Hi all, so my truck is close to 3 decades old and my steering is not what I would call "tight" so I was thinking about doing the whole front end, here is my list. tell me if all this is everything to re build the steering or if I dont need something. upper and lower ball joints both sides, sway bar links both sides, idler arm, drag link, tie rod ends both sides, steering stabilizer cylinder, upper and lower control arm bushings and sway bar frame bushings. is that all stuff I would need to freshen up the steering and overall handling? thanks. oh and this is all moog brand stuff. good right?

 

You can adjust the steering gear too. That'll take play out of the steering wheel.
Strut rod bushings can be replaced too. They are likely very old.
How's your shocks?

 

How do I adj the steering gear? my shocks are very old looking and are just rust looking haha. my rear leafs have good arch but my fronts are getting flat looking. im just beginning to do things to this truck, so far everything has been simple, how hard is what ive proposed above with steering and suspension? is it just a matter of unbloting, cleaning and re installing new stuff? anything other then basic mechanic tool set needed?

 

Is your truck 2WD?

 

No, 4wd why?

 

An '82 Toyota 4x4 doesn't have control arm bushings or ball joints or an idler arm.
You are obviously talking about another truck, right?

What is it?

 

See above post..
You dont have upper/lower control arms, idler arms, etc etc.

 

sorry guys, ive had my truck 16mo now and its never needed anything until my accident a few weeks ago and ive done the following. radiator, distributor, cap, rotor, water pump, fan clutch, fan and valve cover gasket all done due to the accident, I also did the belt and oil pan gasket and have new hoses ready. so now as all this stuff was easy, im trying to learn about the rest of the truck. so could you guys list all the front steering parts for me so I can get them. thanks guys

 

also, none of the drivetrain parts were effected in the accident but the truck is original so the parts are old and kinda sloppy in my opinion. so thats why I want to install new front end parts.

 

The stock steering system on your truck consists of (in order moving down from the steering shaft) a steering gear box, pitman arm, draglink, j-arm (drivers side steering arm which conects to the drag link, wrapping around the shock and bolted to the knuckle), tie rod (with tie rod ends which connect to steering arm on each side), and finally your passenger side steering arm.

If you were in an accident you likely broke one or more of the joints in your steering system, ie. pitman arm to draglink, draglink to j-arm, loose tie rod ends... or damaged your gear box...

A while back i completely destroyed my stock steering, i sheared the gears in the steering box and broke every joint from the box to the knuckle. I was quoted over a grand in parts alone to replace the entire set up, it was cheaper for my to convert my truck to high steer then it would have been to replace it with factory parts.

When you get the chance jack up the front end of your truck, crank the steering wheel all the way in one direction, then grab the driver side tire and push/pull it to see if it moves. Look at all those joints to see if there is play in any of them.

 

cool thanks for that info! the steering seems the same as it was pre accident it even drives straight down the road no alliment issues but its just overall kinda loose feeling and those joints are like blobs of dirt/mud/grease haha. the hit was from the bumper up, even the lower valance which is the thinest piece was ok. you can see the pics on this page scroll down to my wrecked truck threads.

 

Yup, sounds like a solid axle to me. They can take a beating and your alignment stays the same.
I'd check the adjustable ends of your drag link.
Have someone rock the steering wheel from 10 - 2 o'clock while you look at the joints. The cups could be very worn, dry or broken. Also make sure the round ends of the pitman and J-arm are still nice and round.

 

thank you, so should I use some engine degreaser and/or brakeparts cleaner to clean all those joints so I can get a better look at them? and make um easier to work on??

 

No. Don't use any chemical cleaners. Just wipe away the excess grease after re-greasing everything. You don't want to break down any lubricants in the steering joints.