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Power steering turns too easy

DirtDonk

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Bronco Guru
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Nov 3, 2003
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47,355
Did it act the same before as after the rebuild? If not, maybe they can answer a question as to whether they even mess with the torsion bar. I don't think they do, but if they found one damaged for some reason (is it possible?) maybe they replaced it and it's the incorrect rating for a Bronco?

Stranger things have happened...

Paul
 

Viperwolf1

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electron whisperer
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If the pin is loose that holds the torsion bar to the splined end of the input shaft it can go from no assist to full assist with very little movement of the wheel.
 

Pa PITT

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Jul 15, 2005
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Loc.
Stephenville TEXAS
.. I hate to add my 2 bits, But when I added P/S TO my old manuel ride. I hated it for the 1st 6 month. Then one day I realized I'd gotten used to my new ride.
... Now on a different note ... While I was in the building mode of putting my Saginaw Pump on my Motor . I was using used pumps from some old Pickups I had down on Bronco Row. I'd bring one to the shop & Clean it up & I was also trying to build myself a Sag bracket & Not have to buy one.
.. But one of the things I remember in the back of the pumps . There was a Big Nut that holds the case in place & Your pressure line screws into it.
That nut assemble has a spring & some washers in it. I discovered that I could change that spring & Have different steering.
..... But I hated my steering until one day I WAS USED TO IT.
 

DirtDonk

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Caster and/or scrub radius and ackerman angle.
Unfortunately even with good caster numbers, not all Broncos exhibit good return-to-center performance.
But yep, it should at least get better and you should have at least some. Even if it's not like your modern Honda Civic, it should have some at least.

Love to see numbers on it.

Paul
 

74lumenaire

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Feb 1, 2012
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139
Loc.
Clarkston
I'ved talked to Jeff, at PSC motorsports in Azle, TX, he said they can "revalve" the steering gear to give it more feedback like newer vehicles!?!? Has anybody tried this before and with what results?
 

surfer-b

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I'ved talked to Jeff, at PSC motorsports in Azle, TX, he said they can "revalve" the steering gear to give it more feedback like newer vehicles!?!? Has anybody tried this before and with what results?

not sure about the revalve but I always have this company http://cjrproducts.com/
add a stiffer torsion bar which is a 220, I believe he said the stock is a 190, the 220 gives it a more modern feel yet is still easy off road. You may want to ask your builder about that and see what they say
 

randbjorn

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Oct 10, 2015
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I'ved talked to Jeff, at PSC motorsports in Azle, TX, he said they can "revalve" the steering gear to give it more feedback like newer vehicles!?!? Has anybody tried this before and with what results?

They rebuilt a box for me and adjusted it to feel more like a modern vehicle. It is awesome. It took a little getting used to but it drives so much better. It will alleviate the issue you're having.
 
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FOMOCO_1546

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Central Pennsylvania
I still have not gotten the front end alignment readings yet. I have been playing with air pressures. I right now am running 26lbs. In front tires and 22lbs. In rear. It definitely feels better. I will be taking it into alignment shop soon, and will post the readings. Thanks
 

DirtDonk

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Hey randjorn, sorry if you decided you didn't want to ask your question in this thread, or maybe figured it out from reading. But it seems pertinent to any discussion on Bronco steering to me, so I'll throw it in anyway.
Hope you don't mind.

Does anyone have recommended wheel alignment specs? I’d like to put my rig through an alignment shop to make sure I’m within spec but I’ve found a few conflicting posts on line.

I forget what year yours is, but while they varies slightly over the years, the most common factory specifications for a pre-'76 Bronco were:

Caster - 2.75° to 4.25° positive. With 3.5° considered optimal.
Camber - 1° 2° positive. With a max variance of .5°
Toe-In - 1/16" to 1/4" with 1/8" considered optimal.

That's factory spec. Most here that have played with their settings have found that a few can be changed with good benefit with modern tires and roadways.
Most have found happy medium somewhere between .5 and .75 degrees positive for Camber.
If you have manual steering (I know you don't, but for discussion...) the minimum caster is better. By 3 degrees you can start to feel it in your arms.
If you have power steering however, a Caster reading between 4 and 8 degrees positive is a good goal.
Toe-in is very vehicle-specific it seems, but I think most of us here that have tweaked with ours still find that 1/8" seems like the sweet spot. But it's also easy to test and drive, changing it in small increments until you think you have found the right place.

It handles alright right now but has a noticeably huge amount of positive camber. If anyone cares to chime in with some target numbers I’d appreciate it.

Many are like that. But it's shocking just how extreme that factory spec of 2 degrees looks. It might be a small amount, but you can really see the top tilting out at just 1 degree on a big tire. Two degrees is really tilted.
But it also wears the outside of the tires (especially the passenger side for some reason) so the ones that have adjusted theirs down to less than 1 degree (but more than zero) seem the happiest. Especially when it comes to tire wear.

A little cross-caster and cross-camber seem to be a good thing, but the alignment guys will have to give the finer details of that, and how it better follows the crowns in the road and all that. I don't remember the specifics, but know that it is "a thing" and should be factored in whenever possible.

Hope you can get your alignment printout and see what you can do. Most alignment shops won't remember how to add spindle shims, or ball-joint eccentrics, but some specialty shops will. And those are also things you can do in your driveway if you're into working on your rig too. Basic stuff in fact.
Once you know where things are now, you can do whatever it takes after that.

Paul
 

Rustytruck

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Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
Put your magnetic protractor under the lower front ball joint and check how much the knuckle tilts back. Its not an exact measurement but close enough to see if its going in the right direction and in the ball park. This assumes the truck is level when parked.
 
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FOMOCO_1546

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Jun 17, 2001
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Central Pennsylvania
Update on front end alignment. There is no shop in my erea that will check the alignment. All shops say they will possibly mess up my wheels with the wheel sensors. The shop that aligned my bronco 9 years ago (with my old wheels on) said they could guarantee if the caster was off spec, they would have told me.
I now am running 24psi in rear tires and 24psi in front. It is much better.
 

DirtDonk

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Well that sucks about the proximity of any shop that can do the work for you.
I wonder what type of sensors they are using, that would not work with your wheels. And just what kind of wheels are these anyway?
Most racks, at least of 10years vintage or less, would/should have the latest and greatest sensors that clamp in some clever fashion to just about any wheel, just about any time, without hurting the finish or the edge of the bead.
At least that was my understanding. I don't have any fancy wheels, but do have some modern aluminum and not-so-modern aluminum wheels and nobody has had a problem with it.

Maybe you can just do it yourself then. You can get pretty darn close with driveway-tactics, a digital angle finder and a tape-measure.

But even without measuring, you can still mess with toe-in a tiny bit at a time to see if re-positioning the sleeve makes any difference. Good or bad.

Paul
 
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FOMOCO_1546

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Yes it does suck. The first shop I checked with said that they are trying to talk their boss into buying the kind of sensors that clamp on the tires.
I also stated the wrong rear tie pressure. I'm running 20psi.
 
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