my front end thread

[Previologist]

The sway bar links I have used are TRW brand and have held up for a number of years.

They seem to be phasing themselves out of the Previa sway link business, only a handful left. I'm considering those, and also Delphi, which seem to have a good reputation. But didn't I say that about the Ultra-8/ATM link? I'm also considering biting the bullet and getting OEM. But right now I'm not worried about it. They graded the one road I still have to drive for work that was rattling my fillings out. Either that or Tuesdays dust storm leveled it out. But I will replace it before I hit the long road home

[tbuyan]

Don't know about the Previa, but I have made sway bar links from steel rod and Heim joints for my Chevy van. Simple fab job, just don't use all thread - not stiff enough.

[Previologist]

Not simple for me.

I need to move on to getting my AC back in order..Things are heating up.

[Previologist]

---

My Delphi link arrived. It has a large D followed by AK46G on the side, which leads me to believe its AC Delco. ACD's links all seem to have have a 46G in their number. Or maybe vice versa. At any rate at least it's painted, unlike the cheapie on there now.

[Previologist]

The Delphi link was a success-What a difference! My front end is as quiet as a kitten now!

That's the first and last time I order from Napa Online though. They will only replace defective parts, not refund, and I would have to get a mechanic or Napa employee to sign off on it being defective. And since I paid an extra 1 or 2 dollars for expedited shipping, they won't refund shipping at all.

So now I have a worthless link that cost me 30 bucks that I don't know what to do with...maybe throw it through the nearest Napa window?

On to the a/c...I tried to pull a vacuum and got nothing...now to figure out if its the loaner equipment or the van.

[man_btc]

I'm interested as to whether there was something obviously wrong with the link that any of us might be on the lookout for if we needed one ourselves? For instance, I've used NAPA-sourced brake calipers, but have learned - after one aborted installation - to test the sliding action at the counter, since some have moved roughly - or not at all(!) out of the box.

[Previologist]

There was nothing obviously wrong to me, but I'm surely no expert. I did try to move the ends before installing and the movement seemed "jerky" and sticky not smoooooth. But so did the movement on the Delphi, although to a noticeably lesser degree. I tried squishing the boots to see if I could feel grease, but I could not determine anything that way. I could hear grease in at least one end of the bad one though, when yanking on it once it was installed. And maybe that's the clue? I'm not sure if I should have been able to move it by hand at all since I'm in a habit of ignoring my suspensions until they cause problems (or I was, I'm hoping to change that going forward).

[Previologist]

I had an exciting last 1500 miles of my dogleg journey. Before I left the SW, I started having a slow leak in my RF tire. I took it to another chain shop, and as they were about to lift my van I ran into the shop yelling NOOOOOOO!!! He was pumping up the floor jack but I stopped him before he did any damage, and showed him the proper place to put the jack.

Then he patched my tire, telling me he found a small piece of metal in it. I thought it was terribly nice of them not to charge me, until a few days later, now well into my 3500 mile journey, when I realized it still leaked. After a couple weeks it seemed to be getting worse and I got tired of pumping it up every other day, and not trusting a tire shop to be able to fix it, I decided to make my next mistake: I put a can of fix-a-flat stuff in it, and took it for a drive immediately to spread it evenly. Voila! No more leaks, but now my front end wobbled at highway speeds whenever I turned the wheel to the left, even for just a curve. Of course now I was in the mountains, where there are no curves. It wasn't a terrible wobble, but no wobble is a good wobble. I googled it and yup, according to the internet it seems to be a thing. Tire goo can cause vibration/wobble. (Although I've used it many times and never had that problem).

So I had no choice but take it to another chain shop, hoping to get some reassurance that they could find the leak, repair the tire, get the goo out of it to stop the wobble, so I could get home peacefully. But they scoffed at any notion that the goo was at fault. I insisted that it must be, because it started immediately after injecting it. But he would have none of it. He jacked it up (bonus points for looking for the jack point first!!), wiggled on it and said see you've got a loose CV joint or wheel bearings....I waited for him to continue but he didn't so I added "or tie rods."

I agreed that there was too much play, but I invited him to check the other side because I was sure it would be the same, but I was wrong. But I still believe the wobble is due to the tire goo, he doesn't, nor does he know loose tie rods from wheel bearings, so I decide to take my chances and leave it alone. After all, I have the tie rods or parts thereof waiting at home. I could have thrown the spare on to test my theory, but since its a different tire with different wear I would have had to change it back again, so I didn't bother. I drove slowly and carefully and somewhat wobbly all the way home, half expecting the tie rod to break loose at all times, but it didn't. Yay.

Now if I can just avoid Suburus I can finally finish my front end work this summer.

PS-I had a wonderful 18 straight days of Previa camping throughout the West, with perfect weather until the last night. Thanks for asking.

