navara d22, crunching on full lock, THE CURE

[jghs83]

i have a 2002 navara 4x4 and over the past few months has developed an awful crunching sound when on full lock and going over a bump.
after looking at another forum this is easily rectified.

the steer stops (bolt with a domed head) on the back of thubs on the front wheels have nylon push on blocks, these where worn out! (a decent pair of long nose plyers and a bit of patience should get them off) but only cost about £12 for a set of four, which is fairly reasonable if you ask me.

also in addition to this these steer stops can be adjusted so you can get a tighter lock ans a smaller turning circle.
my bolts were originally at 40mm from the base plate to the tip of the domed bolt head, ive now set them at 25mm without any problems. this may be different to your own vehicle, im using the original 16"x7" 4 spoke alloys with a set of 255/70r16 bf goodrich tyres, so if you have aftermarket or the larger outlaw wheels they will need adjusting accordingly.
also taking into consideration is off road use, mine does go off road occasionally but nothing extreme but has still worked fine without doing any damage.

this can be done easily with very little know-how, good set of spanners and a steel rule or a tape measure. you dont even need a set of ramps as these thing are that high to begin with!
dont be tempted to use WD-40 or other penatrating oil to use on the bolts as you are very close to the brake discs and you dont want to get any on them!

1 final thing to help, GREASE is the cheapest spare part going, use some on the bolt heads and the contact plates (youll see what i mean), just a little smear should do.

hope this helps anybody applies to, now or in the future

regards jay

any questions about this leave me a post or email me on [e-mail]. or i could do this for a small fee in the west yorkshire area.

[it still runs]

i wonder how this affects the CV joints i know we dont put the vehicle on full lock too much, but what does the turning circle change to ?

[jghs83]

ive been riding around like this for a while now and touch wood no problems with cv joints or prop shafts.
ill get an exact turn circle asap and keep you all updated on the cv joints

[jghs83]

sorry, adjusting the steer stops is at the owners discretion, im not telling everyone to do it, its just something to consider.

[jghs83]

an update on this, over 12 months down the line and the cv joints and rubber boots were fine. some very slight wear in the wheel bearings which was found during an MOT. these were changed a week later as a matter of course.

i never managed to measure the turning circle but its was just as easy to reverse into a parking space, from a 90 degree angle, as an audi a4. tell a lie it was easier in the nav' as you could see more through the mirrors.