wandering bronco

[DirtDonk]

I got yer answer right heah...

"All of the above!" ;D

Paul

 

[jwhit]

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.

i might remove right radius arm just to make sure no rust or crud was left behind when i installed them also maybe i can get a little more twist out of it when i reinstall .
brake is not dragging bearings are torque same both sides
thanks

 

[Seventee]

I have a hard time believing there is that much caster difference from one end of the axle to the other. That seems like a lot of twist, almost as if one of the tubes has spun, or a problem with a knuckle. I'm with Paul, I wonder if one side has an offset ball joint collar installed (incorrectly)?

 

[DirtDonk]

His kingpin axle won't have those collars unfortunately. Naturally, because that would have been too easy!

i dont care if steering wheel is pointing straight i have after market wheel and can re index later.

Yes, you do care. ;D The reason is you don't ever want to re-orient the wheel to correct for center. That's what the adjustable draglink is for. Steering wheels are not indexed anyway. Just straight splines.
If the steering wheel is on correctly, it will coincide with the steering gear boxes "on-center" position, which is pretty important for good road manners itself. Won't cause a pulling, but has it's own set of bad characteristics to deal with.

So always center the box, make sure the wheel is oriented to that center, then build your stuff off of that. Once the truck is driving straight and if you notice the steering wheel off a bit, adjust the draglink to correct.
That's why Ford should have put an adjustable link in there from the factory. But maybe simplicity, and certainly budget got in the way.

Paul

 

[Hozr]

I have a hard time believing there is that much caster difference from one end of the axle to the other. That seems like a lot of twist, almost as if one of the tubes has spun, or a problem with a knuckle. I'm with Paul, I wonder if one side has an offset ball joint collar installed (incorrectly)?

Don't forget we are talking Dana 30 here....No Ball joints.

 

[Seventee]

Don't forget we are talking Dana 30 here....No Ball joints.

Shoot yes, forgot about that. I think I got crossed with another thread where someone has a D44. Carry on....

 

[jwhit]

i will give update after i take right side c bushing out.it looks like it is in correct
but what the heck i have done everything elese this might be my last hope
maybe when i reinstall it i can get just a little more twist on axle tube to make up those 2 degrees
thanks guys for all the input

 

[jwhit]

after work today i took right radius arm bushing out double check everything before
i put things back together all looks good and with my digital angle guage caster left side to right side are within 1/2 -3/4 degree of each other . my test drive afterwards has same result still pulls right even when i am backing up the tail end wants to go right. anbody got any other thoughts? i am thinking about loosening right rear brake just to make sure that it is not causing problem
i may just have to live with it pulling right for a while since it does drive pretty well now that i have drop radius arm brackets installed ,it is a night and day differnce from when i started
but my wallet is also empty at this point .
thanks again for the input

 

[Speedracer800]

I'll share with you something I discovered that was a game changer for me.

I have recently finished a frame up restoration and from the beginning was experiencing a wandering condition. It acted like not enough caster although the truck is only lifted 2.5" and after an alignment the truck was showing 5 degrees of caster. It just never wanted to return to center which made me feel like I was chasing it all over the road constantly. I WENT THROUGH EVERYTHING!! 3-4 times.. it was driving me freakin nuts! This is not my first Bronco so I knew what would be considered "acceptable" as far as road manners.

Finally an old school Ford mechanic buddy of mine suggested something that changed everything. It was so simple and obvious but It just never occurred to me. He told me to jack up the front end and remove the front tires. Then disconnect the steering from the knuckles and try manually turning the steering knuckles. I did and it was hard as hell. His opinion is that when the ball joints get replaced, the new units are so tight that they kind of "hang up" the steering and make it so the caster can no longer help bring the truck back to center. He said to get a BFH and give the knuckle a healthy thump to loosen up the ball joint. Then try turning it again. I did and it was a WORLD of difference. I whacked it another time and looser yet...obviously being careful because they are a cast part. I did the same to the other side with the same results.

I took the truck for a drive and FINALLY it was PERFECT! It sounds too easy but I'm telling you after I threw everything in the world at my Bronco including front and rear sway bars, stiffer and softer springs, tire pressure etc. This is the single thing that flat out fixed my problem.

Take it from the old school Ford truck mechanic..all it took was a big ass hammer. Its worth a try man. Just FYI.. good luck.

