Ball joints, tire wear, steering wheel vibration!

Folks-

I've got a problem I'm trying to figure out.

In the last year I've been having issues with steering wheel vibration at speeds over 55 or so. It doesn't seem to be due to the quality of the roads either, sometimes I'll be at 55-60 on a so-so road and the vibration is minimal/non existent, and sometimes on smoother roads it might vibrate.

I suspected tires at first. I have a set of Hankooks on that I didn't rotate for a long time, I bought them new in Oregon and put close to 7k on the vehicle. So I took the van in and had the tires balanced and rotated.

And guess what, at first the ride seemed worse! I hardly ever have to go over 55 here so it hasn't been a big deal but when I get on the Interstate its nice to hit 60-65 without the vibration.

So, today I went out and rotated my own tires. I noticed that the left front tire was very worn on the outside edge only. No other tire showed strange wear patterns, which is funny because if the tires were rotated before then there should be another tire with wear too, right?

Anyway a light bulb went off as I realized that the LF side is where I was told I had a bad lower ball joint. Could this be my issue? It hasn't been anything that's bothered me so I never thought about having it fixed. I was hoping it might just be an alignment thing but I hate to pay for an alignment only to have it be not the problem!

Any thoughts? thanks!

Mark in Maine w/ '87 4WD LE

Any time there's an irregular tire wear issue you should take it in for an alignment. I don't know where to go to in Maine, but here I recommend Les Schwab. Les Schwab will align the vehicle for $50. Part of the alignment is checking critical components (like ball joints & tie rods). One thing I like about Les Schwab is they don't charge unless they make an adjustment (alignment is free). Due to liability reasons, if they find a part that's bad or worn beyond acceptable limits, then they won't adjust (it's still free).

Since you already know the lower left ball joint is bad, then it's a no-brainer (replace it already). After replacement take the van in for an alignment. Putting it off will cost you more in the long run (tires are expensive). Having an alignment issue will also decrease your gas mileage. Worn parts (like ball joints) make it impossible to accurately align a vehicle and improper alignment is the #1 reason for irregular tire wear. This is the reason many people (myself included) have their vehicle's alignment checked EVERY time new tires are installed. Tim

Well I think an alignment is in order, yes.

The lower ball joint I've known about but because I didn't notice any problems due to it being bad I never looked in to fixing it.

I have to say the procedure seems straightforward EXCEPT for the several "SST" required and also removing the steering knuckle seems a little tricky, does it need to come off for just replacing the lower?

thanks!

mark

Mark - If one lower ball joint is bad, don't take chances, replace both sides, they are relatively cheap and I guarantee you will notice a huge improvement in handling with fresh joints in there.
Noises over bumps will be significantly decreased as will the the crosswind effect.
I couldn't believe the difference when I did mine, night and day.
They are easy enough to check as well but if they are original, it is a no brainer.
Just remember the proper procedure for checking and don't confuse it the way I did.

I was jacking up the lower arm and levering between tire and road and of course everything seemed fine as the joint was under load.
In reality, you have to lever between the rim and the lower arm, because the "spring" is on the upper arm.

Ignore the manual when it comes to procedure, there is absolutely no reason to pull the spindle.
I used a ball joint press and a hammer (back off the nut, load up the joint, then give it a whack) then unbolt the base and remove.
While the press may have been overkill I had less chance of whacking something important and could easily see when the joint separated.
IIRC, it was necessary to disconnect shocks and sway bar ends to get enough movement from the lower arm though.

BB

Funny thing is, I feel like the van handles really well right now and I don't notice noises going over bumps, maybe my stereo is turned up too loud!

Anyway I haven't checked the ball joint myself but I had the van in to a shop in Philly last year to check out a different problem he said the ball joint was bad, and I just made a mental note, and now with the the whole worn tire on that side well it seems kinda like the problem....

