T OYO TA T R A I L S the snow to some far off destinations for you to have some R&R time away from the stress of life. Happy New Year and may God bless us all. then you have too much play and the rod ends need to be replaced. The drag link goes from the steering box to the opposite knuckle. If these are the springloaded style, then you can adjust them. If they are like the tie rod ends, check them like you would the tie rod. To adjust them, you need to remove the cotter pin with a big screwdriver (sometimes with a wrench), take the screw to its stops, then back out about ½ to ¾ turn, then put the cotter pin back in. The steering box has a 17 mm nut to loosen and a big slot for a screwdriver. This takes a bit more experience to adjust but you can typically loosen the screw a half turn at a time. What you are looking for is steering wheel play of about 1-1.5" on the outer section of the steering wheel. I typically will not adjust these unless I have the special sealing washer on hand in case it leaks after I adjust it. If the seal is damaged, the high pressure of the power steering pump will create a leak. Last on my list for steering issues are the knuckle bearings. I will typically test with a floor jack by jacking up the front axle until both wheels are off the ground. With the key in the ignition to allow the steering wheel to move, I will rotate the wheels from full lock to full lock in both directions, feeling for how smooth the knuckle bearings feel. If this feels notched or bumpy in its movement, the bearings in the knuckles are shot. At this time, you will need a full axle service, where someone strips the knuckles off the axle and rebuilds it all (takes a long time, lots of cleaning time usually). Loose knuckle bearings can cause a wandering feeling, maybe not quite what you are describing but a loose feeling nonetheless. If your Cruiser has not had much work done, then you could suspect a combination of any of this stuff creating your issues. Typically the wheel bearings need to be repacked every 25-30,000 miles and inspected every 15,000 miles (and may need an adjustment). Toyota recommended an axle service every 50,000 miles but typically this does not happen until it is closer to 100,000 miles. The gear lube in the differentials was to be changed every 30,000 miles (in the transfer case and transmission as well). If this seems over your head a bit, a manual will help. Otherwise find a local club member to help you. Toyota Trails has a listing of the clubs in the different states. If you are not a member of a local chapter, then this is a good time to get acquainted with some of the local people that like to help. Later. Robbie FJ62 Steering Issues Hi Robbie, We have a 1988 FJ62 and are bit-by-bit restoring the truck. It drives and the family loves it but we need to keep restoring as we have funds. There is a good bit of play in the steering. Turning the wheel is sloppy, in that you need to over steer back and forth as you drive. Can you give me a “road map “ to the steps that we should be taking to rebuild the steering? I have never worked on steering like this before and really need to know a step-bystep plan of where to begin to get the steering back tight and safe for the kids. Thank you! Henry R. Taylor, Member #22,689 Radiator Follow Up Hi Robbie, It may be too late for Ron Dunn but someone may use it. I have called my friend, Hioyoshi Ueda in Japan, and according to my very poor knowledge of the Japanese language, this is what I understood. Toyo is a company somehow independent of Toyota Motors (known formally and pronounced in Japan as Toyo-Da). Toyo supplies car parts in Japan. They also make Toyo batteries, etc. The radiator that Ron has is a radiator made by Toyo for very hot weather and most likely it ended up installed in Ron's FJ40 and shipped to the States since at that time, there was no strict control from Toyota as to where a specific vehicle will arrive or be imported from another country. My 1981 FJ40 came with the regular radiator, part number 16400-49396. When one of the former owners requested the optional A/C, they had to replace it with bigger radiator, along with the radiator base supports in order to gain space for the A/C condenser and a bunch of other parts. The part number for the bigger radiator is 16400-61051. I have no idea if it is still available. I hope this is helpful. Guillermo Lozada Hello Henry: How many miles do you have on this Cruiser? The steering consists of the tie rod ends, drag link ends and the steering box itself. Then there is the axle and the knuckle or kingpin bearings. Do you have a service manual yet? If not, I would suggest you obtain one if you are keeping this Cruiser for a long time. How are the wheel bearings? Are they adjusted properly? If not, steering and braking will be greatly affected. I typically take the top of the wheel in my hands and shake the wheel hard back and forth. If I feel a popping, the wheel bearings are too loose and need to be tightened or serviced. This loose wheel bearing can also be detected by having to pump the brake pedal a bit to get a good pedal feel. A service manual is recommend to help adjust the wheel bearings. Tie rod ends (these are at the end of the rod that ties the two knuckles together) are checked by pushing down or up on the solid end (typically will have the grease fitting on the hard end) and checking for the amount of play. If you have more than 3/16" play, 10 Drivetrain Length Measurements Hi Robbie, I was reading the tech column in Toyota Trails and noticed that you were trying to figure out the drivetrain length of a 1HD-FT and H151. I happen to have that combo in my shop for a future conversion so I took some