72 Bronco still has steering issues

[Blue71]

Angle doesnt seem steep at all to me for the u-joint...whataya think? Excuse the dirty driveshaft/u joint...they haven't been replaced yet. Heres the drop bracket that was on there...sorry for the pic orientation

 

[DirtDonk]

Any way to rotate the axle housing 3-4 degrees to see how much room the joint has left? Not sure how to do that easily, and it probably involves more work than it should. Just like everything on these rigs!
But yes, I would have to agree that (for an upside down joint!) it doesn't look too near it's limit.
Are you going to use the 4wd system at all? If not this isn't much of an issue anyway. But if you are, you just need to make sure you don't compensate so much for caster that you bind the joint.

I would use one of the camber shims or offset collars to get the left wheel camber up from zero to about .4 or .5 degrees or so.
Then I would use whatever means necessary to get four more degrees of caster.

The arms are pretty sweet. But do you need stronger arms? If not, you can likely get your axle ends (steering yokes) cut-n-turned for less money and have the best of both worlds.
After all, the ONLY way to correct for both caster and u-joint angle is the cut-n-turn method. All others do just one or the other. But not both.

Luckily, you're in a position to choose since your yoke angle doesn't look all that bad yet.
Another aspect to all this turning is the coil spring angles. The arms might take this into account or not. Not sure.
The cut-n-turn method does nothing for the spring angle, but usually a mild lift does not cause great concern.
Radius arm drop brackets fix the spring angle and add 4 degrees of caster, but offer extra leverage against the frame and potentially a little slop in the motion. But if serious off-roading or jumping around is not in this vehicles future, then the extra leverage is probably a non-issue.

Just some extra points to discuss.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, and that is already some sort of a custom drop bracket on the trackbar. Not sure if they simply extended the stock one and didn't go far enough, or if it's indeed an off-the-shelf part from someone. But I don't recognize it.

You could fab us some sort of extension piece to get it just right.

Paul

 

[gr8scott]

Much easier to look at right-side-up

 

[Broncobowsher]

For 7° bushings that is a surprisingly good U-joint angle.

That drop bracket on the frame looks home made. They are also very well known for cracking the frame. Check it over for cracks. IF you can get someone to turn the steering wheel half a turn side to side and watch the bracket. If you see it flexing, that is one of the problems.

 

[chuck]

The caster should be about +4 and the toe should be 1/4" Check to be sure the C bushings are installed correctly.