I have a 1994 Toyota Pickup Up 2WD base 22RE manual. Been cleaning it up and working on it a little at a time. I am redoing some of the things the previous owner did to it. Right now I have a steering issue that I cant pin down. The truck has play in the steering and over steers especially on the high way. It starts wandering one way and you steer it back and over steer the other way. It has gotten better since I started but its still sketchy. I have attempted everything to fix this problem the truck came with. The truck came to me with steering problems and a 2/3 drop with torsions loosened and 3 inch blocks in the back. I changed out the whole front end complete trying to tighten up the steering. All new ball joints, new steering drag link, new idler arm, new inner and outer tie rod ends and connecting tubes, new shocks, new steering shock. I also did a Ball joint flip at this time. The truck still had play in the steering when you would grab the steering linkage from the column linkage before the steering box and you would not see the steering move. I suspected the Gear box was bad. I also could not attempt to adjust the nut on the steering gear box because it was froze up and would not budge. I took it to a little front end shop and told them my symptoms and what I had done and that I thought I needed a new gear box.

I had them attempt to install the gear box for my truck that they had and it was different. The splines were different connecting from the steering column and the pitman arm splines were different. They thought the gear box had been changed with another one from a different Toyota because of unused mounting holes on the frame They said they thought new holes has been added. So they end up rebuilding the existing gear box (twice) because they cant identify what vehicle this gear box came out of. (I dont know if they are just full of $hit or are telling me the truth) I know the previous owner swapped in some SR5 4Runner interior/dash parts and a bumper, but Im not sure if he may have swapped in the steering column and gear box as well. I still have the over steer at higher speeds and its sketchy as hell to drive on the expressway because of it. I have had it aligned and looked at 3 times by Goodyear. Since the truck is lowered with torsion bars about 2 - 3" they automatically blamed it on that and said some play in the gear box is normal in this year truck. They had no idea if it was the correct box or not. They suggested tightening the torsions back to stock and putting drop spindles to keep the suspension in geometry, which I was planning on doing anyways.

Sooo now Im redoing the suspension and adding Beltech Drop spindles with the BJ flip in the front and 4" angled blocks in the back with drop shocks. Im goin for a 3/4 or 4/4 drop. I dont expect this to fix my steering problem, but maybe I will get lucky. I am also redoing some stablizer bar bushings and stabilizer linkage and some other things as well.

My question to all you guys with experience is can you identify this Steering Gear box in the pictures. This is the original box that came from the previous owner in my truck it has been rebuilt now. Something that stood out to me is when I look online at pics the pitman arm is different on my truck then on most of everything else I see the same years. My pitman arm is open ended on both ends and the ball joint is on the end of the steering drag link. I have seen pics of other trucks where the ball joint is on one end of the pitman and goes through an open hole on the steering drag link. My gear box is stamped Toyota at it has the number 35050 stamped below that. I just want to know if this steering is original to the truck or not. I may swap everything back to stock to try to eliminate this problem if I cant figure anything else out. Tell me what you think?

 

That is the factory steering box. The version you saw with basically a tie rod end built into the pitman arm was a 4 wheel drive model. It does appear that your box has been moved forward and rotated back. The box should bolt through that hole back towards the A arm and another hole that's hidden behind the box currently. There is also a bolt that goes through from the top.

Putting the box back to where it is supposed to be will help your issue since it is likely a bump steering bastions with the angles all wrong now.

 

Man I hope your right! I'm gonna be in there this weekend and I will attemp to move the gear box to the right holes. Thanks for your input. How come I can't find a stock pitman arm replacement for my truck that matches what I have. That was really throwing me off. All I could find was the 4wd version you mentioned.

 

Any chance you have clear pic of a gear box installed properly or a schematic of it?

 

You definitely opened my eyes. Now ive found alot more information about this. Im wondering if they added power steering after the fact and didn't change the lower steering shaft needed from a truck with power steering for the swap since its shorter than the original. So they just drilled new holes and moved the gear box forward and rigged it. Is there a way to know if my truck came with power steering from the factory by the VIN? Im thinking im gonna need to change the lower shaft from a truck with power steering for it to line up with the factory holes again. No way to know for sure except to try to move it. I was reading other people running into this problem when doing a power steering swap. Some of them were considering redrilling the holes until they found out they needed the shorter lower shaft from the column.