By the way, it seems Rock Auto doesn't have any options for lower ball joints for 4WD, I do think the part number for Toyota is 43330-29165 and Toyota Parts Zone has that one in for $60 or so.

mark

The number you posted is the old number for the right hand lower joint. The current part numbers are 43340-29116 for left hand lower and 43330-29166 for right hand lower. $60 is a pretty good price for a Toyota joint. Looks like the lowest price on www.rockauto.com is about the same as Toyota. FWIW, these are MOOG Part # K9531 (left lower ball joint) & MOOG Part # K9529 (right lower ball joint). Since price is a wash, I'd go with Toyota.

I replaced the factory ball joints on my 89 2wd cargo van at around 130k miles. They were still pretty tight, but I just decided it was time. I got some Beck Arnley joints on a rockauto close-out sale for $7 each. During a random check at around 150k miles I noticed the lower right ball joint had almost 1/2" vertical play in it :shock:. So I ended up changing it again. Moral of the story, I would rather have spent the $60 for Toyota and saved the trouble of doing it again. I had purchased a bunch of the $7 ball joints & needed the van the next day, so I grudgingly put another Beck Arnley joint on it. I had saved the original joints and was very tempted to put them back on. I'm guessing my experience was a fluke, but time will tell. Tim

Mark - I have found that it is always best to double check what I have been told by "experts".
If you check it (follow the procedures in the manual and you can't go wrong) YOU will know exactly what and where the faults lie.
If a joint is out of spec, it needs to be changed, regardless of how it drives.
You may also find that everything is tight and all you need is an alignment.

For what it's worth (and I used to be the guy selling alignments) my own personal rule of thumb is that if it goes straight, steering wheel is straight and there is no abnormal tire wear, I leave it alone.
However, if there is a problem with any of those conditions, then I check everything before going after alignment.

If you hit something, hard enough to throw off the alignment, then something is damaged and those parts should be replaced, if possible.
If something is worn enough to affect the alignment then that part(s) should be replaced BEFORE any adjustments are made.
Also be aware that other systems can have an effect on tire wear as much as joints and specs.
A seized slider, blown shock, toasted sway bar bushings and even torsion bar adjustment (ride height) all work together and must all be correct
All of them can affect tire wear.

Bottom line is get in there yourself, check everything and correct was isn't right and then free up the tie-rods and camber/castor adjusters....
Just mark everything before you start and put it back to where it was when your done.
It may take you a couple of hours but will save you large when it comes rack time.
I have seen more parts damaged beyond repair by techs that don't take the time to properly free something and destroy it in the process as well as bills that have HUGE extra charges to "free" stuff up that was never seized in the first place.

While I realize there are more honest techs than dishonest, you don't want to find out the hard way and when dealing with older, obscure vehicles the probability of issues increases dramatically.
My own experience with fr end/alignment techs has been sketchy at best and I have learned to cover my bases before hand.

BB

Ah, well I have to say I know very little about front end stuff.

As far as alignment goes I can say that the van has always driven straight and true when it comes to the "hands off the wheel" test. That's why I never had an alignment done to begin with.

First thing I'll do for sure is check myself that the lower ball joint is bad, later today when I have a moment.

If its bad I'll get the OEM joint for sure.

I've seen a posting on the other site about doing the 2WD upper/lower joints. How different are the 4WD as far as procedure? It seems the FSM breakdown is fairly complicated. How easy can I make it if I just want to replace the lower, not the upper?

thanks for all the help so far,

mark

On the 4wd the uppers are not removable.............you don't change the uppers unless you change the entire upper control arms. I haven't checked cost and availability lately but I'd expect them to be over $250 each (if available).

I can't remember the exact procedure for replacing just the lower joint on a 4wd, but it's all pretty straight forward. I've had the entire suspension apart on these numerous times and nothing really stands out. Just take off what you need to. If something gets in your way then take it off too. Aside from the normal hand tools you should have a "pickle fork" to help separate the bad joint from the spindle assy. Most tool rental places will have these.

