Hey all, thought I'd introduce myself with a question

Just picked up an 87' raider recently (170k miles), silver with a single bouncy seat, 5 speed manual and the "off-road package" is it? Anyways I knew it would need a new engine somewhere down the road, but wanted to fix the puff of smoke on startup; and replacing the valve seals turned into needing a new cylinder head turned into just going ahead and getting a re manufactured engine <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

After that I suppose I will be getting some new wheels and tires (the factory steel wheels are bent, so les schwab tells me). Maybe some 15x7 black rock crawler rims with 30x9.5x15 tires($1k <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> ) But I will be replacing idler arm, upper control arm shafts, etc. to see if that is the cause of slightly shaky wheel which comes and goes.

The point of the post, I will be taking the truck back to ND
in fall (two years left in aviation school), and I need to know if the carb. will be an issue with cold winters back there (the coldest I imagine running it will be -15 deg. F). Since I have the 2.6l with that difficult carb. now, will the extra $400 now for a weber make sense? I have read a few archived posts about the Mikuni being a pain in the really cold stuff.

Any other issues I may run into with what little I have told you? Besides never having issue with being stuck in snow

-Brian

I live in Northern Ontario, Canada and I had no issues at all with my raider this past winter. Even in -40*C weather it started fine, without a block heater. I have the stock carb on it, and I always pumped the gas twice before cranking it. I ran 5W30 synthetic oil in it, which doesn't thicken up as much in the cold, I also let it warm up for a while before I drove anywhere. I didn't drive it daily, maybe once or twice a week, and snow wheeling on weekends. I found that the heater in the raider works twice as well as my Cavalier also.

Welcome to the group.

I'd check the idler arm bushings, and the ball joints first. They wear and will give inconsistant wobble.
Stock Mitsu steel rims are VERY tough, and won't bend easy. A bent rim WILL wobble consistantly. Did they check the balance, or just take a guess?

Tires with rims, mounted and balanced: DiscountDirect.com is your friend. For slightly less than the price you mentioned, I recently got Nitto AT's 34x11.5's on 16x8 aluminum rims mounted, balanced, and a set of locking nuts, delivered to Bellingham. What you want should be a whole lot cheaper.

Good luck!

Well as for the wheels; they did a balance on them, and when I said that I still get an off and on wobble with steering the mechanic said it was likely the wheels were out of shape. He also noted that since there was a LOT of counterbalance weight used on the wheels that this was an indicator of bent wheels as well.

I looked at discountdirect but it seems just to link to other wheel and tire sites. I still haven't found anything cheaper on the web for 5 wheels + tires mounted and balanced.

And as far as the idler and pitman arms go, should I just replace them and upper control arm shafts, or is it worthwhile to do more before I go and spend money to have it re-aligned?

Stick with the Mikuni as it is heated and will not ice. I like Gen2 wheels on a Gen1. Here is a look at my 94SR wheels on my 88.

Oops, it's DiscountTireDirect

Here's their Yoko A/T price in 30x9.5
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/d...amp;amp;pc=43535&typ=Truck%2FSUV

If the wheel was run on a balance test, it was either found to be out of balance (and corrected), or in balance, and returned untouched (or so badly damaged that it couldn't be balanced at all). Either way the wheel should have been ok. Any tire/wheel shop that tried to tell you "lots of weights means a bent rim" is not as long on expertise as they could be.

If that was a front wheel, and the wheel is suspect, swap it for the rear wheel on on the same side. See if the problem follows the wheel in different places, or whether any wheel on that hub has a problems.

My point was that CONSISTANT wobble/steering vibration will most likely mean a bad wheel, whereas INCONSISTANT wobble is more likely steering component wear allowing too much free-play in the linkage. I've had both.
So best thing is to check the "wearable" steering components first: the idler arm bushings ( <$20, DIY) and the ball joints (Not DIY). Of course you're free to change any and all steering parts in the hunt for a problem, but that could get expensive. Get the steering checked by a general repair shop, not a tire shop. The tire shop wants to sell you new wheels.

If the tire/wheel shop can't give you a definate answer on what the problem is, then don't start paying them to use trial and error swapping out major (and expensive) components. Of course, if you've got the $$'s, go for it!

And DON'T do a full alignment until you have the new wheels on, and the wobble cleared up, and the steering linkage free-play corrected.
CHECK THE BUSHINGS AND BALL JOINTS.

I have yet to see any posting by any one reporting a Gen1 steering issue that wasn't either a wheel (or tire problem or pressure), idler arm bushing worn out, or ball joints worn out. Haven't heard of anyone needing to replace major steering hardware. These trucks are very tough up front.

Carburetors: the Mikuni is amazing as long as all the vacuum hoses and systems are intact and working. The Weber will come with its own problems, and will have difficulty passing smog testing.

Defintly run 5w30 when its that cold.

OK sweet well I appreciate the write-up Don! Sounds a little less expensive than what I first thought <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Just so I have a little more insight into expenses though, what should I expect to pay for the new ball joints and installation (since it is not DIY you say).

For the lower ball joints, I think when mine were done the parts were <$200, and it took <2 hrs. I did mine under supervision, and it needs tools and skills to prevent damage. If you need to ask, you might not be able to do it. They can be very difficult to remove.

If you're getting new wheels, do that first.

Then see how it behaves.

The Idler arm bushings are DIY if you have a good socket set, and have some experience. Try to score a set (2 vol, combined ~ 2" thick) of the manuals for your truck off ebay. They really help.

Don't do an alignment until AFTER all other changes/repairs/etc.

If the truck's never been off-roaded heavily, then it's very unlikely any of the steering stuff is damaged.

Get a grease gun, and start chasing down all the grease nipples on the front end, and the drive shafts, there are a lot of them! The truck is very user-servicable. You might want to get a 4x4 shop (or maybe a Mitsu dealer?) to re-pack the wheel bearings, and change the diff lube, especially if you've got the limited slip rear diff. You can change the diff fluids yourself, but an experienced shop will know what warning signs to look for. The front diff may not have seen much use, and hopefully no water got inside.

I'd be willing to come down from Vancouver to have a look, but the border crossing times are getting ridiculous. If you come north, let me know!