Hi,

I have a '90 4Runner V6 that I've owned for about 4 months. I'm just going through the process of fixing up any of the few problems I've found on it. I'm not super mechanical, so I'm going slow and relying on shops to give me good work.

I just took it in to a Toyota dealer to get them to look at a couple things. One of the problems I'd been noticing was that sometimes when the wheel was cranked all the way either right or left, I would hear a metal on metal noise. It was never a problem with regular cornering or driving. They noticed that my truck hadn't had the steering column recall done, so they said they'd look at the whole thing.

They just called me back and said that they noticed a different problem. There is an aftermarket steering dampener on it, and the bolt is way longer than the factory one. They don't want to let me drive away because they say the truck is dangerous as it is. They say that when the wheel is cranked, the bolt can get stuck potentially, which would lock me going in a circle essentially. Anyone heard of this?

I'm not sure what to do. They said either they can put on a factory dampener for $370 CDN, or just take the dampener off, which would be cheaper. What would it drive like without a dampener? That doesn't seem like a good solution to me. Couldn't they just cut the bolt to fit?

Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

 

Tell them it was there when you took it to them and it'll be there when you come and take your truck home. If it is a problem then you can easily fix it yourself for a lot less then that.

 

$370 cdn thats like $2 USD, shurly you have some US pocket change laying around

they have to remove it as part of the replacement, just dont have them put it back on, ask them waht size bolt it WOULD need and bring that with you and bolt it on in the parking lot, or wait till you get home and do it.

 

Yeah, don't sweat it too much. Places like to tell you that you're going to die if you drive your vehicle home, and charge you 4x more than they need to. I had a radius arm bushing wear out on my F150 and it cost me $4 to fix. The place that IDed the problem for me quoted like $200.

 

Yea untill your economy took a crap while ours did not. .87 on the dollar aint bad at all. Up close to 20% in the last few years and showin no signs of stoppin.

 

My 93 had a Rancho steering stabilizer on it and one of the bolts would hit a bracket when I turned full left. 2 minutes with a hacksaw and no more problem. I wouldn't pay $3 for one of those bicycle pumps Toyota calls a steering stabilizer, never mind 370.

And the metal on metal noise you here is just the steering stops rubbing. There's originally some plastic covers on them which wear out. You can get new ones from the dealer for about $10, or just put some grease or antisieze on them every couple of months. Pics are in here
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/mainte...ront_end/lube/

 

the rancho on my p/u has been
i hear that horrible schreeeech when i hit a bump at full turn

 

eric the red is correct, your steering dampner has nothing to do with the noise. tell them you will fix it when you get it home.