Here's the business end of a pickle fork:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/timsrv/05-2.jpg

The rest of it is just a shaft. You drive it into the joint with a hammer to separate it from the spindle. There are other ways, but IMO this is the easiest & most reliable. Tim

The only thing I don't like about pickle forks is they REQUIRE replacement of the joint as they always destroy the boot.
I usually use the 2 hammer method (big hammer on the back, whack with a big hammer on the front) but used the little pressing tool as I was afraid I may slip and ding something.
The theory is the hammering on the joint flexes the hole and as long as you have tension on the joint in the correct direction, it will separate.
Using a balljoint press frees up a hand and puts the load in the correct direction instead of trying to hold a hammer on the backside while prying down on the control arm and whacking the front side.
There isn't a lot of room there to begin with but I tend to save any parts that aren't toast just in case of future need.
If only the LS is bad (and the RS wants to be saved for the just in case scenarios), the pickle fork will render the "good side" scrap as well.
I only have a 4WD, so what I said earlier is what I did to replace mine.
You don't need to disturb the upper at all.

But Tim has it right, only disturb what you have to, go slow and be methodical.

By all means use the pickle if it makes life easier, I have just always found the other method easier with less chance of problems.
I have run into a few that even with the pickle, refused to budge,but have never had the same problem with the 2 hammer method.
But to each, their own.

Yeah, the pickle fork is hard on boots, but anytime I use it I've pretty much already decided to replace the joint anyhow. I've used the hammer method too, but not crazy about putting dents in the spindle........probably inconsequential, but I still don't like it. I've worked on rigs before that had torn boots from past mechanics using a pickle fork. They are a little messier (as they ooze grease) but for the most part they still do their job of keeping the dirt/grit out & most of the grease in. Like you said "to each his own". Something about whacking that pickle fork with a BFH makes me all happy inside :wnk:. Tim

Okay, surprise surprise. I got under the van an unweighted the front wheels, went through the standard checks for the upper and lower ball joints. They all checked out!

I thought I had checked these before when I was dealing with some wheel noise, but I couldn't be sure, so when this mechanic said I had a bad one I was surprised.

So at this point I think I'll just get a free alignment check w/ the local Tire Warehouse, then I can get another opinion and go from there.

thanks!

mark

Mark - When you say "standard tests" for the ball joints, just be aware that if you lever between the ground and the tire (with the wheels unweighted) you wont see any play in the lowers.
Because the spring acts on the upper and the lower ball joint is "upside down" you wont see any play in a bad joint using that method.
My reason for harping on this point, is I did it wrong several times before reading the manual one day and had a eureka moment.
It was only when I followed the manuals procedure that I found they had play, and LOTS of it.

That is why you MUST lever between the RIM and the lower arm.
As long as you did that, your good to go.

BB

tituswilltoyota(formerly 1sttoyotaparts) has the 4wd upper control arms for $326.93, each:dizzy::pissed:!!! Well they say they have them, don't know if they really do.

Well the people who did the free alignment check tell me I've got a loose bearing on the passenger side and a loose tie rod on the passenger side.

The wheel bearings I just did and it is possible the passenger side has loosened up, I'll check shortly.

Tie rods I know nothing about. The procedure in the FSM seems pretty straightforward, remove the the tie rod from the knuckle and then replace, then have the alignment done? If there's more please let me know.

Obviously I'll get the front wheels off the ground tomorrow and verify the tie rod is in fact loose before I proceed.

Hopefully I get this squared away without too much trouble!!

thanks,

mark

I wouldn't click on that last post!

Anyway, I did some checking today and my passenger side wheel bearing had loosened a little, I tore it down and got it to factory spec again, I know this wasn't my steering wheel shake/tire wear problem but since the line up shop said they wouldn't align the van with the loose bearing it had to be done.

I did some checking on the tie rod ends. The outer on the driver side seemed fine, I couldn't see any play. The inner is covered by that rubber so I wonder how does one "see" if the inner has play? For sure there's a sort of clicking/knocking that can be heard and felt around that inner, I tried the other side of the car and both tie rods seem fine but you could still "feel" the knock of the other tie rod (if thats what it is?)

Anyway, any other good ways to check this out? I've read the inners can be a pain to get out, some people mention using a pipe wrench to assist?

Also, does a new rubber come with the new inner tie rod or is that a separate item?

And, if the outer is still okay, how do I get it off the knuckle without destroying the rubber? Seems like a fork tool might mess up the rubber there.

Any tips would be awesome, I'd love to get this all squared away!

thanks,

mark

Oh, one other thing.

I've been having a hard time finding options for new inner tie rods (87 4x4).

Rock Auto has some very cheap "service grade" Raybestos for $12 and then some "pro grade" ones for alot more.

What is the Toyota part number for this just to know the price?

Money is tight, would the cheapo ones be okay or just a total waste of time?

thanks,

mark

The left tire rod assy is Toyota part #45460-29295 MSRP is $122.63. TitusWillToyota.com has them for $88.48. If money is tight then go with the cheapo one. Worst that can happen is you might be doing the job again in a couple years (rather than 25 or so with a Toyota part). Tim

Thanks for that info Tim.

I've also read about folks upgrading the tie rod ends on earlier models to the ones used on the '89's. I know I'd have to get both and inner and outter but if it makes a big difference then it might make sense. But would steering be funky if I had the '89 ends on one side and the originals on the other?

Probably I'll just buy the $12 cheapo and have at it. I'll learn something new and hopefully fix a problem and save my tires.

thanks,

mark

I've never messed around with modding the tie rods/racks on these vans. I've only replaced the parts that were called for. Not sure what might be involved with switching to 89. Good luck. Tim

Mark - Check to make sure that your play is within the inner joint itself.
Have someone wiggle the wheel while you hold the inner joint, pulling the boot back will help a great deal.
You will be able to tell if the play is within the joint or between the rack and the housing.
While the OEM boot clamps are no longer available, a standard cable tie works fairly well at securing the boot.

I had a very similar experience to yours and bought a new OEM inner tie-rod and boot in anticipation of the repair.
On teardown I discovered the joint to be tight.
I found my play was internal within the rack.

On the right side, there is a plastic bushing that can self destruct, on the left side, the preload is set by a spring loaded plunger.
(Usually the rack will wear in the area of the plunger, #1 cause of core rejection)

I lived with it for a long time, till one day I decided to attack the rack (against good advice to the contrary)
I found the little plunger that preloads the rack was seized far, far away from the rack itself.
After a thorough cleaning and polishing of all parts involved, fresh grease and reassembly and everything torqued to spec, life is good.
I am still on the look-out for another rack to have rebuilt, but for now things are a lot better.

You do have to be very careful with the preload setting as too much can cause the rack to self-destruct.
In the manual, they discuss setting the preload with the rack removed and mostly disassembled, unfortunately that wasn't an option for me.
I opted for just a "tich" of play rather than destroy the rack.

Further, I don't actually recommend this repair.
I only offer up my experience in hope of helping others avoid spending gobs of cash on parts that are non-returnable.
BB

By the way Tim, the part number you mentioned for the genuine Toyota part, its listed as "tie rod assembly" and I can't find a pic, do they sell the inner and outer together or just one? Might be worth it if its both.

mark

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/timsrv/tierod.jpg

Okay so whats the part that this part attaches to? Not the knuckle end but the other end. I thought that was the "inner". I guess I'm confused on terminology with the tie rods. The part on my van that seems loose isn't the rod that bolts the knuckle but the other rubber covered end/rod that goes in to the rack. What would that be called? Sorry but I just don't know nuthin' about front ends!

mark

Yeah I need to verify all this more. When you pull the boot back are you pulling it back towards the tire or the other way (after the clamp is removed of course?) I tried to squeeze the boot but it was hard to tell. Certainly I felt it more on that side than the other, but I'll have to check. Hope its not the rack, that would suck!

mark

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Burntboot

Mark - Check to make sure that your play is within the inner joint itself.
Have someone wiggle the wheel while you hold the inner joint, pulling the boot back will help a great deal.
You will be able to tell if the play is within the joint or between the rack and the housing.
While the OEM boot clamps are no longer available, a standard cable tie works fairly well at securing the boot.

I had a very similar experience to yours and bought a new OEM inner tie-rod and boot in anticipation of the repair.
On teardown I discovered the joint to be tight.
I found my play was internal within the rack.

