1987 4Runner "death wobble", where to look first?

All has been going pretty well since I bought her in March. Tuned her up with LCE performance stuff and as soon as it gets warm enough going to add headers, new cat, and bring in for new muffler and tailpipe.

A week or so ago, I drove through a rough spot on a city road. Once the road smoothed out, the steering wheel was wobbling horribly (scary). I slowed down, it went away and no more problems getting home.

A few days later I went over some railroad tracks and same thing happened.

I LOVE doing front end work, but it's cold and I have little access to a garage. I figured I'd jack it up and yank on the wheels to see what's loose.

Any pointers would be appreciated. Also, since it goes away, would I be okay to drive it (not over 50 mph) to work and back? I'm a little concerned I'll hit a pothole at higher speed and she'll wobble my off the road.

Thanks,

Joe - First Thread

 

I am FAR from being any sort of 4Runner pro or anything, and especially, I am not by any means a suspension kinda guy.
Having said all that, I have owned an '87 22R long bed, 2WD, pickup since '88, and an '87 22RE, 4WD 4Runner since '89, for whatever that's worth. I have never experienced the "Death Wobble" in the front end. I lived in Yuma, Az. for a LONG time before I moved up to Oregon, and I drove them both off-road in the desert around Yuma on weekends, and they both did great.

Shortly after I bought each one, like '90 or '92, something like that, I put Rancho shocks in them both, including the Steering Stabilizer. That "shock" looking thing they have on the steering arms. As I said, never a wobble, death or otherwise. Just a slight rear end jiggle at a certain speed, and a tire balance cures that.

Have you ever replaced that steering stabilizer shock? Or the rest of the shocks, for that matter?
Isn't the "death wobble" exactly what it's there for?
I'm sure there are a ton of other things in the steering it could be, but that's just what comes to my mind. From my vast knowledge of steering (yeah, right), it would seem to me that the stabilizer would damp out such things before they can bother you.
Yes? No? I dunno. Just a thought. I get so few, and they die of lonliness pretty quick...

Pat☺

 

Check ball joints and tie rod ends along with the stabilizer. A wobble is usually more than only a stabilizer.

 

This weekend while it was running I had my son steer right to left while I watched all the joints. Everything looks and feels tight. I was hoping I could find one "clunking" or popping up or down, but real smooth and everything is tight.

If all of the joints are good (steering bar joints, upper and lower ball joints), then it could be brakes or wheel balance. Wheel balance - probably not since it gets better. A loose caliper or pad?

I put a lift kit on my Land Cruiser myself, so have some experience in suspensions. The symptom is unique in that it only happens after hitting a rough road, then goes away once you slow down. Seems like something gets out of line during the bumps, then realigns with the slow down. WEIRD!

I think I'll drive it from occasionally to work and go through the suspension in the spring. Thought I'd throw it out there for some feedback.

 

When was the last time you had it aligned? Sounds like you have some bump steer going on

 

Never, just bought it in March. But this problem is new.

I'd prefer not to get it aligned if I need to change out the front suspensions parts.

 

A lot of places do lifetime alignments. I paid I wanna say 130 at Firestone and have them on all my vehicles. Take them back whenever and get an alignment for the life of the vehicle. I agree tho jack up the front end and start finding what's loose. The fact that it happened all the sudden would make me think something failed or the road was rough enough it knocked it out of alignment.

 

I used to check ball joints by jacking up the front end enough to put a crown bar underneath the front tire and lift up...if you can lift it up at all...and I don't mean compressing the tire it usually indicates bad ball joints...and yep...I wouldn't drive until you find out for sure...they can separate which would not be fun at all!!! I hope this helps

 

Get a PSC steering stabilizer. Problem solved.

 

Warmed up a little so gave it another look.

A whole lot of play in the steering and gearbox is leaking. I tried to adjust the steering gearbox adjustment screw/nut, but couldn't get the locking nut free from threaded rod with flathead slot on top.

I plan to replace the gearbox and probably the rest of the system. I found "Maval" out of Ohio who remanufactures gearboxes, looks like a good company (anybody used them before?). I intend to speak with them on replacing the entire hydraulic system and google how to do it. I'll post a write-up of the "fun" (leaving the cusswords and throwing of wrenches out).

This is priority #2, will take a while so needs to warm up more. I'm hoping April.

Priority #1 is 2005 Pre-Runner driveshaft removed, brought in to Inland for rebuild, reinstall, SELL!

 

I WAS able to break the nut you refer to lose, and the screw works very well. Small adjustments of the screw have pretty noticeable effect on the steering sensitivity. Did you try breaking the nut loose with an impact wrench, or using a good breaker bar? There's room in there to for that if you have some sort of universal involved, preferably built into the breaker bar.

The leaks I found were all in/on the hoses and their associated connection gaskets. Normally the pressure hose and it's connections. The return line, however, can leak, usually just out of the hose it's self due to age and deterioration of the rubber, or whatever it is they use.

I wish you great good fortune in your endeavours!
Pat☺

 

Thanks for the feedback Pat.

I broke the nut with a deep well socket and long, long extension. Not a lot of room in there, I couldn't get a wrench on it very good, so I put a box wrench on it from above and snuck a flathead screw driver next to the wrench and tried several times to torque the screwdriver while holding the nut, but couldn't bust them apart.

You said "the screw works very well" but I couldn't break it from the nut. It's like adjusting the valves, right? Once you bust the nut, the threaded rod should be adjustable, but that was not my experience.

You said "There's room in there too for that if you have some sort of universal involved". I couldn't get to the nut from the side, the bracket for the high pressure pipe was in the way. Did you have to take that off to get room? Taking out the radiator seems extreme to get at it better. You'd think they'd put an "adjustment location" with easier access than this.

You've inspired me. I'm going to try to get at it better before buying anything new. If I can get it right, then I'll try and figure out how to flush the system and put new, clean hydraulic fluid in there.

Joe

 

Yes, it's just like adjusting the valves. But you have to break the nut loose first.
Did you try putting some penetrating oil on the threads the nut rides on, like WD 40, PB Blaster, or whatever?
Another thing to be sure of: Make a mark of some kind that matches the orientation of the screw, so if it turns while you break the nut loose, you can make sure it's put back to the starting point before you make any adjustments.

Don't worry about holding the screw at first. Just worry about breaking the nut free. I put a socket on it, with an extension to allow me to place the breaker bar higher up in the engine compartment. That's what gave me the room to exert some real force to it. Once I broke it free, it moved easily. It's just that initial effort that's difficult. Again, a penetrating oil helps a lot. Put some on, let it sit for a day or so, then put some more on before you place the socket on the nut. It'll help.

A universal joint on the breaker bar will allow you to use the space available in the engine compartment. It sure helped me!

If you have access to an impact driver, it would help a lot. It's a better tool than a breaker bar, but harder to fit in the area available. That's why I used a breaker bar. Again, an extension, or two or three , and a universal joint, in the setup make life much easier.

The FSM has the correct flushing method to use to flush out the PS system. If/when you do it, make SURE you use Automatic Transmission fluid, NOT Power Steering fluid. I know, it strange, but that's how Toyota designed it, and PS fluid makes the seals leak a LOT sooner.

I do wish you good fortune in getting this taken care of!
Pat☺