[man_btc]

... as they were about to lift my van I ran into the shop yelling NOOOOOOO!!! He was pumping up the floor jack but I stopped him before he did any damage, and showed him the proper place to put the jack.

After once noticing (too late) how buggered my van's nether regions were from folks placing lifts under the wrong spots, I put a copy of the Lift Points diagram from the manual in the glove box so I can leave it right on top of the instrument panel for anyone who's just going to assume there are rocker panel pinch welds in the rear.

[Previologist]

You are leaving a lot to chance there. I always watch them, but this time I was absorbed by an engaging conversation with the manager about what a hole in the ground Alamogordo NM is.

[Previologist]

So I had no choice but take it to another chain shop, hoping to get some reassurance that they could find the leak, repair the tire, get the goo out of it to stop the wobble, so I could get home peacefully. But they scoffed at any notion that the goo was at fault.

And they were wrong. I worried about skidding off the road on my broken tie rods all the way back from the west coast for nothing.

I put the spare on it today and it had absolutely no wobble even on 70mph left curves. Chalk up another strikeout for unreliable auto repair persons.

My home Discount Tire will fix the leak (if they can find it) for free, and wipe the sealant out that caused all of my wobbles without even complaining.

But my tie rod IS loose, so it's first on the list of many summer repairs and maintenance to which I mist now add sliding door bearing replacement. Couple good threads on that here.

I've started having doubts about the Dorman tie rod ends I already bought last year, after my recent experience with faulty sway bar links. I'm pondering whether I should replace everything with Delphi parts and eat the cost of the Dormans.

[Previologist]

OK, got the inner tie rod boot off. There was fluid in there, but I don't know if it was a large amount or small amount because I've never been here before. But I gather from Dan's post elsewhere https://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/...ll=1#post51160

That this is brake fluid? Pardon my silly ignorance but why is brake fluid in a steering rack? I thought that was a typo but it does look like brake fluid. I hope this does not indicate a serious problem. I have no steering issues now that my wobbly tire is off the van, and I have no interest in replacing my rack, so I'm inclined to ignore it for now.

My next steps are a bit murky. I don't really understand how the washer works, but I know I need to straighten it out for my next step and I'm sure it will make more ssense when the new ones arrive. Although replacing my ball joint might come first, since that arrived and tie rods won't be here till Friday. I'm hoping the ball joint is as easy as it looks.

[man_btc]

OK, got the inner tie rod boot off. There was fluid in there.

Power steering fluid. Here's my basic understanding - inside the steering rack of a "vintage" vehicle like ours, there is pressurized steering fluid and a piston. Whether the piston presses to one side or the other depends on that fluid contained in a hollow, flexible rod along the inside of the steering column. As you turn turn the steering wheel and meet resistance, the rod twists a bit to one side or the other, lining up a hole with either a "right-turn" or "left-turn" pipe to either side of the piston. Pressurized fluid flows through that "valve" to push the piston, assisting your manual steering. Once the wheels are pointed in the desired direction, the rod untwists, the holes don't line up any more, cutting off any hydraulic force on the rack. That internal piston has seals that with age will start to leak steering fluid out the end of the rack, winding up in the boots. Just like all fluid leaks, a little bit is messy and annoying, a lot is troublesome.

I'm hoping the ball joint is as easy as it looks.

I've done two, struggling a bit due to a combination of inexperience and tool availability. To get them loose, I've seen many suggestions to loosen the bolt and whack the bottom thread hard to dislodge it, but I wound up going the pickle-fork route. Prying the lower arm down to get the ball joint out requires a hefty pry bar, and I seem to remember that the suspension kind of fights you because of the sway bar to the other side. I might have pushed up on the opposite wheel to help with that, but I also acquired a bigger pry bar since, which helped on another car.

[Previologist]

Power steering fluid.

Yeah I don't know what that other guy was thinking. But it's understandable because what came out had none of the qualities I associate with power steering fluid. It was faintly yellow, more like motor oil color, not red in the slightest, and did not smell like PS fluid. Of course I wouldn't put anything past the clownshoe who owned this before me.  But this is apparently what PS fluid looks like after 28 years and 320,000 miles in a Previa rack

Here's my basic understanding - inside the steering rack of a "vintage" vehicle like ours, there is pressurized steering fluid and a piston. Whether the piston presses to one side or the other depends on that fluid contained in a hollow, flexible rod along the inside of the steering column. As you turn turn the steering wheel and meet resistance, the rod twists a bit to one side or the other, lining up a hole with either a "right-turn" or "left-turn" pipe to either side of the piston. Pressurized fluid flows through that "valve" to push the piston, assisting your manual steering. Once the wheels are pointed in the desired direction, the rod untwists, the holes don't line up any more, cutting off any hydraulic force on the rack. That internal piston has seals that with age will start to leak steering fluid out the end of the rack, winding up in the boots. Just like all fluid leaks, a little bit is messy and annoying, a lot is troublesome.

