Heres one for you!!

[magnum force]

As ya know, went laining with Rich and Will the other week. When we had finished i noticed the steering wheel had gone from..lets say the norm is 12oclock, now its at 10/15 mins past. So, went to get it tracked just and its bang on
They had a good look round and couldnt see anything a foot, so any ideas chaps please

[plumb bob]

If that was you doing the leap over the hump, then I'd say you may have buggered your idler arm or a ball joint, from my experience, the tracking sheds don't seem to notice when they are knackered.

I had my tracking done twice ( with no effect) until I took it to a "propper" garage who found excessive play in the idler arm and an out track rod.

[magnum force]

If that was you doing the leap over the hump, then I'd say you may have buggered your idler arm or a ball joint, from my experience, the tracking sheds don't seem to notice when they are knackered.

I had my tracking done twice ( with no effect) until I took it to a "propper" garage who found excessive play in the idler arm and an out track rod.

Hmmm, did cross my mind that it would be something like that Bob. Are the arms expensive? and how can i tell if it is foo bard?

[plumb bob]

Hmmm, did cross my mind that it would be something like that Bob. Are the arms expensive? and how can i tell if it is foo bard?

I think mine was £72 +vat + p&p from roughtrax, and to be honest I couldn't see the "excessive play" until I removed it and compared it to the new one.

The bushes are about £3 each and its an easy job to change them, you dont even need to jack the surf up.

It may be worth just doing the bushes for now, but you'll need to get the steering geometry checked by someone who knows what they are doing, and knows Hilux 4 runner/surf.

I changed the idler arm and all 4 track rods and the adjusters, just to be on the safe side, cost about £170 from r/trax, and took me about 2 hours to do, and I'm no mechanic.

[magnum force]

Ek! as much as that Bob. sorry for being a pain but i dont suppose you have a photo of the arm so i can identifie it have you?

[stormforce]

http://www.toyotahilux.com/?doc=16&cid=157&vid=513

here you go Phil

[magnum force]

http://www.toyotahilux.com/?doc=16&cid=157&vid=513

here you go Phil

Ta mate

[magnum force]

Come to think about it Rich, the truclk did land on its left side didnt it? which is were the arm is.

[stormforce]

Come to think about it Rich, the truclk did land on its left side didnt it? which is were the arm is.

yes it did Phil now you mention it so that could well of caused the prob.
I think mine will also need doing soon but i need to get an alignment done first tho but that can wait till after the rtts

[magnum force]

So is it that urgent or can the arm wait a bit then?

[stormforce]

So is it that urgent or can the arm wait a bit then?

if it's driving ok then i would think it would do for a little while but i wouldn't leave it too long tho.I'm leaving mine go till after the rtts cause i will need 2 new front tyres so i will let them finish wearing down first s they aint got long to go anyway

[magnum force]

Ok mate, thanks for that. laters!

[plumb bob]

I had to wait about 6 months for the funds to allow replacement, so I don't think it'll do anything stupid like break, but as Stormy says, it will wear the tyres unevenly if you do a lot of milage.

I do very little milage so in the six months I only did about 1000 miles max, but I do notice some scubbing on my front tyres.

You may be lucky and just destroyed a lower bush, but it may be a bent track rod or a blown ball joint on one of the track rods, so I'd say get a specialist to look at it and give an opinion, you may also have knocked the camber/caster out of alignment, as these are adjusted on cams on the surfs.

Mine was out a little, but was all done ( toe in/out, and caster/camber) for about £80 with a machine print out of readings taken before and after.

[magnum force]

I had to wait about 6 months for the funds to allow replacement, so I don't think it'll do anything stupid like break, but as Stormy says, it will wear the tyres unevenly if you do a lot of milage.

I do very little milage so in the six months I only did about 1000 miles max, but I do notice some scubbing on my front tyres.

You may be lucky and just destroyed a lower bush, but it may be a bent track rod or a blown ball joint on one of the track rods, so I'd say get a specialist to look at it and give an opinion, you may also have knocked the camber/caster out of alignment, as these are adjusted on cams on the surfs.

Mine was out a little, but was all done ( toe in/out, and caster/camber) for about £80 with a machine print out of readings taken before and after.

Thanks Bob, got plenty to check then.Thing ill start with the 3 quid arm thing first then see how i go....Ta mate!

[plumb bob]

Thanks Bob, got plenty to check then.Thing ill start with the 3 quid arm thing first then see how i go....Ta mate!

Here's the link ;


http://www.toyotahilux.com/?doc=11&cid=142


If you phone them and speak to Barry, he'll give you advice on how to check the play, good luck.