wandering bronco

[jwhit]

up date i just replace all king pin bearing seals and tension kts this seem to help some
worst issue is still wanders also still pulls to right i added some more toe in it is close to 3/8 now also under quick heavy braking it may go left one time and next time it may go right i am going to see if i can get numbers on casrter today to see if it is worth getting raduis arm drop brackets

 

[jwhit]

update with angles
lh caster +1.5
rh caster +1.40
lh camber -.95
rh chamber -.50
track bar angle 11.20
draglink angle 12.80

 

[DirtDonk]

You still running drum brakes? They're very finicky and like to be adjusted a lot, if so.
Pulling during braking can come from tires, brakes, kingpins, wheel bearings and too much angle on the steering/suspension linkage.
Sounds like your linkage angles are ok (how much lift again?) and your kingpins should be ok too. What about bearings? Did you check them when you had it apart? Did you follow the correct adjustment procedure for a 4wd Dana setup?

Did you get a chance to rotate the tires yet? Inconsistent pulling could be oily brakes or something amiss with the tires I would think.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[jwhit]

You still running drum brakes? They're very finicky and like to be adjusted a lot, if so.
have disk kit

Pulling during braking can come from tires, brakes, kingpins, wheel bearings and too much angle on the steering/suspension linkage.


just installed new king pins


Sounds like your linkage angles are ok (how much lift again?) and your kingpins should be ok too. What about bearings? Did you check them when you had it apart? Did you follow the correct adjustment procedure for a 4wd Dana setup?

new bearings set at 50lbs baced off to 35 and lock nut at 50lbs

Did you get a chance to rotate the tires yet? Inconsistent pulling could be oily brakes or something amiss with the tires I would think.

brand new tires and i did swap around just to see if it would change

Good luck.

thanks for input

 

[DirtDonk]

Well that sucks! I was hoping for ancient tires that were worn down to the nubs, or something simple like that.;D

Wheel bearing adjustment sounds sketchy, but that would not likely cause your wandering, so that's probably out. If anything they're too tight anyway, so not likely to give you any loose feelings.

Strange. New tires, new king-pin bearings, new bushings, new new new... Hmmm
I'll have to go back and re-read to see, but did you perform the test with a helper turning the steering wheel while you watch for ANYTHING out of the ordinary? Even the smallest amount of excess play will contribute to wandering.
Sorry, we probably already talked about that, but running out of clear thought patterns at the moment.

Paul

 

[jwhit]

how do you recomend doing bearings?
i went from dana manual that i have
it seemed tighter than i liked but i wanted to
follow manual

 

[DirtDonk]

Manual sounds fishy. Might be a different method they used for whatever it's for, but all the ones I've ever seen said virtually the same thing as below:

1. Tighten to 50 lbs while turning the wheel. This guarantees a seated bearing and race.
2. Back off 90° or a quarter turn. This leaves it quite loose, but it'll get better next.
3. Seat lock ring on the pin and torque outer lock nut to at least 75 lbs.
That last is pretty important. I've heard of 50 lbs though, and that might work just fine. But I've also seen variations in the Ford manuals, but they were always between 75 and 110 lbs. Not less.

It's that "back off to 35" that threw me. If that meant the inner adjuster is set at 35lbs before the locking nut is torqued, that's too much.
With the method I described, I've measured near .020" free-play before the outer nut was torqued. Once it's brought up to that 75 lb rating though, the free-play went precisely down to the prescribed about. Seem to remember something like .006" play, but that's just from memory.
Whatever it was, it worked. Went from loose to perfect just by torquing the outer nut.

Paul

 

[jwhit]

update
i installed drop radius arm brackets also installed shims to get chamber in range
tires look like they are leaning way out at top but the digital angle gauge
reading about 1/2-3/4 degree chamber and 7 plus on caster
truck drives 100% better feels safe to drive now i still need to get to alinment shop
to see what real numbers are so i can decide if i need to make any more adjustments
still pulls to right but not as hard

thanks for all the input

 

[blubuckaroo]

Try adjusting the air pressure in the front tires. I've noticed that when mine have more than 35 PSI, the car will start to dart around when it hits bumps and ruts.

