Offroad-Express

What can i do to my YN60 surf to fix/maintain/service my steering to make it feel actually safe to drive, anyone who drives or who as driven a hilux knows how floaty the factory steering is, and at open road speeds, theres alot of play in the steering and feels quite floaty, i have power steering. is there simple serviceing that can be done, ball joints and bushes to replace, or is it quite typical?

id like to know too, sceary stuff

sure is, real responsive anything under say 80ks, but soon as your on the motorway, you gota be fully aware and in touch with handling, take your mind off what ya doin for a couple seconds and ya drifting across lanes

sounds like a fj40 i know , scarey at 100 kmh

mine you steer and it takes abit for it to respond. ####### strange feeling

is it floaty like this hilux
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzxuEOxYSLE

I never seem to have this problem in mine. Maybe it's your wheel bearings?

Rip out the shit push pull steering and do crossover steer its the best mod you will do to the pos

just serviced front bearings when i did new brakes, theres no rattles or knocking so to speak, just like the other guys have said, not responsive at high speed and will float over the road if your not concentrating on what your doing, should i replace the steering dampner?

Chopper01 wrote:Rip out the shit push pull steering and do crossover steer its the best mod you will do to the pos

yea seems to be from what others have said, what sorta time frame and dollar value is this mod?

J_Dub wrote:

Chopper01 wrote:Rip out the shit push pull steering and do crossover steer its the best mod you will do to the pos

yea seems to be from what others have said, what sorta time frame and dollar value is this mod?

That is true its all about how much cash you want to tip into it , but when you do it you would love it

Are the cups in the drag link tight?

Chopper01 wrote:

J_Dub wrote:

Chopper01 wrote:Rip out the shit push pull steering and do crossover steer its the best mod you will do to the pos

yea seems to be from what others have said, what sorta time frame and dollar value is this mod?

That is true its all about how much cash you want to tip into it , but when you do it you would love it

definately dont mind spending the money if its worth while and as good as it sounds, i wont be selling me truck anytime soon

What Chopper said.
Or if you want to throw money at the shit standard setup, check the cup washers, c-arm (for cracking between the king pin studs), Steering box for slop, chassis for cracking or twisting, torque rod bushes, wheel alignment, shackle bushes.
And anything else that moves in relation to the front axle and steering.
Cruisers have a totally different setup and even in static mode, they have huge slop in the steering linkages.

might cost you a bit but if it goes you could be dead,i drove my POS 70 series cruiser to lake daniels,there was play that i had not sorted before the trip got in a little bit and all 4 steering bolts on the arm snapped off due to the play eating at them,had i been on the hills on the way over and had this happen id probly be dead(cruiser brakes are nothing to get excited about) i know have high steer arms that i got off a mate for cheaper than new got his drag link and ball joints as they were all modded to use with the arms and i feel ALOT safer now when driving it andwhere

worth the money coz ya can take it off when you write the truck off and keep it or sell it on

yea its getting to the point where i really need to pay some attetion to it, might take it down to pitstop tomorrow and get there opinion, im quite capable of doing most things once i know what the problem is and i got the parts to fix it, just need to find the problem first...

I will give you one word of warning.

DON'T OVER TIGHTEN the drag link ball springs if you have a lift and don't have an after market drop drag link ,other wise you will snap a C arm. I have seen 6 do it now and it is very lethal once you lose steering.

Cheers Richard

is there slop in the steering box? ie can you wiggle the steering wheel and not really move the output much? If so tignten the steering box adjuster on the side of the box it has a lock nut and you adjust it with a flat head screw driver. Did it to my lux the other day and it worked a treat. just dont over do it. Jack it up and make sure there is no binding when going lock to lock. and the same when it is sitting on the wheels. Also if it is feeling the road a lot (I found it happens with wider wheels where it will hit a bump or gruve in the road and follow it) then a new steering dampner will help alot too. I'm no expert and would like to see what others think of what i have said but it seems to have worked for me.

Cheers pete

A few weeks ago i noticed my steering dampner ( the factory one) was leaking....i brought an OME one & the difference was amazing....it goes much straighter on the rd...so have a look & check for any signs of leaking.

Petemcc wrote:is there slop in the steering box? ie can you wiggle the steering wheel and not really move the output much? If so tignten the steering box adjuster on the side of the box it has a lock nut and you adjust it with a flat head screw driver. Did it to my lux the other day and it worked a treat. just dont over do it. Jack it up and make sure there is no binding when going lock to lock. and the same when it is sitting on the wheels. Also if it is feeling the road a lot (I found it happens with wider wheels where it will hit a bump or gruve in the road and follow it) then a new steering dampner will help alot too. I'm no expert and would like to see what others think of what i have said but it seems to have worked for me.

Cheers pete

yea there is, fair bit of play in the steering wheel, it will wiggle side ti side a fair bit without there being any movement at the other end... ill have a look tomorrow and get back to ya... might ask ya a bit more about it.. cheers mate

tallsam66 wrote:A few weeks ago i noticed my steering dampner ( the factory one) was leaking....i brought an OME one & the difference was amazing....it goes much straighter on the rd...so have a look & check for any signs of leaking.

mine is factory, and is a little tooth pick of a thing, looks weak and worthless, i have actually planned to replace this and a will do asap

If you don't have any other mods you are doing the crossover is a bit expencive as it requires a cert. have someone wiggle the steering as Pete suggested above and identify where the movement is going

Hilux steering is not the best, it works but if you are serious about offroading then changing to crossover steering as Chopper suggests is the best option this allows you to also remove the tie rod above the front diff giving better front end flex for the drivers side.

One more thing is how recent is your warrant, if the Kingpin bearings have gone it can feel a bit odd and when mine went I thought it was steering initialy, lift the front and see if you can wiggle the tyre, if there is some movement have someone wiggle it and you look at the swivel hub and see if the movement is in the hub (wheel bearing) or the hub itself (Kingpin).

I am going to crossover steering, it does cost more as you will have to get it certified but it transforms the steering from a boat to a car steering.

Cheers Steve

well its fixed. piece a piss, did the adjustment on the steering box and im actually in touch with the steering now, just went for a quick hoon so will see how it feels on the motoorway but already 100% beter, no play at all now in the steering wheel, move the steering wheel ever so slightly and so to do the wheels, and it still self adjusts to a straight line so think ive done right, so with that and when i purchase steering dampner then get alignment should be a minter, cheers for the help, this site actually is helpful...