TE21 Steering box question.

[phaze2henry]

Hello all!

Tried to search, didn't come up with anything. I'm not too familiar with steering problems. My 71 TE21 has a lot of steering wheel play. Also, I can turn the wheel all the way to the left. Almost to the point where its sideways. It also sways a little when I'm driving. Is there a way to upgrade? What other options do I have? Is it fixable with the current one? ETC? Any help will be appreciated. Thank you guys!

--Henry

[73te27]

Most likely tie rods, pitman and idler arm. Make sure all of those are good before you touch the steering box. if someone tightened the steering box before you, been my experience that they wear out really quickly. Should have 4 or 5 threads sticking out from the nut.

[Toyota1515]

many guys convert it to rack & pinion from a starlet is a little fab work but at the end is well worth the effort!

[phaze2henry]

Most likely tie rods, pitman and idler arm. Make sure all of those are good before you touch the steering box. if someone tightened the steering box before you, been my experience that they wear out really quickly. Should have 4 or 5 threads sticking out from the nut.

This cant be good right? The screw is all the way in.

[73te27]

Yup, thats not good. Did you check those other parts? Are you running skinnys on the front? They are hard on the steering components. Wider tires helps with the shimmy. Usually shimy between 25 and 45mph, dont know why but slower or faster usually doesnt shake.

Where you located? Got a few boxes but shipping will be insane. If you buy from someone else, make sure its 71/72. 73/74 is more husky. If yours is 71 then it also doesnt have the push button to remove the key.

You could convert to rack but starlet parts are not easy to find and you take away from the originality of the car.

[phaze2henry]

Yup, thats not good. Did you check those other parts? Are you running skinnys on the front? They are hard on the steering components. Wider tires helps with the shimmy. Usually shimy between 25 and 45mph, dont know why but slower or faster usually doesnt shake.

Where you located? Got a few boxes but shipping will be insane. If you buy from someone else, make sure its 71/72. 73/74 is more husky. If yours is 71 then it also doesnt have the push button to remove the key.

You could convert to rack but starlet parts are not easy to find and you take away from the originality of the car.

Im going to check the other parts you mentioned this weekend. Im actually running 15x9 Centerlines all around haha. Super wide. Im located in California and i don't think ill be going to Hawaii soon. Just being curious, how much shipped? Thanks for your help bro. Ill let you know what i find after i see those parts this weekend.

[Toyota1515]

The mounts for this rack and pinion set up, can be welded onto the rear of the engine cross-member similar to an ae86. This will also give you more steering component clearance under the oil sump than the std recirculating-ball steering system and will have quicker lock-to-lock if the correct rack steering ratio is found. Mods required would included modifying/adding universals to the bottom of the steering column (as used in fwd corolla's) since the rack input shaft would be in a different location. This obviously is ALOT of work and careful planning is required to make it work successfully. Most toyota racks measured so far are all too wide. The ke2# inner tie rod pivots are about 100mm narrower than most later model toyota's with racks. If i did use one of these later racks it'll affect the toe as the suspension travels up and down (bump steer). So you should be looking for a rack the correct width between the rack ends. Too little is known about steering/suspension geometry thus far so i'm in no hurry to feck it up! The other option is to widen the control arm pivots which can be done using a modified ke3# engine crossmember and shorter lower arms which will allow a wider rack than needed with the ke2# engine crossmember. also a KP61 rack and pinion could be used without having to worry about it to be too wide i think MR-2 could be used as well!

Here is a TE2x x-member with a KP61 rack on it!

[73te27]

Most likely tie rods, pitman and idler arm. Make sure all of those are good before you touch the steering box. if someone tightened the steering box before you, been my experience that they wear out really quickly. Should have 4 or 5 threads sticking out from the nut.

This cant be good right? The screw is all the way in.

Sorry man, gave you the wrong info, checked all my steering boxes, closer to 2 threads sticking out so yours might not be that bad but still anytime its below the nut is not good.