Steering Wheel Adjustment

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Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 09:57:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Chris Geiger 
Subject: Steering wheel alignment
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

> << 
>  I have a '93 4Runner and was wondering if anyone else out there had 
>  consistent problems with their steering wheel alignment.  I hit a bump, 
>  it goes one way, another bump, it goes the other.  It seems to be 
>  constantly wandering a little all over the place.  Then I take it 
>  off-road and its off by a good 45 degrees.
>  Is this just me or do others have this problem, and if so, are there any 
>  way to correct this problem?

You have a big problem. Don't drive your truck until your figure it out!
It could be the idler arm or any of the ball joints or any of the tie
rods. Jack up the front of the truck and check for play in the wheel
bearings by lifting each front tire up and down then left and right. Then
get under the front of the truck and grab the front of each front tire and
pull them together. Then push them apart. Keep doing this over and over
looking at a different ball joint each time. 
I run my truck hard offroad including rubicon and pismo dunes and lots of
fire roads and once I am back on the freeway home the wheel is strait like
it should be.

> If you mean the steering wheel not being centered when facing straight 
> ahead -  I have it too.  Several shops told me they could do nothing 
> about it.  I figure there must be something I could do, but I have not
> messed with it.

The way to fix the steering wheel not being strait is to turn both tie rod
adjusters in the same direction. Loosen up the 4 adjuster clamps (2 on
each side) If you rotate the adjusters in different directions you will
change the toe setting ( should be 1/8" toe in) but if you trun them
together it will keep the same toe setting but change the position of the
wheel. One full rotation of both adjusters will move the stering wheel
about 1/8 turn. You may want to check the toe before and after this
adjustment to make sure you did not change it. Use a tape measure to
measure the distance between the tires at the front most position and lock
the tape in that position. Don't bother looking at the tape. just move it
to the rear most position and there should be about 1/8 of free play
between the tape and the rear most part of the tires. When turning the
adjusters put some WD-40 on the day before and get some big pliers, these
are often hard to move if they have not been adjusted in some time. To
move the left and right adjusters in the same direction put the pliers on
top of one adjusters and pull the pliers down. do this until you get one
full revolution out of the adjuster, then go to the other adjuster and do
the same put the plyers on top and pull down and repete until one full
trun is complete. Drive the truck and see if the problem is worse than
before the adjustment. if it is move both adjusters back the other way. I
find that after a front end alignment they never get my stering wheel
strait so I do this to fix it. It takes many tries and about an hour or so
to get right. But I hate the steering wheel not being strait going down
hyway

If you would like more info, I have thought of creating a page to front
end alignment that could include some pictures. If a few people request it
I will put one togeather.

Chris Geiger 93 4Runner http://geiger.mcl.ucsb.edu/offroad.html

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Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 23:19:25 -0400
From: "penny" 
Subject: Steering wheel alignment
To: 

To those of you that have these steering wheels that are not straight after
an alignment, Point your wheels straight, remove the big bolt under your
horn cover and remove the steering wheel.Put it back on straight, tighten
the bolt to spec. and your done. Simple,Quick and FREE!       Works for
me...Jimmy 82Toy4x4 L.B.
purnrgy@quancon.com
http://www.geocities.com/baja/6397/

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Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 07:04:23
From: Ed Ruf 
Subject: Steering wheel alignment
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

But the wheel is splined, so this will most likely only get you so
close. The real solution as stated before is to only go to an alignment
shop which does this as part of the alignment procedure as was common
years ago, but now seems to get you a puzzled look when you ask about
it. If you are paying for the alignment, they can do it right.

Just my $0.02,

Ed

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Date: 12 Aug 1997 16:02:03 -0700
From: "Jay Kopycinski" 
Subject: Steering wheel alignment
To: "Toyota 4x4 List" 

                      Subject:                              Time:  3:55 PM
  OFFICE MEMO         Steering wheel alignment              Date:  8/12/97

Ed Ruf  wrote:

>But the wheel is splined, so this will most likely only get you so
>close. 

The splines are pretty small and I've always been able to get my
wheel aligned well using this method.

Chris Geiger  wrote:
>By doing this you will cause problems with the "turn signal cancel"
>hardware in the steering shaft. Very poor choice.

I've done this I don't know how many times and my turn signal
cancel parts work fine. As I recall on my truck.......the little
cancel pins are located on the steering wheel so that when 
you pull it out and respline it, the pins drop back where they 
should be for proper operation.

______________________________________________
Jay Kopycinski                              '85 Toylet   (ROKTOY)
Gilbert, AZ                                    '85 4Runner
ryna10@email.sps.mot.com           '91 4Runner
http://www.netzone.com/~jayk
Arizona Lo-Rangers 4WD Club            TLCA #3243
______________________________________________

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Date: Thu, 05 Feb 1998 16:50:32 -0600
From: Jack Alford 
Subject: With all this rain...
To: 

>And I see I'll have to pull the steering wheel. A generic "steering wheel
>puller" from the parts store OK, or is there some special puller I need?
>The manual appears to just call for a normal puller. Also, what's the
>reinstall procedure as I've never done this? Does it need a tool to be
>pushed back on the column? Or is it tapped in or what? Thanks...

Just unscrew the nut holding the steering wheel on and leave it threaded
on a few turns and plant your feet firmly on the floor under the brake pedal
and pull FIRMLY on the steering wheel. It'll pop loose. I'm serious about
leaving
the nut on though, that thing will pop you in the head/chest/face, which ever
direction you happen to be exerting the most force in ! 

To put it back on just line up the splines and put it on and torque it down to
the proper specs...

 - jack

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Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 15:17:02 -0800
From: "Brandon Miller" 
Subject: With all this rain...
To: 

I found if you pull hard and have someone hit the nut with a hammer it
breaks free, I personally can't just yank it off no matter how hard I try.
Never used a puller though.

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Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 08:13:14 -0800
From: Dan Merrick 
Subject: Steering wheel removal
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

Don: 
To remove your steering wheel: remove the center cover to reveal the
mounting nut. Loosen the nut, unscrew it until about three threads are
still grabbing the center bolt. Then, grab the wheel and tug it towards
you. You may need to jerk it pretty hard. Keeping the nut on the center
bolt prevents the wheel from coming all the way off and knocking you
out!(not a pretty sight, I've seen it happen!) The wheel should come loose.
Then, remove the nut and remove the wheel. To reinstall, make sure the your
tires are pointing straight, then install the steering wheel in the
straight position. Put the nut on and retighten. You do not need to tap it
in, the nut will press the wheel back on to the splines. It may take a few
tries to get the wheel in the right position, as I recall, the splines are
pretty small. 

Good luck, and keep us posted on the progress of the intermittent wipers!

Dan
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