KZJ78 steering issues

[rollingrufus]

Lads!
Hope all is well.
I have a 1994 Prado KZJ78 thats starting to feel a bit sloppy on the road at highway speeds. It seems to have a "gap" or deadspot in the steering where there is no reaction from the steering wheel. It can wander off bumps and require more than normal input from the steering wheel to correct. Almost like theres a section where if I was to hold the wheel still, I would still have steering movement either way of a couple degrees or so??
I am running 33's with a 50mm lift, with castor correction bushes installed. I have adjusted the steering box which helped, and have checked all tie rod ends and linkages etc. There seems to be no slop anywhere I can see. Just had a fresh wheel alignment and balance. (the balance didnt seem to fix a steering wheel wobble that occurs around 60 km while under braking). The one thing I did notice was when I had the truck raised on a jack while adjusting the steering box, and turning the wheels using the road wheels to turn the wheels, it felt like there was a flat spot or a worn spot as the wheels went through straight ahead. I also noticed my knuckle seals are gone and excess grease. (next job on the list!) Any ideas??
Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers guys,
Benny.

[lax2wlg]

It sounds possible that your steering gearbox is worn. How many kms on the vehicle?

Regarding the wobble, did you install an adjustable panhard rod in the front when you lifted it? If not, have you checked the condition of the panhard bushes?

You can get a prybar in there and lever it against the mounts to see if the panhard bushes are sloppy

[Smurf]

Check your front panhard bushes, get someone to turn the wheel side to side while you look at the bushes for movement, also check all rod ends, (all 4, Tie rod and draglink ends) while the steering is being cycled side to side as the play may be only minimal. Also the clamps on the rod ends may be loose allowing a small amount of play in the threads. I just had this in my Prado last week. Presented itself as a steering shake not loose steering though.

[bob_or_jim]

You mentioned a wobble at 60k's under brakes.........My surf had this issue for some time (KZJ78 Front end) and had warped/bent rotors. Put new rotors and pads in and she was like new!

[churchill]

get someone to wiggle the steering wheel until they can feel tension build up either side of the dead spot. start at the steering wheel and work you way through the steering looking for relative movement between parts.

I suspect your king pin bearings might be the problem if you have grease coming out of you swivel hubs.

[uptomynutsinruts]

Hey mate I've got the same bloody deadspot and can't figure it out, just thought I'd let you know to check how tight your kingpin studs are, over time they loosen and then you break a stud, happened to me last week so spent Friday in the rain rebuilding my right swivel hub. Run a 17mm spanner over them to check. With the wobble under braking like has been said its probably warped rotors but could even be uneven lug wear on your tires so give them a quick check over with a straight edge if they're starting to wear a wee bit. Good luck and hopefully you get it sorted

[rollingrufus]

Cheers lads,
Yes I definitely agree on the rotors, in fact I remember my old man had the same issues, with new pads and rotors being the fix.
Had a quick look at the panhard arm bushes today, seems ok, but will give it a good tweak with a bar.
Are the adjustable panhard arms worth getting? As far as the steering box goes, I think it may well be the culprit, the truck has done 340,000 and I think the previous owner spent alot of time in South island river beds.
Awesome guys thanks again for all the advice, legendary.

[rollingrufus]

Hey guys,
Just an update, checked the pan hard arm bushes (cheers Smurf) no movement up and down, but a lot side to side, so replaced those, huge difference! With the split bushes onto the diff, do I tighten the castle nut up tight? Obviously but then I thought the arm will move around the bushes then, rather than the bushes spinning on the post, causing them to prematuarly wear maybe?
Anyway huge difference so thanks again lads, much appreciated.

[Pradozer]

Hi Guys

Haven't been on the forum for a while, my 1993 Prado front panhard rod bushes are looking a bit second hand and needing replacing and you guessed it the truck is just out of warranty.

There are a lot of different bushes on the market, some are that hard they don't squash up, they just split with axle articulation.

Has anyone found the magic bush that articulates well and does not split.

Cheers

Paul