 

I'll take a pic of my box today for you. It's easy to reference off the unused threaded holes in the frame. There is no need to change the steering shaft, if you take yours out you'll find a couple spots on the flats of the shaft where there is plastic injected to hold the column from slipping. Drill them out and the shaft will slip without too much effort.

 

Thank you soo much for your help. It is greatly appreciated. I feel like we are on to something here. This has been a BIG annoying mystery for me to figure out. I threw alot of parts at it to try to figure it out, but they are all things I would have wanted done on a High mileage vehicle anyways.

Is it ok to drill out the plastic and let the shaft slip? Doesn't it need to go up since it is probably too long right now?

 

Ok so I took a look at my steering linkage during the day and it looks different then others I have seen online. It appears to be 1 long piece with a short drag link at the end. It also looks like it may be slightly bent. I have attached pics. Im starting to think I will have to change the column. If this is the case and I need to change he column does it have to be tilt steering or just from a manual 2x4 with power steering? Let me know what you think here.

 

Whoever did that for whatever reason needs to be kicked in the dick.

That picture of the top of the steering box shows where it is supposed to be bolted. They moved it forward and rotated it which completely fawked your steering geometry all to hell. Some people shouldn't be allowed to touch tools.

This is where the box is supposed to be.



That metal bellows steering shaft can be collapsed a bit as needed but getting the right shaft wouldn't be a problem either. Tilt or non tilt column makes zero difference to the shaft below it since they are interchangeable.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info and taking the time to take that picture! You are the man! I was about to purchase a whole non tilt column complete with the shaft from a power steering 2wd pickup. So your saying all I need is the lower shaft and I can bolt that right up to my non tilt no power steering original column?

Thanks for your help

 

Yes. The columns are the same length from mount to lower splined shaft. They swap back and forth with no issue, it's the lower shaft that is the issue.

 

Thanks again...I will let you know how it turns out.

 

Does the lower shaft have to come from a 2wd truck only or can I grab it from a 4wd or 4runner as well? Having some problems finding a 2wd power steering shaft

 

Yes it has to be from a 2 wheel drive to be a direct fit.

 

I found one from a 2wd power steering but its automatic my truck is manual. Do you think it will work?

 

Yes it'll work just fine, go get it.

 

Thanks for you help and quick replies.

 

I finally was able to locate the shaft I think I needed. It was delivered today. I couldn't find it anywhere! If you ever need Toyota truck parts. Jims Used Toyota Truck Parts in Denver, CO is a great place with great custom service and they ship. (303) 333-0810 Thanks Jim! The new shaft looks to be about 1 inch shorter than the original. Going to move the gear box tomorrow and swap in the new shaft. Crossing my fingers that this fixes the problem once and for all. It should drive like a new truck with all the new goodies going in at the same time. New 4" drop suspension and all new brakes, bearings, bushings, and Universal Joints in the drive shaft. New Master and Clutch cylinders, O2 sensor, and all fluids flushed and replaced.

 

These are the 2 different lower steering shafts side by side. It would have been nice if I could have seen this pic a few weeks ago. Apparently there are 2 different shafts for the 2wd 4cyl. The longer shaft is for manual steering 2wd and the shorter shaft is for 2wd power steering (if your doing a swap you need this). Apparently in my case the previous owner did a power steering swap and DID NOT use the shorter shaft. Instead they redrilled the bolt holes on the frame (Moron) and moved the power steering gear box forward to accommodate for the additional 2 inch length of the original manual steering lower shaft. This had my steering all wacked out and it took me some time to figure out with help here that this was my problem all along. Thank you for your help White Trash. In the process of putting it back together now. I still need some longer pump lines right now.

 

White trash thanks for the help. Everything bolted up as is should and i can finally say my steering mystery is solved. Now Im working on re keying my torsions since i just put in drop spindles and bj flip. Apparently my torsions had already been rekeyed and now I need to go up because the truck is too low in the front with the new parts.