On the right side, there is a plastic bushing that can self destruct, on the left side, the preload is set by a spring loaded plunger.
(Usually the rack will wear in the area of the plunger, #1 cause of core rejection)

I lived with it for a long time, till one day I decided to attack the rack (against good advice to the contrary)
I found the little plunger that preloads the rack was seized far, far away from the rack itself.
After a thorough cleaning and polishing of all parts involved, fresh grease and reassembly and everything torqued to spec, life is good.
I am still on the look-out for another rack to have rebuilt, but for now things are a lot better.

You do have to be very careful with the preload setting as too much can cause the rack to self-destruct.
In the manual, they discuss setting the preload with the rack removed and mostly disassembled, unfortunately that wasn't an option for me.
I opted for just a "tich" of play rather than destroy the rack.

Further, I don't actually recommend this repair.
I only offer up my experience in hope of helping others avoid spending gobs of cash on parts that are non-returnable.
BB

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Mark,

Toyota made a bunch of rack changes throughout the years. BB's van is an 88 and his has removable parts at the ends of the steering rack (what he's calling inner tie rods). Below is an image from the EPC & the inner tie rods are highlighted in orange. On the 87 these parts don't come off. If your play is here then you have a rack problem. Tim

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/timsrv/rack.jpg

Oh man, this changes everything!! The FSM I use is from an '88, I thought most things were the same except for the EFI setup, but now I know there are more differences!

For sure the play is in the rack then. The outers have no play.

Is the procedure for removing the rack on an '87 like removing the rack on an '88? Seems like you remove tie rods from both sides and remove some bolts, then it comes out? How hard is this to do? Am I over my head on this one? I know the local AutoZone has a rack for my van for $179. Probably not a great one but.......

I was really hoping it wouldn't be this complicated!!

mark

Mark,

To be completely honest I'm a little weak on the differences in racks. I was in a bit of a hurry when I made that last post so I made some assumptions that may not be 100% accurate.

When I look up the 88 van in the EPC it gives part numbers for all the parts in the picture above. When I look up the 87 van (image above is from the 87 van EPC) it simply says "Not applicable" for many parts (including the rack ends). This leaves me to assume that these parts were either: A. Never sold separately, or B. Non removable.

When I checked the 87 service manual this morning I see there's instructions for disassembling and rebuilding the rack. One of the steps is to remove the "rack ends", so I was wrong on them not being removable. Not sure why Toyota doesn't list these part numbers in the 87 EPC.

In short, don't take my word on this. If I had this problem on a daily driver, I'd probably just buy a non-leaking salvage yard rack or a cheap rebuilt one from rockauto or eBay, then, once I had the time, I'd take apart the original and figure out what it needs. Once you know what parts are bad research and order as required. If you can get parts then fix it & keep as a spare. If you can't get parts then toss it. Good luck. Tim

Okay, I just did some more checking and it appears there's even a difference from 2wd to 4wd in 87. Not sure what these differences are but the 2wd racks can be had from rockauto for $107. The cheapest one listed for 4wd is A-1 CARDONE Part # 261666 and it goes for $247.79. When I went to Ebay I found the same rack: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARDONE-26-1...2eebba&vxp=mtr . I also found a set of inner tie rods listed for 87 Toyota vans: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Inner-Tie-...cd865f&vxp=mtr .

So it looks like the info & the parts are out there. At some point you just need to get in there and do the work. Once you know what parts are bad then do what needs to be done. Tim

Well this is interesting! When I originally called my local parts store, AutoZone, to check on prices for tie rods they couldn't find anything listed for inners. I told them they should exist, but the guy went through their list and saw that the rack sold w/ inners but they couldn't source inners. So I guess it makes sense that its all one unit. I am confused by the 2 inners being sold by the guy on Ebay though.

My big problem right now is that I could afford some tie rods but spending the bucks on a rack right now, not to mention doing the work in November in Maine, is a real stretch. Kinda sucks. Luckily the van doesn't give me the illusion of being sketchy to drive and only vibrates when driven at highway speeds.....we really don't do any highway driving here so I may have to sit tight and baby it until I have the money.

