I have a 82 Toyota pickup. I love the truck. I just rebuilt the engine. It's got 35s on it. I like doing a little off roading but if I put it in 4 wheel drive it doesn't want to turn. I have to put all my weight into it just to turn. It just wants to go straight. It is not fun after about 2 minutes. To my knowledge it doesn't have a locker in the front. Why would this be happening?

 

Manual or power steering ? Manual will defiantly be harder to wheel ,but if it only wants to go straight it sounds like the frontend is locked, IDK ?

 

It is manual steering.

I have jacked the front and spun the wheels and they spin in opposite directions like the rear did before it broke and it was an open diff. So I assume the front is open as well. I will admit that sometimes I'm kind of retarded. But I've had this truck for awhile and driven it a lot. I have done all the easy stuff to try and figure it out that I know of before I got to start ripping the diff or steering box apart for a rebuild (money I dont have right now)

I never needed to put it in 4wd in NC so I didn't care that it was hard to steer so I never looked into it. Steering works fine in 2wd in not a tad bit loose, I attributed the loose steering to just being old. But I just move to the black hills SD and figure I should try and fix it.

If I want to turn the wheel I have to really crank on it to get it to move the tires (either way) but if I crank on it for half to full turn of the steering wheel then something seems to give and it gets easier to turn like it is supposed to be. Until I turn it back to straightish then it gets hard again. The truck responds like it is supposed to.

I think it might be a bad steering box. It could be bad axle. But I dont know that is why I hoping this has happened to someone else and y'all can help me figure it out.

 

Soo you replaced the rear diff and now it's hard to turn the steering wheel, It doesn't have the wrong diff ratio installed in the back by any chance?

 

I didn't change the ratio and it ha been hard since I got the truck like 10 years ago. I just now I need 4wd And need to fix it

 

Perhaps the owner before you put the wrong ratio in, I would check the front diff and make sure its the same ratio as the rear.