Pulls to Left

[mustangtoby]

Got this Bronco 2 1/2 weeks ago, and it drove straight down the road. Wanders all over, but didn't pull any one direction. Would turn all the way to the left, but not to the right. It hit the stop on the left, but maxed out the steering box on the right. So I bought the indexed drop pitman arm from Wild Horses and installed it last weekend. Centered the tires, pulled the pitman arm, centered the steering wheel, installed the new pitman arm (has no "keyway"), and now it will hit the stops turning right and left, just like it should. Now when I drive it at highway speeds it pulls hard to the left, enough that it is uncomfortable to drive it more than 10 miles or so. I can't see why centering the steering box would cause this, but it didn't do it before.

This Bronco has a 3 1/2" lift, power steering with 76 tie rod "y-style", disc brake dana 44. The tires aren't cupped, wheel bearings are tight, new tie rod ends, 32" BFG atko at 3/4 tread, Power brakes, No shimmy or anything else.

My next step would be to put the old pitman arm back on and see if it quits pulling, then I gess I would know that it's causing the problem. Any ideas?

 

[rnrmp]

check angles of trac bar and drag link, they need to be parallel.

 

[mustangtoby]

They look good, same angle as before. The pitman arm I took off was a drop arm, also.

 

[critt77matt]

You have the Y-style so when you put on the drop pitman arm you need to tighten up the adjustment on the drag link or tie rod. Before you had no toe causing it to wonder and now your tires are toed out causing it to pull. Measure the distance b/t the back side of the front tires and the front side. The front should be slightly less 1/8"-1/2" than the back.

 

[mustangtoby]

The arm I took off was a drop arm, and the new one I put on was a drop arm. The new one is the same as the old, except I can move it in about 10 degree increments, the old one had the "keyway" that only allowed me to move it in 90 degree increments. Putting the new arm on shouldn't have changed the toe, since the old one was a drop arm also.

The only thing I can think is maybe the worm gear in the box is worn enough that now that I'm not driving in the same spot on the gear to drive straight down the road, then it is trying to move back to the most worn spot on the gear, causing it to pull.

 

[broncnaz]

I think its trac bar/tie rod lenght related. Since you replaced a drop pitman arm that wasnt centered that tells me that the trac bar or the drag link is off.
Now you've centered the box with the tires but there has been no adjustment to the trac bar or drag link which with the Y setup your screwed so you need a adjustable trac bar to prevent the trac bar and drag link from fighting one another. You can rarely change one thing with out changing the other and lenghts do factor into this. As you have changed the length of the drag link to a degree by recentering.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Make sure your tires are straight when you measure toe-in. That's where it is minimal. Toe-out increases when the tires are turned to either side.

 

[mustangtoby]

Thanks for the responses. I will check toe in tonight, and start trying to figure some way to measure how the front end is centered, other than just eyeballing it.

 

[Dave]

If all else fails, try registering it republican

 

[bludorbronc]

When you install taller springs ,with the stock trac bar attached, the frame is pulled off center. I would disconnect the trac bar and use a come-along to recenter the frame and axle then check steering position, if good now I would buy a trac bar riser for axle end .

 

[NYLES]

I did what bludorbronco using a four beam laser and he's right about the comalong amazing how much force needed to line up the and center the axle under the frame.....the track bar has a pretty tough job!

 

[Broncobowsher]

Could be a few things. Looks like you checked the basics. the only thing I didn't see was checkeing the tire pressure and swapping left and right tires to rule that out.

My thought, the power steering box got a wear spot in the old centered spot. The new centered spot has a little fluid bleed causing the pull. Is it possible to take the power steering belt off and go for a drive?

 

[surfer-b]

I think you are on the right track with figuring out whether the front axle is centered, you know its not centered because the steering was off, is the track bar stock, is there a drop bracket or a riser? Just to eliminate one possiblity swap the front tires and see what that does. I know this shouldn't make any diff but it will be an easy first place to start.
Edit: I just posted this, had typed earler, wasn't trying to repost what had already been stated

 

[mustangtoby]

I have a track bar drop bracket, the axle is centered. This problem started when I changed from drop pitman arm to another drop pitman arm that has teeth on the spline all the way around. This was the only thing I changed, and it started pulling. The trac bar is parallel to the drag link, the axle is centered under the Bronco, the only difference between now and before is I have a new pitman arm mounted at a different clocking than the old one, allowing me to center the steering box so that now I can turn all the way to the turning stops in each direction. I think Broncobowsher is right, the steering box is the only thing that can cause this problem. The po drove it like it was for 15 years, which could have caused a worn spot on the worm gear. I have now changed the posistion for the steering gear to drive the Bronco straight down the road, so this worn spot is not where I'm driving now. Bleeding by could be the problem, or a ramping effect if the gear is worn enough could cause the gear pull. I will try pulling the power steering belt off for a short ride, and if that don't cure it then I will put the old arm on. It that cures it then I need to rebuild my box or buy a new one, I gess. Thanx for all of the help, guys. All input greatly appreciated.