steering problems...will not turn as far to right as it will to left

[Lewis Baxter]

Hi,


I just purchased a 97 Land Cruiser. I had driven in for a couple of weeks with no steering problems. I had my mechanic replace 2 belts, as there is a bit of a whining noise that I hoped it would fix, but did not. When I got it back from the belt replacement, I parked at home as normal. The next time I drove, I went to pull in a space at walmart and almost clipped a car, as it did not turn very deep. I thought it was in my mind and that I was just not used to the vehicle as I had not driven it in a few days. I next noticed it when I was turning around in my driveway and I backed around and when I went forward i ran off the side of the driveway. I still thought it was just me. The next day I was taking a different way out and it would not take a right turn I had made several times before easily. I stopped and turned the steering wheel all the way to the left, which was two full turns. I then went back to the right and it would only go 1.5 turns. My mechanic had no good explanation and what he wanted to do made no sense. I went a friends who has a same year Lexus and it will make 2 full turns either way. Has anyone experienced this or do you have any ideas.


Thanks!!!

 

[Chris]

Welcome to the Club Lewis. Once we have you sorted, you can take some time to introduce yourself perhaps.

Firstly I have no idea how your steering got like this. Changing belts etc wouldn't have any effect. There are two possible cures here. One is the steering end stops. These are a bolt sticking out of the back of the swivel hubs where the wheels are. They physically limit the travel of the steering. usually these never get adjusted from the day the vehicle left the factory to the day it goes to the junkyard.

Second major adjustment is the steering arms themselves. Your steering wheel is connected to a box with an arm on it. You can see the arm through the wheel arch. This arm cycles through an arc - full lock to full lock. There is an arm connected to that which pushes the opposite side wheel in the direction you want to go in. There is a second arm that connects that steered wheel to the other wheel. This is the rod that you adjust to change the tracking between the two wheels. It is possible that in changing the belts, the garage took the steering arm off the Pitman arm to get underneath. They could have turned the steering wheel I guess and then put the arm back on, one revolution out. Doesn't sound likely but it would account for the wheels being straight, but turning more one way than the other. It's an easy thing to set straight really. If they admit to having undone the steering arm then you'll have your answer.

What is a bit odd is that it does 2 turns one way and only 1.5 the other. This could be the bump stops I mentioned. Also an issue could be the steering arm damper. This is the shock absorber running under the radiator. That might be fouling on something. I would jack the front of the car up so that both wheels are off the ground and go lock to lock to see just what is happening.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Yes Welcome, as Chris says we like an introduction. I would make the checks Chris says as he has a lot of Cruiser experience then come back to us. Help is always forthcoming on here.

Andy

 

[Julian T]

Welcome to the forum and having changed the fan belts on my truck myself I can see no reason to do anything to the steering system, the belts are easily accessible from the top.
I would suggest putting your front axle up on axle stands and having someone turn the steering lock to lock while you watch the steering in action to see what happens, there could be an issue with the steering damper restricting full movement or unlikely as it may sound an internal failure of the steering box, I have had this happen on a HGV prime mover (tractor truck).
Check when the wheels are are at full lock that nothing is fouling the track rods and that the steering stops are contacting.
If the steering stops are not making contact you could disconnect the steering damper (looks like a shock absorber mounted horizontally between the chassis and the front track rod) and check movement if you suspect it is limiting movement, or drop the track rod off the steering box pitman arm and manually turn the wheels lock to lock to see if they turn full lock.

Do let let us know how you get on and introduce yourself and your truck to us in the lounge

 

[clivehorridge]

Welcome Lewis, I've had some strange issues, but not come across this one before.

All of the above is good advice, Chris got in early on this

Have a go and in the meantime I'll give it a think too. Please let us know how you get on...

 

[Chris]

Now that's what I truly call and echo delay...delay...delay.....

Is there a time difference between here and Magna P Julian

 

[Julian T]

The forum certainly seems to think so

Something I meant to ask in my first reply, what did your mechanic want to do?

 

[Chris]

Hey, I wanted to ask that too!

 

[frank rabbets]

Sounds like someone has had the steering wheel off and put it on at an angle. The test is to see if the indicators cancell at the same steering wheel angle both left and right. You might have noticed that one indicator cancells quicker than the other whilst coming out of bends. If so put the steering wheel on correctly then adjust the link coming out of the steering box so the wheels point dead ahead. I had this problem on an audi.

 

[clivehorridge]

I'm not sure that the position of the steering wheel can influence the degree of turn Frank.

I've had my steering wheel out of centre on my 80, but it still steers all the way to the stops in both directions.

Agreed it messes up the indicator cancellations, but that's about all. JMHO...

 

[clivehorridge]

I agree with Chris that this has to be a simple restriction (such as the steering damper malfunctioning) or the relationship between the steering shaft and the Pitman arm. It's something mechanical that's preventing full steer, either in the steering box, or post steering box. Again, JMHO...

 

[Shayne]

Scary thought what if the steering column spline has only one bolt in it surely that would produce the same result ?????

 

[Chris]

I guess there is also the remote chance of damage inside the steering box. Essentially a jam of some kind. But I still think it more likely that someone has done something they're not telling.

 

[frank rabbets]

Just checked my 80 and it has 4 turns in all on the steering wheel. As others say someone might have limitd the turn in one direction, perhaps to eliminate a noisy cvj.

 

[frank rabbets]

Yes I agree that you can put a healthy 80 steering wheel back on in any position and the number of turns is not affected. However if someone has put the steering system back together incorrectly they may have put the steering wheel back on dead centre to save time and you may have more turns one way than the other. Just best to check the indicators as a starting point.

 

[Julian T]

The question is how many splines would you have to be off when fitting the pitman arm to the steering box and that I suspect would have to be compensated for by adjusting the length of the track rod that runs to the wheel from the pitman arm and would I think mean 2.5 turns one way and 1.5 the other, or am I over thinking it?

And as the man says he has 2 turns left and 1.5 turns right my money is on something obstructing or preventing 2 turns right. it may be internal failure of the steering box (unlikely) or a partially seized steering damper, could have been bent somehow or just got tired and worn. or has it been replaced with one that does not have enough movement in it to allow full motion?

Talking of steering issues I once had a XJ6 Daimler come through our hands that the owner had given up on because his favourite garage had been unable to fix a rather problematic habit the car had, alignment was spot on perfect, caster and camber same, all suspension bushes and ball joints had been replaced with new, smooth road the car had no issues but when ever you hit a bump the car would bump steer, no steering movement, after the bump the car would run straight again until the next bump. As much as he liked the car he could not find it in himself to keep it so he sold it and we had the pleasure of using it.
After much scratching of heads and examining everything we could see and think of, we noticed that one of the track rods had a slight bend in it that could have been caused by a badly placed axle stand, we replaced both track rods and the problem was solved, we theorised that the bend had been affecting the steering geometry as the wheels moved up and down over a bump causing the car to bump steer.

 

[Dave2000]

I only scanned this thread on the quick and did not notice anything mentioned about the airbag that the 97 might have? The 'squib' under the steering wheel is sensitive to spinning it too far in one direction, I would be a bit careful about what you disconnect and rotate to correct this. I would go down the route of getting someone with some experience have a look at what is happening, is it possible the car was jacked for some reason and a garage newbie jacked under one of the steering arms and bent it?

regards

Dave