Body Lift on 4th Gen's

[expatoz]

So any update on this Lance? Seems like the "discovery phase" has come and gone. Do you know what's happening with the spacer that was being tested?

Thx
Mark

[Good Times]

The first round of spacers came and modifications were made to make them fit properly. Roger has been notified of the changes required for the spacers to work successfully and now the real testing begins. Won't know of any viable results until they get some miles under their belt. Updates will be posted with photos when available.

[expatoz]

Lance - who's doing the testing? I prolly make as many miles as anyone with a BL and a 4th gen. because it's a daily driver (and then some during my summer holidays). I could easily be putting some miles on the testing but I know Rocky is not testing them and Andries had to buy some this week so who and how many are actually testing them and how long do they expect to take to put enough miles on them to determine if they are suitable?

Also, how exactly are they determining if they are/will "work" - what's the parameters?

Thanks
Mark

[Good Times]

Mark,

Here's what the installation looks like along with a short description on the instructions:

Installation time: 30 min (depending on your mechanical expertise)
Tools: 10mm socket, 12mm box wrench, 12mm socket, 13mm box wrench and 13mm socket

1. Loosen 10mm bolt in the engine bay where the sleeve is located. You want to loosen this so that more of the teeth will show. See Mark's photo above to get an idea of what you need to look for. To access this, station yourself by the driver side wheelwell (front) and move the rubber engine bay shield. Determine where the bolt is located on the shaft and rotate the steering accordingly until the bolt is accessible. Loosen until the shaft is free to slide up and down. (basically until it's free)

2. Remove carpet and floor mat to access bottom boot for the steering located at the base of the firewall (look for the black plastic piece protecting the steering shaft at the base.

3. Remove 4 white plastic tabs holding down the black plastic piece.



4. Here is a sample of what the black plastic cover and the white tabs look like. (note these items will be reinstalled later to please do not lose the 4 tabs).



5. Rotate the steering column so that the two bolts are located. Please refer to the image below to determine which bolts to remove. The easiest way to determine the bolt is by looking at the bolt/nut that runs thru whereas the other bolt is just a long bolt connected to a tube that aligns the steering shaft to the base.



6. Remove two 12mm bolts.



7. Slide apart the steering shaft. Easiest way is to use the tripod adjustment lever located right under the steering and pull the steering column away. This should give you ample space to get a spacer in there.



8. Install spacer as shown below.



9. Bolt down spacer using supplied bolt/nut.



10. Completed image of spacer.



11. Reinstall the black plastic boot and 4 white tabs. These tabs are easy to reinstall as all you do is push them in.

12. Tighten steering shaft sleeve located in the engine bay.

Nope this helps.

The one install I did on a friend drives quite a few miles so he was a great candidate. As for how long it will take to test it out, no clue. Do note that Roger developed these items to help reduce the likelihood of another steering issue arise and is no guarantee that this is the solution to the problem that others have experienced.

My opinion and note that it is an opinion based on reviewing the facts: It does not necessarily show that the body lift was the factor in the steering issue. So to state that this spacer will fix or avoid any future incidents can not be guaranteed. Unfortunately I am not a materials engineer so I can't stress test the steering shafts to get a better idea of what went wrong but the findings seem to be inconclusive.

[expatoz]

Excellent. Thanks Lance!

Mark

[sschaefer3]

The body lift pulled it out and the spacer will push it back in. That was not enough spline engagement. Problem solved, but I understand the disclaimers.

Similar thing happened to Joe's Tundra in Moab years ago, the shaft pulled out enough from frame flex that the splines striped.

That will fix it.

[expatoz]

Man this 30min mod is freaking me around. For the life of me I cannot move the inner shaft (that goes inot the steering column) either in or out. Moving the telescoping steering wheel does not move the shaft at all. Adjusting the tilt does nothing.

I have tried and tried to lever the shaft upwards with no luck whatsoever.

Is it possible the Sport Edition has a different steering mechanism?

Four hours later and my truck is stillup on blocks and I'm no further advance than 2omins after I started.

Damn!

Lance - pm sent,

thanks
Mark

[Good Times]

Mark did you figure it out? If not, when you're in my area I'll take a look at it.

Thanks!

[expatoz]

So Lance sorted it out for me today. Some damn clip hiding up inside the steering column housing was preventing the shaft from sliding in or out. So now that I've put the spacer on, the SRS light is on. Grrrr.....

On thing after another.

Thanks Lance for helping me out. Of course I forgot to pick up my spoils from the Pismo raffle..roll eyes!

[Seanz0rz]

mark, love you vehicle, its beautiful.

probably just knocked a yellow srs plug loose.