the KYB gas-a-justs that were on it. However, now I can see that having the torsion bars cranked up so high, the front shocks are moving very little. I can't really even push the front end down with a knee on the bumper test.
Anybody wants these KYBs, send me a PM and pay the shipping via UPS to you. Paypal works.
Had great weather this weekend and drove the truck on Sat and took it apart on Sunday to do the ball joint spacer and torsion bar install. All in all, it went pretty well. Just a bit slow on the first side due to the learning curve. Here's some photos.
The 2x4 and floor jack helped raise the upper control arm. The rubber bushings bind a lot. I had to drive the studs out of the upper ball joint with a map gas torch and hammer. If you smell burning rubber, it's your bj boot.
I got very lucky (compared to some I've read) in removing the torsion bar jacking screws. My parts were not rusted. Still, this is one of those jobs that air tools definitely help.
Here is the UCA being held up so it's easy to clearance using the angle grinder and cutoff wheel.
Here is the ball joint spacer all snugged down. It took a couple fittings and grinding a little more metal away with the flapper wheel but in the end it fits flush to the UCA.
Removing the driver's side torsion bar is a bit more of a puzzle than the pass side due to the exhaust being in the way. My work around was to first poke the yoke out as shown and knock it off with the adjustable wrench and hammer. Then it was easy to draw the bar toward the rear and coax it out. I put stock bars back in. The camber is ++ now so I will have to deal with that and one T-bar is cranked higher than the other but I ran out of time so I'll address these things asap. There is no level place in my driveway to adjust it so I'll have to get it in the garage. Drove it up the street and it felt good to have the front suspension actually compressing over bumps now.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; Sep 12, 2017 at 01:00 PM.
RAD, Those white ones in the photo were the Sway-A-Way bars that came on the truck. I've put stockers back in to improve the ride on our awful streets here in Massachusetts. I know, not exciting but I want this truck to ride stock because I'll be doing mostly highway and around town driving with it.
I bought the used stock T-bars off craigslist. They had white paint marks on them that appeared to be factory markings and matched up with the front yokes. Those can only insert in one way.
The rear of the bars also had white marks that matched up with the adjuster arms, however those can be inserted without matching the white marks and I did that by accident on the driver's side.
Last night I was able to remove the driver's side adjuster end and re-align it correctly. So FYI, this can be done without removing the bar from the truck. Fortunately my adjusters we not rusted solid and I took the time to clean and anti-seize the threads so they move Gucci-smoove.
S-J, I'll be in touch. Waiting for the update on Doomy's...
Just ordered new tires that will be installed Saturday. One of my rears is egg shapped and they are all more than 10 years old so I wasn't feeling that good about driving it on the highway 70-75mph.
I decided to go with Yokohama Geolander AT G015 in 31x10.5r15 for a couple reasons.
1) they had great reviews
2) the tires on it now are 32" but the spare is 31". This way all five will be the same size.
3) reducing the tire size will change the effective gear ratio back closer to stock.
4) Looks-wise, the smaller size shouldn't be that noticeable.
I'll also get an alignment with the tires so they will address the +camber that it currently has due to the ball joint spacers now. Looked at it last night and decided I don't own tools strong enough to break those lower control arm adjuster bolts loose.
Anybody needs three good(and one oblong) BFG A/T 32x11.5r15's let me know. Tread is still very good. I'll be putting them on Craigslist.
Got the new Yokohamas on Saturday but the shop really dissapointed me with their feeble attempt at an alignment. One camber bolt was frozen so they tried to give me back the truck with the front tires still cambered out and i lost it. Shamed their alignment tech into trying again and finally had to take the truck home and break the bolt loose myself. It wasn't that big a deal, a map gas torch, some PB Blaster and a 4lb sledge took care of it.
I guess i am old enough to remember when this would be no big deal for a shop and they actually test drove your car after the alignment.
So after getting the bolt out i cleaned it and anti-seized it and it will now be the easiest adjustment they have ever seen when i bring it back at 8:30 tomorrow morning for the realignment.
From the few miles i drove home the Yokohamas feel magical and quiet. After the alignment i'll drive it into the office, 50 highway miles each way and post my driving impressions afterward.
Last edited by Melrose 4r; Sep 20, 2017 at 06:41 PM.
The tire shop successfully brought in the caster/camber and toe. This commute to work was my first long highway drive with the replaced T-bars, shocks, bj spacers and new tires. First, it is great to be able to keep up with traffic and have a smooth ride due to the well-balanced YOKOHAMAs. Second, I can see I may be able to take a little more play out of the steering box adjustment. I'll do that this evening. It is a very windy day and I was blowing around a little more than I would like. Also may want to relax the torsion bars a little more now. I'll have to find a level place to get a good look at whether the front of the truck is too high or in agreement with the rear height. I am not yet convinced these new Gabriel OEM Spectrum shocks are as good as factory Toyota units...
...may want to relax the torsion bars a little more now. I'll have to find a level place to get a good look at whether the front of the truck is too high or in agreement with the rear height...
I wonder what's a practical way of measuring how front and rear lifts match. Flat ground to frame? Right now, I'm only going by wheel rim to wheel-well lip.
Please keep us posted how you do it.
wheel to wheel-well lip can work as long as you keep in mind that the arches are different heights to begin with. you could do frame to flat floor, but then it might still look off. id get the rear end up above the front by an inch or 2 and call it good. mioght look a little raked, but will even out when theres weight back there. also, make sure you level with a half to 3/4 tank of gas. it can throw off your measurements when full vs empty.
Aug 15, 2017 | 06:30 AM