 

[DirtDonk]

Excellent suggestion Speed. We don't often remember to talk about the pivoting resistance on these things. And even though he has kinpin bearings and not ball-joints (so they probably won't respond the same way as yours did), it's still worth making sure that nothing is bound up and keeping things from working properly.
Kind of in the same vein as centering the steering box. Makes things work as-designed.

Just one more thing to look at. Although I think he might already have done that. Sigh...

Paul

 

[Speedracer800]

Yeah, wasn't sure if that would apply to this situation it's just something that was a big moment for me in my build and I've been meaning to share it. I haven't seen too much talk about that and I just could not get over the difference it made on my rig. I would have never believed it could have been the cause of so many of my issues.

 

[Tiko433]

Thanks for sharing Speed ,something else to keep in mind. I have been following . jWHIT hooked me up with his old seats a few months ago so I got a look at his rig , very nice solid truck and he does awesome work. Keep at it JWHIT I know you will get it right .

 

[Hozr]

The kingpins on the 30 are a PITA. I went through 2 sets of the "snubbers" and shims to try and get them right and just never could. It's possible the holes are wallowed out or they are torqued too much or too little. The design is just no that great to begin with.

The D44 swap is the best option on the early broncos but the 30's can be made to work.

 

[jwhit]

here is lastest update
as i stated in last post the wondering problem is fixed the truck drives good besides the slight pull to the right. it is not so bad that it would keep anybody from driving but my concearns are tires 33/12.5/15 aint cheap. so i dont want to get uneven wear on them i did some more checks this morning 1st made sure both tires rotated freely when jacked up there is no brake drag and oddly enough right side spins more revolutions the left side .
2nd i jacked up rear to see same thing and there is no rear brake drag. so i am deciding to live with issue after i try 1 last thing as speedracer and hozr brang up point of king pins i did just put in all new with the rubber tension kits and they seem to turn just fine i set them with torque wrench as described in my dana book. but i could revisit then 1 one time since i didnt reuse all the shims that were on it from factory ,i think i removed 2 of the thinner ones from each side .i dont think this can really be an issue since it was pulling right before i replaced them but at this point it cant hurt to go back a recheck
i need to go to another alignment shop and get numbers again just to see if there is still a large differnce in caster from left to right side? also another thing keeps bugging me is that even with track bar drop bracket from axle is 1/4 off cenetr to the right
i just wonder if this is the real issue? i dont have the money to buy adjustable track bar at the moment but it may be on my list for next purshase
thanks to all agian

 

[jwhit]

Thanks for sharing Speed ,something else to keep in mind. I have been following . jWHIT hooked me up with his old seats a few months ago so I got a look at his rig , very nice solid truck and he does awesome work. Keep at it JWHIT I know you will get it right .

thanks how does yours ride with new lift ? hope all is well

 

[carmi]

Something to check would be the rear leaf spring u bolts. I have had wandering problems in the past that were due to new u bolts that had stretched and become semi loose. Even though your wandering issue is better, it could still be possible for one or both u bolts to be loose enough to allow your axle to twist, potentially causing your pull to the right. I know the difference between 70 lb-ft and 90 lb-ft on my u bolts was a game changer. You could also throw a couple string lines on your axles and check to be sure they are equal distance on the left and right. A difference between the two could induce a pulling issue.

 

[Tiko433]

It seems ok , but I didn't my miles on it. Right after I finished the lift I startef replacing my hinge post so it's been sitting awhile. Hinge post , kick panel and rebuilding doors.

 

[jwhit]

It seems ok , but I didn't my miles on it. Right after I finished the lift I startef replacing my hinge post so it's been sitting awhile. Hinge post , kick panel and rebuilding doors.

that a job i had hard time keeping my in line when i had to replace kick and inner and outer rocker, it would help if you had a door to help fit also

 

[jwhit]

Something to check would be the rear leaf spring u bolts. I have had wandering problems in the past that were due to new u bolts that had stretched and become semi loose. Even though your wandering issue is better, it could still be possible for one or both u bolts to be loose enough to allow your axle to twist, potentially causing your pull to the right. I know the difference between 70 lb-ft and 90 lb-ft on my u bolts was a game changer. You could also throw a couple string lines on your axles and check to be sure they are equal distance on the left and right. A difference between the two could induce a pulling issue.

bolts are at 135ft lbs also got square as possible maybe 1/8 differnce left to right on wheel base . the wandering problem seems to be fixed after radius arm drop brackets. just want to get the pull to right out

 

[Hozr]

Is the pull to the right constant now or only under braking or deceleration (coasting)? Glad it's getting better!