steering arm

kingtercel · Post by **kingtercel** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:03 am

ive finaly found the enthusiasm replace the steering arm rubber booting
-( installing kingsprings and popping suspension mounts destroyed any enthusiasm i had for front end work for a while)

the original had split and rolled back exposiong the joint.

Is there anything i should know before taking apart the steering set up/wheel alignment??
i figured it shouldnt be too hard; depending on what mood my front strut isin ... hour and a half, 2 hours max

im taking her in for an alignment tomoro so i wont be too overly precise, i heard that you are just supposed to count the rotations of the steering arm screwing out and repeat going back in.

somthing i do know is advise from someone who has done it before can cut out some seriously annoying mistakes
cheers

takza · Post by **takza** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:29 am

You're talking about the boot on the steering rack? Yea...you just need to get it back fairly close if you are going to have it aligned. Real issue is getting the tie rod end loosened up.

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:10 am

takza wrote: Real issue is getting the tie rod end loosened up.

I've replaced these boots on two tercels now, and what a pain in the ass it was! The only way I was able to get my tie rod end loosened up was to heat it with a torch, and then dump it in a bucket of cold water. Then I had to put the thing in a vice, and turn the end off with a pipe wrench. (This all after removing the inner tie-rod joint (or whatever its called) from the steering rack).

kingtercel · Post by **kingtercel** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:00 am

yeh was a bit of a minger to get off, blow torch seems a bit extreme though, yours musthave been a case of when two bewcomes one

, couldnt get it aligned as there was too much loose play in the rod, i investigateed and found the universoal tie rod joint, into the steering arm is not as tight as once was, ( jiggles up and down)
not sure wherether a wreckers part will be any better seeing as my car is 87 and any earlre model will surely have the same problem,
any advise??

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:02 am

You could use a used part...but considering the work involved I'd go with new.

Might check the inner tie rod ends too...they get loose. Need to loosen the boot at the inner end on the rack...and slide it to the outside...move the joint around to see if it's loose.

kingtercel · Post by **kingtercel** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:18 pm

im not too sure wat u mean by inner tie rodsends, but it is definately the universal ball joint beneath the boot which is giving on the joint.
the other ( steering rack-right side) seems fine, probably because the main rack rod is shorter to the tie rod on that side
ive decided not to go toyota 'pay out your ears' genuine, so i guess ill just keep an eye out for some wreked tercel parts

my mission for wheel alignment + balancing for presicion high speed trailer towing has not ended yet!

xirdneh · Post by **xirdneh** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:57 am

[
ive decided not to go toyota 'pay out your ears' genuine, so i guess ill just keep an eye out for some wreked tercel parts

you should be able to buy the inner tie rod ends
they can be around 19.00 each to 30.00 each depending on where you get em.
the inner tie rod end is the ball looking joint on each end of steering rack and covered by rubber boot. the boots vary in price from 15.00 to 36.00
the inners are kind of hard to get off. a couple of pipe wrenches with cheater handles works for me
just be care full where you use it as you can damage the shaft of the steering rack.
also be carefull not to twist the steering rack shaft
so as not to have a front-end alignment i carefully measure the existing tie rod distances so they can be replaceed close to the same

dug320 · Post by **dug320** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:56 pm

I picked up the entire rack on flea bay for 60 plus 25 for shipping.