Steering Problems

Ok I have a 75 with 3.5 lift. Power steering, Drop track bar mount and drop pitman arm. When I turn the wheel it will turn a lot further to the passenger side than it will to the drivers side. I took the stabilizer loose to check if that was what was binding it and nothing changed. :-[ Is this normal or is the pitman arm or steering box out of adjustment? I am new to EBs so I didn't know if this was normal or not. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Several things to check.

Is the differential centered on the frame? Measure from the outside of the frame to the inside of the wheel on both sides. They should be pretty close. If not you need an adjustable track bar. Start there.

If that's OK, then center the wheels by driving straight ahead when you park. Remove the drag link from the pitman arm. Center the steering box by turning the wheel to lock in one direction, count the number of turns it takes to turn to full lock in the other direction, then turn back half that number of turns. Now look at the position of the pitman arm. It should be pointing to the rear of the Bronco, and anywhere from parallel to the frame to pointing slightly to the drivers side.

At this point, does the drag link fit back into the pitman arm? No? Then adjust the length of the drag link, or get an adjustable drag link.


There's a couple other things to look at. Maybe before disconnecting the drag link... Put the front differential up on jack stands so you can turn the wheels easier. Turn full lock in each direction. See if the stops on the knuckles hit the differential on either side.

Thanks for the Information. I will check it all out this weekend and let you know what fixed my problem. Sounds like it may just be as simple as a little adjustment.

Thanks for the great information 70
Been real busy but I finally had time to work on the steering along with the hydroboost unit. What I found out was that MY PO put f150 knuckles on the beast and just sorta aligned the front by eyeball. No strings no nothing. So after realizing the tie rods don't even go all the way through the knuckles I did a lot of measuring and ligned the front end. The axel is 1/2 inch off center to the pass side. Tie rod was extended way to far to allow easy turns both ways. So now I am looking at a heim setup with an adjustable track bar to fix all my problems. I will re-index the pitman when I get the heim setup and I think that will cure the beast.

My question now is which heim system does everybody like the best. I have looked at all of them and the olny real difference seems to be the price except for BCB kit which attaches the drag link on the tie rod. Come on guys give me your thoughts. Oh BTW is it ok to run the F150 knuckles or do I need to change them too. Thanks

F150 knuckles should be just fine. I've run them on mine for years and like them. The only real variation is that the steering arm is in a slightly different location. In theory, your Ackerman angle (I think that's the one) is slightly compromised for not having steering arms that were designed for the wheelbase/track width they're used on, but in actual use, they're certainly close enough for gov't work.
And it allows you to keep your Ford disc brakes and not have wheel clearance issues like some have with their '76/'77 Bronco knuckles. Which seems like a good thing.

Don't have a recommendation on which steering system. Seems like most are pretty happy with all of them. You're close to BC and they typically put a lot of thought in to their products, so that might be a point or two in their favor.


Paul