Front End

[jackson]

When I drive my bronco I get to about the 40 mph mark and the truck starts to shimmy as soon as I pass 45 mph everything goes back to normal and it is a smooth ride (well as smooth as you can expect out of a EB). Anyway same thing happens when I am breaking all is good except between 40-45 mph. I had the wheels rotated and balanced and the problem was gone for about a week now it is back. Any ideas guys?

Jackson

 

[4x4Alaska]

I would check for worn out bushings...either your trac bar or radius arms...those two, more often than not, are the culprits...

 

[TJK74]

I would say it sounds like the typical worn trac bar bushings.

 

[jackson]

I forgot to mention that I have replaced the trac bar bushings just before I rotated and balanced the tires.

 

[Big Nuf]

Check your wheel bearings. I went to repack my this weekend and found that one side was shot. I couldn't tell it was that bad until I had the brake caliper off. Thats when I could tell it had some play in it.

 

[70bronco]

What year is your Bronco? My dana 30 kingpins gave me all sorts of steering problems until I rebuilt them.

 

[jackson]

I have a 70. What are the king pins I am new to all this so still amd not sure what all the parts are?

I just took the the hubs apart to check the bearings and all was ok both in good shape and no play so i think all is good there.

 

[70bronco]

The dana 30 uses kingpins instead of ball joints to connect the knuckles to the axle housing. If you felt no play when you checked the wheel bearings you probably have good kingpins also but you could take them apart and check them anyway. Remove the four bolts on top of your knuckle and with some luck the pin cap should come out. You may have to pry on them a little and use some WD40 to loosen the rust. Don't loose the shims under the caps. You could remove one of the shims to put more preload on the bearings if they are worn but if you plan on keeping the dana 30 I would rebuild them anyway while you can still find rebuild kits.

 

[jackson]

thx for the advice I will look into that tonight.

 

[70_Steve]

I have a 70. What are the king pins I am new to all this so still amd not sure what all the parts are?

From Jeff's Bronco Graveyard site. The orange parts are the kingpins.

Have someone move the steering wheel back and forth while you lay underneath. Look for looseness at some pivot point, like track bar bushings, tierod ends, etc.

 

[mtkawboy]

If youre going to rebuild the kingpins have a tool made like it shows in the factory manual to knock the races out. I did and I sure wouldnt want to do it again without one. Its tough enough with it to knock the old ons out. If I had it to do all over again I would have changed it to a dana 44 if I could find one. You can buy the kits & shims at Wildhorses. Be careful with the factory bolts, the new stuff is nylon and doesnt compress and the bolts will hit the seals and ruin them. Now is when you can ask me how I know that. Wildhorses only had a few sets left a couple of months ago too.