For folks who've removed racks, how hard is it? I've done brakes, wheel bearings and 4wd hubs, rebuilt a power steering unit, rotate my own tires, etc. Ideally I'd want to do this myself as I certainly don't have the scratch to pay someone to do it!

thanks for all the help so far,

mark

Oh I just double checked w/ AutoZone about the rack they can get. Its their "brand" but made by Cardone, $179 plus $105 core. So as long as I can get the old unit back to them its not too bad of a deal. I wish I had the '87 manual so I could know the process for sure, I imagine it pretty similar to the '88 process at least?

mark

Here's a link to view/download an 87 manual for free: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q4u...7wOD7nKyF/view.

As for Autozone, make sure it's the same A-1 Cardone part number I posted earlier (26-1666). The rack for the 2wd is part # 24-1605 & sells for $107 at rockauto. I'm not sure if it could be interchanged or not. Tim

Okay, I'll certainly look over that manual! I just peered through the section in the '88 manual and the BIG hurdle I see is this: the 1st step involves removing the front differential! Oh man, I'm just not really set up to do this much work out here. Maybe I'm over reacting but this whole job is turning out to to be alot more complicated than I ever thought!

Just to know, is there anything else that could be causing the steering vibrations and wheel wear before I head down this road? I sometimes read about bushings somewhere, or the idler arm or pitman arm. Could these be culprits? How does one check? I can't find mention of the idler arm or pitman arm in the manual.

thanks again,

mark

Sorry if this is redundant and already been covered but have the front wheels been balanced? Probably wouldn't account for the tire wear, but the vibration maybe.

Ah yes, this is one of the first things I did, had the wheels rotated and balanced maybe 10k ago when the problem first popped up. It actually made the steering vibration worse at first, then it just became what it is now, an intermittent steering wheel vibration at speeds over 55 with tire wear to the outside edge of the left front tire.

mark

Quote:

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Originally Posted by djshimon

Sorry if this is redundant and already been covered but have the front wheels been balanced? Probably wouldn't account for the tire wear, but the vibration maybe.

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Mark - I haven't pulled my rack out yet but it does look like a bit of a bugger as the mounting bolts face forward and are hard to access.
Somewhere Tim had mentioned something about the rack mounts breaking at the welds to the frame but I would expect the play in that case
would be housing movement.
From looking at mine, most of it is bull work, form what you have done so far, I doubt it is beyond your abilities.
The big problem is the weather, I am a lot more north of you and winter is knocking on our door, given the time of year, I would want to be working in a garage, even unheated would be preferable to working in the snow.
Dropping the diff down is not really that hard, pull the 4 bolts holding the cross brace and the diff comes down a couple of inches.
This I know as I have had my fr driveshaft out a number of times and that must be done to extract it. that may be enough to get the clearance you need to pull the rack. My hesitation on pulling the rack was more the condition of the lines, as nothing is leaking I didn't want to kick that dog just yet.
You will need to split the outer tie rods to extract the rack, this is a place I would use the 2 hammer method to save the boots on the outers.
You also have to separate all the fluid lines and of course the shaft from the dreaded bevel gear to the rack.
When I had the rad out, it looked like it might be easy to access the rack that way too, but that isn't an easier way to get at things.

You really need to get in there and find out exactly where your play is coming from.
For the record, remove both clips on the boot and slide it towards the wheel (big end away from the housing) this will let you see exactly where the play is within the rack.
At this point you will also be able to assess the condition of all the bits in there. Look at the lower control arm bushings, if they are cracked or have bits of rubber missing they should be on the list for future replacement, stick a crowbar up between the control arm and the frame on either side and pry with the bar, if it moves and stays there the bushing is toast, it should give a little and return to where it was, if all is good.
Also check the sway bar bushings (2 near the ends at the lower control arm as well as the frame mounts which are convoluted things that have a standard style through mount attached to a long pin with more rubbers where they bolt up)
Upper bushings have plugs installed and while it is a serious pita, you can get the plugs out and put in fittings and get some grease into them.

