I flat-towed my cruiser last week for the first time, and all of a sudden i am noticing quite a bit of play in the PS box. Do boxes not like to be pushed and pulled from the pitman arm?? If so, should i pull the drag link off from now on when flat towing??

Thanks!

I have'nt noticed any difference in my $Runner.

Didnt you also replace the rear seal on that box?

Shouldn't make any difference. The torque on the pitman arm and box is the same, just applied from a different source. Your steering box does have a hard time pushing the fluid through the pump vanes working in reverse like that. But that can't begin to equal the stress on the box from wheeling all locked up in the rocks.

Originally posted by mike
Didnt you also replace the rear seal on that box? I didn't

he was talking to me Todd, and yes i did. But i drove it around the day before i flat towed it, and all was normal. Then as soon as i flat-towed it, it developed about an inch of slop in either direction.

???

Nobody knows???

Never seen flat towing do that. Was the locknut either there or on the adjustment maybe a tad loose and backed off?

Elf,

What steering box is on your cruiser?

I'd have a buddy rock the wheel back and forth, while looking under the rig for any sign of play in the steering. I had the steering box bolts back out on me one time... didn't spot it until I noticed the whole steering box moving back and forth!

Some OLDER vehicles are prone to steering box wear while being flat towed. This is what leads some folks to comment "flat towing is bad for the steering box", when they should say "flat towing is bad for a worm and peg steering box". Old Jeeps have that type of steering, but pretty sure the Land Cruiser doesn't, while some old 1960's vintage Toyota's, Datsun's, and lots of British cars all came with worm and peg steering boxes.

On that style of peg and worm gear as you go down the road the peg keeps moving back and forth against the worm gear. It will create a "worn spot" on the worm leading to quite a bit of freeplay! In really bad cases the peg is worn enough to pop out of the worm gear grove! No steeing is not fun! That amount of wear occurs over a period of time.

Spotted a exploded view of that type of steering box here (http://www.austin-club.com/spotlight/a1st_picture.htm)

Uh... if you've been following Nolan, I would look for loose rivets, broken frames, and who knows what else. :)

Tom :usa: