something wrong with allignment

JLC84cam350

JLC84cam350

New member
OK, i just baught a 92 4runner that had a small accident, i replaced stabilizer shock and the transversal bar i believe it is called (one that connects to your tie rods). Now it goes completely straight, and doesn't pull towards any direction, but i noticed a problem though. When you look at the 4runner outside from the front, both wheels have an angle to them, as id the camber wasn't set right. they look like this fromt he front / \. But i notced that when i go in reverse and stop it then check out side, they are set like this \ /. What the hell is causing this. Could the allignment nuts or bolts whatevre be loose? NOTE that this is one both sides. The collision did not affect the drivers side, and was only a small impact, driver hit a guard rail. No vibrations come from it when i drive it down the streets, neither does it make any weird noises. THanks for you time.
 
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hey guys, could it be some loose in the idler arm that is causing this? I know it doesn't have anything to do with the camber, but both the pitman and idler have a bit of loose in them.
 
Stock tires/rims? Overweight wheel set-ups could also cause this. (Since you notice it when the vehicle is stopped, and there is no inertia to the wheels.)

Is your 92 subject to the steering linkage recall?

(Sorry to bring up the recalls, but there are only two....and this might be relevant.)
 
steering linkage Would only cause toe problems not camber
check all your ball joints, controll arms, controll arm bushings, wheel bearings. something is worn out if its moving that bad!
Good luck
 
How could you tell if a ball joint was bad?, i tries moving the tire up and down and their is no looseness at all, but their is a bit left to right. And as for bearing, wouldn't it make somekind of sound when going down the highway, everything on it is stock, tires are 225/70/15
 
and o yha, i checked with a friend, told him to get inside while i watched from the front, you can see as he backs up the tires just going like this \ / and a thiew feet after going forward they start to go like this again / \. I tried looking at the ball joints and control arms as this was doing it but i can't really notice any change kinda hard to see i dont want to get run over lol. I do know this as i stated before the idler arm has quiet a bit of loose in it, the pitman isn't as bad. THe side the idler is on does the camber change a bit more than the other side. And that bar i changed, actually moves up and down probably because of how much the idler is loose. Some guy told me that if its loose it might force the wheels to go inside or out depending on the direction your going cause the tires ain't pointing in the same direction. Don't know if i should believe this?
 
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Contrary to popular belief, tie rods can definitely affect camber. All you have to do is adjust them all the way in and look at the tires, then adjust them all the way out and look at them. You'll see that the tie rod pushes the top of the tire in and out when you adjust it.

I don't know for sure what the problem is, but a good place to start is with the parts you know are worn, like the pitman and idler. Once you get those taken care of if you still have the problem you can start looking for bad ball joints, tie rod ends, and bent pieces.

Also, what condition are the wheel bearings in?
 
ovrrdrive said:


Also, what condition are the wheel bearings in?
Click to expand...

I have no clue how to check them, how do you know if they are worn or not, doesn't a worn bearing make this weird sound while riding it, and why would they both go at the same time? Just asking thats all, i ain't no pro here, but i did take out the idler arm, and am going to replace it. But how the heck do you remove the pitman?
 
If you can hear a wheel bearing, it's already too late. (Short story: changed the CV's in my wife's car sometime ago..got to test drive it, heard the wheel bearing, and it burnt withing two miles. I had to find another wheel hub assembly the next day.)

Wheel bearings sound like all holy h311 is breaking loose, and it is.

Jack the thing up to check your tie rods. You have to push/pull top/bottom with no weight on the curb.
 
truck said:
If you can hear a wheel bearing, it's already too late. (
Click to expand...


Not necessarily, my original 1st gen had a bad rear wheel bearing, and it was making noise for months before I finally had it fixed. However, if there is smoke coming out of your wheels, then it's too late =)

One of many things that I did to my old 4Runner that I shouldn't have, and also one of the many that proved how much they can take (dry radiator for 3 months in Wisconsin in Winter? No Problem!)
 
JLC84cam350 said:
I have no clue how to check them, how do you know if they are worn or not, doesn't a worn bearing make this weird sound while riding it, and why would they both go at the same time? Just asking thats all, i ain't no pro here, but i did take out the idler arm, and am going to replace it. But how the heck do you remove the pitman?
Click to expand...

I was just throwing out an idea...

If you jack the tire up off the ground and grab it at 6 and 12 o'clock, if you can wiggle the tire supposedly the wheel bearings either need repacking or replacing.

I'm about to do this on my truck this weekend. I started hearing a suspension noise on the way to work Tuesday morning that amplified by Tuesday night. The only thing I could find wrong was the bearing is loose. Hopefully this fixes my problem...

To remove the pitman arm you just need to remove the nut on the shaft and use a pitman arm puller, which looks a lot like some of the ball joint pullers. I got one of the front end tool kit's on loan from Advanced Auto and it had the puller in there. Just put it on and hit it with the impact and it will pop right off. Sometimes you need to tighten it up and whack it a little with a hammer.

When you put it back on just remember the torque spec on it is 130 ft. lbs. so crank the hell out of it when you put it back on.

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/steering/16steer0.pdf

Also, the idler arms are rebuildable if you need/want to save a little cash.

http://toyota.off-road.com/toyota/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=300937

You can also build it with brass bushings that last a lot longer but may cause premature failure of the arm by loading it too much depending on who you talk to. I saw part numbers over on yotatech but can't seem to find them now...
 
If the spindal is held by two control arms wich are fixed and can only move up and down than how can tie rods change camber
I have done alot of front end alignements and never came
across this. the control arms would have to move in or out
or there is something worn. not trying to start an argument just trying to help
:bigok:
 
front end is completely stock, i plan on putting 2" body lift before next summer though but that won't affect suspension. Just a thought, torsion bars wouldn't cause this aye?
 
toy4 said:
Was his truck lifted? not on a independand front end
only strait axles.
Click to expand...

I never said his was...

I answered you in the thread you started and explained my answer and didn't feel like typing it out here again...

You said tie rods didn't affect camber and I said they did and explained why to you. Do you really feel the need to argue this?
 
JLC84cam350 said:
and o yha, i just orederd a kit of ebay, i am going to get 4 ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, idler and pitman. If this doesn't do the trick i don't know what to do. check it out --> http://cgi.ebay.ca/Ball-Joint-TIE-R...ryZ33580QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know its probably not the best parts on the market bu hey, i don't do that much mileage every year, if i do 15,000 to 20,000 km a year.
Click to expand...

I just put the same kit on my truck last weekend. It made the front end feel a lot better. It tightened everything up.

I'm with you on the quality, but I figured this stuff should last at least a year or so and then I can replace it as stuff wears out. It's well worth the price of the kit...
 
ovrrdrive said:
I just put the same kit on my truck last weekend. It made the front end feel a lot better. It tightened everything up.

I'm with you on the quality, but I figured this stuff should last at least a year or so and then I can replace it as stuff wears out. It's well worth the price of the kit...
Click to expand...

Hey, did all the parts come with grease fittings, i checked it said some of them didn't have any, and where the ones that already had grease fitting pre-greased. Everything fit the way it was supposed too?
 
All of the greaseable parts had zerks for them, I just had to screw them in and grease them. The ones without zerks were pre-greased and aren't serviceable.

The upper and lower ball joints had zerks, the tie rods, pitman, and idler were pre-greased.

Everything went on fine for me and the front end feels great for the first time in years. Now all I need are new bushings and everything is new. I'm sure these parts aren't going to last forever, but to replace everything up there for the price you just can't beat it. As stuff wears out you can do quality replacement parts one at a time.
 
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