 

[bronconut73]

Try adjusting the air pressure in the front tires. I've noticed that when mine have more than 35 PSI, the car will start to dart around when it hits bumps and ruts.

True....
I am down to about 26 in the front and 30 in the back.
I can go lower for better ride but then it doesn't handle as well.
I am a little spoiled though as my eb already handles really well.

 

[jwhit]

alingment shop numbers
here are results
caster left 6.98
caster right 4.14
camber left .47
camber right .23
toe left 1.77
toe right -1.25
total toe .52
i cant get toe in correct unless i had adjustable tie rods on both ends and or drag link? unless you think i could remove driver side spindle and add shim that would correct? what would you do at this point

thanks


rear numbers just in case you wanted
camber left -.64
camber right -.65
toe left .39
toe right -.26
total rear toe .13
thrust angle -.33

 

[Hozr]

Why can't you get the toe in correct? Start with setting the total toe in then adjust the drag link to steering box to straight. You have a total toe of 0.52 but the steering is pointing to the right! I'm more concerned with the discrepancies in your other numbers. Sounds like something is either bent (radius arm?) or the radius arm bushings are bad or mis-installed. The almost 3" caster difference is brutal.

 

[DirtDonk]

Yeah, that's huge! Not that they're bad numbers (we'd love to be in that range) but such a difference. Wonder if there's an offset ball joint collar installed. Time to re-read the discussion for me I guess.
If no offset collars, then one on each side could take care of most of that. With 1.5° each, you can get that reading 3 degrees closer at least. Wonder how much that would improve the manners or not?

Paul

 

[jwhit]

it is a king pin front end and i just replaced all of them i am at a lost of why numbers are so differnt also not so sure about guy at alignment shop now.he said he could not adjust toe in since i only had the one tie rod ? now after getting home and thinking about
it it makes no since . i may try another shop to see if i get differnt results

 

[jwhit]

Why can't you get the toe in correct? Start with setting the total toe in then adjust the drag link to steering box to straight. You have a total toe of 0.52 but the steering is pointing to the right! I'm more concerned with the discrepancies in your other numbers. Sounds like something is either bent (radius arm?) or the radius arm bushings are bad or mis-installed. The almost 3" caster difference is brutal.

i dont care if steering wheel is pointing straight i have after market wheel and can re index later. just want truck to drive better. my only complaint is pullinh hard to right ,and with new set of tires dont want to buy any more for a while

thanks

 

[savage]

You still running drum brakes? They're very finicky and like to be adjusted a lot, if so.
Pulling during braking can come from tires, brakes, kingpins, wheel bearings and too much angle on the steering/suspension linkage.
Sounds like your linkage angles are ok (how much lift again?) and your kingpins should be ok too. What about bearings? Did you check them when you had it apart? Did you follow the correct adjustment procedure for a 4wd Dana setup?

Did you get a chance to rotate the tires yet? Inconsistent pulling could be oily brakes or something amiss with the tires I would think.

Good luck.

Paul

I read the thread and I see we never got a answer about the brakes. Drums or Disk?

 

[jwhit]

front disk chevy calipers

 

[surfer-b]

Have you jacked the front off the ground and spun the tires to see if the right caliper is dragging more than the left? Bad bearing or improper install could also cause the tire to spin less freely, I know you said you installed new bearings , I just throwing things out there to maybe chk

 

[Hozr]

Caster....Caster helps your vehicle track straight and return the steering to center. That HUGE difference in caster will cause pulling to the right.

I'm going with bent radius arm or Right radius arm bushing installed incorrectly. It's easy to confuse the degreed bushings - been there done that.

 

[SavageBurro]

Also make sure the upper track bar mount bolt hole is not wallowed out.