Hello all, this is my first time here. I have an 81 Toyota pickup. I Got the truck for 500 dollars with a blown engine. I put my own engine in it, and have since had no problems.The other day I went into the local tire shop to get some new tires, and i noticed that my front wiggles quite a lot. My tie rod ends are so bad I can wiggle it back and forth about 3 inches with my hand. I go camping every weekend and it is usually on a trail of sorts, and i have a heavy foot. My question is i know I need tie rod ends, but i dont know what i need for the front to stiffen it up, what is inside around the hubs that i would need? Wheel bearings? if you have any ideas it would be quite helpful. The guys at the tire shop didnt seem like they were too sure, or maybe i wasnt listening right.I have one other question, My front end when my tires were off, i wiggled it around and gear oil came out around the ball looking thing that connects to the tire. I dont kow if thats a guard but its not like it was on my jeep. What could be the casue of this?

 

Sounds like you need to rebuild your knuckles. Here is a link to Marlin http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/axles.htm

 

Waht do i need to bouy, to do a complete rebuild of the knuckels, i mean everything, the seals all that down to the shaft? Thanks.

 

http://www.trail-gear.com/knuckle-service.html

thats what i used to rebuild my front

 

I ordered the Trail Gear kit. So wheel bearingsd and seals going bad will cause the front end to wiggle around a liitle bit. I just want to be sure that this is going to fix my leak, and stiffen it up. Is there anything else that could cause it to be loose? hub? axle shaft?

 

tie rod ends

 

Only way to find out is to tear it apart and see what is the cause of the looseness. Could be the knuckle bearings (cause a top-bottom wheel wobble), worn wheel bearings, causes a wobble in all directions, worn tie rod ends (causes a front-back wheel wobble) or worn spring/shackle bushings (causes the whole axle to move side-side).

 

Post up some pictures of your truck when you get the chance...Always like to see another '81...Good luck with your front end, I will be doing mine this winter...