At this point, it may be worth trying my hack repair, if your plunger is seized in the downward position you may be able to clean things up and get some tension back on the plunger (it is spring loaded) and reduce the play somewhat.
For what it is worth, there is no PS fluid in the pinion area of the rack (where the plunger is located), the grease in mine was totally degraded and had the consistency of dry mud rather than a lubricant.
My issue showed up after a little jaunt down a very rough gravel road, prior it had just been clicky, but after that side road it was a decided clunk.
After it was all cleaned up and I was torquing the base, I had the front wheels in the air, wheels removed and kept rotating through the full swing of the steering (manhandling the spindle rather than the steering wheel) when it was too tight, you could feel it through the spindle, when it was too loose it was clunky and I just found a happy medium between the 2. If that doesn't work you will need the rack for sure, so it might be worth the gamble??
Beware that having fluid in the rack will complicate the whole procedure, I didn't drain it but did push some fluid back up through the system and out the top of the reservoir and when you are working through the range of movement it complicates the sensation of feeling as you will get a spot where your not moving fluid then you are, but again, it is possible to do but is a pita.

One more thought, while the shimmy you experience is only at certain times and can possibly be avoided, whatever is wrong in there is still putting excessive strain on everything else, ignoring it, while tempting, will only end up costing more in the long run as it will do damage to other parts in the meantime.
The worn part puts more load on other parts that aren't designed to experience those loads, so it is best to nip this in the bud, as soon as possible.

One more thought, is the tire wear on the outside of the tire smooth or is it cupped? If it isn't smooth it may also be well worth dropping out the shocks and seeing if there are dead spots in their movement, bad shocks can also cause tire wear.
For the record, when I pulled mine, at first I thought they weren't too bad as they would expand on their own, almost put them back in until I realized their expansion wasn't linear and the more I worked them, the worse they got. Dead spots within the movement is also a bad sign and could emanate as a shimmy in the wheel.
Just another thing to be aware of.

BB

I thought about it and can't recall ever removing the rack on a 4wd. It wouldn't surprise me if you had to remove the front diff, but like BB said, that's not hard to do. Even pulling the diff out completely is pretty straight forward. I agree with BB on the hydraulic lines. Here is WA state they don't salt the roads & these lines are still a PITA (they get stuck good). In places where they salt, I think after 2 or 3 years exposure you'd be up a creek. If you pull these be sure to use a good quality tubing wrench.

With all this in mind I'd probably keep your old rack installed then follow BB's advice about inspection/replacement of only the parts with play. Here's a picture I took of a rack in a 4wd that I recently had the engine & radiator out of. Camera angle is from the engine side:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23...n/IMG_1388.jpg

Well I just had a moment to try and work the rubber boot off, I loosened the clamp and it was on real good, I couldn't budge it! I thought if its this hard to get off how hard will it be to get on? I don't have the vehicle lifted at all right now so its a real tight spot.

But......when my wife works the wheel and I squeeze the boot I can feel looseness in there. When I have more time (I have to get somewhere) I'll pry the boot off and have a look see.

thankS!

mark

That boot has been on there for about 25 yrs so it is well seated. Grab an old, small flat blade screwdriver, old so that it has no sharp edges.
A dull pick will also work, anything you can get under the boot that isn't too fat or sharp.
Work it under the edge of the boot and work it around a little, be careful as you don't want to rip or puncture the boot, sometimes twisting theboot a bit will also help break the seal, but once you break it free, it should be a lot easier to get it off.
Sometimes it is easier to move it if you remove the small end clamp too and break it free as well, then you only have to slide it back and don't need to worry about trying to compress the boot, it sits in a small recess, once past that, it should slide fairly easily, clean the tie rod of grime so as to have it slide free without any sandpaper effect. Refit the original clamps or use cable ties to secure once done, as both ends sit in a recess it doesn't need to be overly tight to seal, there shouldn't be any fluid in there, it is there only to keep the elements out.
If you find PS fluid in the boot, the rack seals are toast and it is time for a new rack.
BB

Okay, very good info to have!

I'm looking for a moment in the next week to really diagnose this.

Here's a question I've had:

I'd like to get both front wheels off the ground to check things out, I have two jack stands, but I can never really decide where to put the jack stands? I mean there's the obvious factory jack spot up front but since my jack is under that one, where do I put the stand? Not sure, any thoughts??

mark