Fascinating. I am going to call it "a little" because I don't want to call it "a lot".

I've done two, struggling a bit due to a combination of inexperience and tool availability. To get them loose, I've seen many suggestions to loosen the bolt and whack the bottom thread hard to dislodge it, but I wound up going the pickle-fork route. Prying the lower arm down to get the ball joint out requires a hefty pry bar, and I seem to remember that the suspension kind of fights you because of the sway bar to the other side. I <em>might</em> have pushed up on the opposite wheel to help with that, but I also acquired a bigger pry bar since, which helped on another car.

I have a pickle fork although its been so long since I used it I don't remember why I have it. Knocking the post has done nothing so its time for the fork. I am not sure what I am going to pry against without damaging something though...guess I'll soon know.

[man_btc]

this is apparently what PS fluid looks like after 28 years and 320,000 miles in a Previa rack

I suppose I could look at mine and let you know

[Previologist]

I suppose I could look at mine and let you know

No no, don't trouble yourself.

I think I remember buying the pickle fork now. It was decades ago, right before I bought the Pitman Arm Puller that I've also been wondering why I have. I now know I have the Pitman because the pickle fork sucks and the Pitman arm puller just works. Ball joint was pretty easy once I ditched the fork.

[man_btc]

Well, whaddya know, according to my records, I did a steering fluid flush in April 2019, less than 2K miles ago (yeah, yeah, I know....)

6yroldsteeringfluid.jpg

Dexron II or III

DextronIII.jpg

[Previologist]

Well, whaddya know, according to my records, I did a steering fluid flush in April 2019, less than 2K miles ago (yeah, yeah, I know....)

Whoa, at 333.333 miles per year I think you just forfeited your Previa keys! But flushing looks like it will be a very good idea for me too.

I was expecting trouble but got my inner tie rod off before my new one even arrived. I guess now would be the time to see if I can fabricate a jig, although I am pretty sure I put more foot pounds into getting the inner tie rod off than I will need to put it back on.

EDIT later: BTW I used the Maddox inner tie rod tool from Harbor Freight. It works great. Really not much to it.

Even later: I thought there was a thread on doing passenger side struts on later models with airbags, but I can only find the thread on early models without airbag. So I'm just going to link Samay's video showing how he does it. Starts at 16:10



My right strut seems good and has been replaced by a previous owner but since I replaced the left one this winter I'm gonna replace the right one too.

[Previologist]

My Delphi inner/outer tie rod arrived, parts TA1754 and TA1755. Just to be on the suspicious side, I inspected them very carefully before opening. The boxes came with an impressive metallic "Genuine Delphi" tape over one end closure. The other ends had a less impressive piece of Scotch-ish tape. I inspected the box for any signs of origin, but only found "Assembled in Turkey" on the outer tie rod box. I then opened the boxes. Both parts were packaged in very heavy sealed plastic bags with a large red "DELPHI" on the side. I had to use a handy phillips scredriver to penetrate the outer tie rod bag (the inner one had some grease on it, unfit to open in my living room), That bag was tough.

At this stage, with the boxes open, I could fully appreciate the quality of the boxes too. Delphi clearly takes pride in their bags and boxes. The boxes were real (but thin) cardboard, not chincy pasteboard like the Dorman tie rod ends boxes. These boxes are really stout!

I examined the outer rod closely but could only find DELPHI and a code, AK38A, stamped on one end. Looking through the bag on the other one I can see AK36L. These numbers are on their respective boxes too, but I see no signs of country of origin aside from "Assembled in Turkey" on the outer. What does it mean? Purty sure imports need to be marked as such, but I'm not going to conclude anything.

Both appear to be very high quality, for what I know, (which is not much). But I do know how bad my inner tie rod was by comparison to this one. This new one is snug as a bug in a rug and my old one was flopping around like a bug with no rug. I don't think anyone would go to such trouble of putting high quality packaging on cheap parts, but ask me again in a year or two.

[man_btc]

AK38A, stamped on one end. Looking through the bag on the other one I can see AK36L. These numbers are on their respective boxes too, but I see no signs of country of origin aside from "Assembled in Turkey" on the outer. What does it mean?

My guess is internal, manufacturing codes - some combo of plant, batch#/datecode and maybe even machine and/or operator/shift. If there was some problem with them related to a recall, say, it'd be useful to trace back to where and when a defect became part of the assembly. The individual parts could have been sourced from all over.

FWIW, a bit of web-searching seems to indicate that the Delphi-branded parts are manufactured by a Turkish company Deeza, and purportedly do not use any components often disparagingly titled as "Chinesium."
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/th...s-pics.192470/