made it worse :( 1st gen steering

[heyojaybo]

steering was a lil shonky so itried swapping the assembly over for 1 in better nik.
i have not talkled steering before so im no pro at it.
not sure is i have stuffed up somewhere along the track or if the new assembly was worse than the original but steering is now worse, and has alot of freeplay and a big pull to the right.
i took the idler arm off undid both tirod from hubs, unbolted dampener and disconnected the rest from pitman arm. i havea brand new pitman arm to put on but dont have a pitman arm puller atm. there seems to be alot of movement in both the idler arm ball joint and pitman arm balljoint. i have never tightened a ball joint before and feel they arnt tight enough. i dont have a torque wrench and nuts are tighten as far as they will go with 1/2 rattle gun but still lots of movement.

need help to try rectify my problem asap as i drive it daily and worried about steering failure.

 

[92-SR5]

You don't need a pitman arm puller to take it off as long as you have a cutoff wheel. I just cut mine off my 4runner when I put on a dropped pitman arm on mine. If you don't already know, autozone (or something similar) will usually rent the tool without charge with a deposit.

 

[KidVermicious]

I've broken two different pullers trying to get those pitmans off - go straight to the cutoff wheel, in my opinion.

Get a torque wrench. There should be no play in the ball joints or tie rod ends.Then once everything is replaced and torqued to spec, go get an alignment, that's why the truck is pulling. This is your steering you're talking about, don't mess around.

 

[heyojaybo]

I've broken two different pullers trying to get those pitmans off - go straight to the cutoff wheel, in my opinion.

Get a torque wrench. There should be no play in the ball joints or tie rod ends.Then once everything is replaced and torqued to spec, go get an alignment, that's why the truck is pulling. This is your steering you're talking about, don't mess around.

i know what you mean but i dont have the time or cash at the present time and need to somehow fix this myself somehow. asap like you said its my steering

you mean a cutting disc on an angle gringer right?

think i will cut off pitman arm tomorrowundo the idlerarm again and put new pitman on,try tighten idler arm again and see how it is.
if still no good i will try old idler arm again.

i found a alignment trick on you tube that that you can do yourself using string...... will this get me by for a week till i can afford the alignment????

 

[KidVermicious]

Yup, cutoff wheel on a grinder.

You can set your toe very accurately with some straight boards and a string. That does nothing for your caster and camber, though. If all you replaced was the idler and the tie rod ends, your caster and camber should be untouched. If you replaced the ball joints, you'll need to get a complete alignment.

 

[heyojaybo]

this is what took off andput on

 

[heyojaybo]

how is caster and camber tweeked????
can i do it myself?

 

[KidVermicious]

You took your whole tie rod off? What was wrong with it?

That picture is really small, but it looks like just your tie rod, ends, and idler. If you didn't replace your ball joints, you don't need to check your caster and camber. On the other hand, maybe you've got bad ball joints causing your steering trouble.

Did you use new parts?

 

[heyojaybo]

sorry no i didnt do the ball joints and no its a used steering assembly:hiding:

 

[heyojaybo]

seems to be too much movement in these joints

 

[GonOvr]

First, you replaced a used steering system with a used steering system. More than likely it has worn out parts but maybe not as worn out as your original system.

Second, whenever you replace a steering system you have to get it aligned. Even if it came straight from one rig to another. You pulling is probably coming from a toed out issue on the passenger side or a toed in on the driver side. Possibly even both. It is pretty hard to eyeball an IFS steering system for daily driver use. If it was strictly a trail vehicle id say get a tape measure, get it close and have fun.

Worn steering parts need to be replaced with new ones. This is most likely what you will have to do now. I realize scoring used parts is almost always cheaper but also can be more of a headache and time consuming. Best of luck to ya.

 

[KidVermicious]

Yeah, not sure why you'd replace known used parts with unknown used parts and then when they suck assume you did something wrong when you installed them. :redbrick:

 

[heyojaybo]

yeh i know what ya saying. desperate times come for desperate meeasures
so i plan on getting all new gear but will be a couple of weeks off unfortunatly.

what should i do for now?
put the old assembly back on?

should i try fit brand new pitman arm i have, or wait till i have all the new gear here??

 

[KidVermicious]

If your old stuff drove better, I'd put it back on. You'll still need to reset your toe alignment.

If your pitman arm is bad, and you have a new one ready to go on, I don't know of any reason not to go ahead and do that.