Wild Horse 3.5" lift steering issue

[KTM2FORD]

just finished up with the install...alignment was done...when I jump on the gas, the truck wants to go left hard...when I get off the gas it wants to jump back hard to to the right. Kinda scary, any thoughts! I'm sure I did the install correctly but you never know. When I stand in the front of the truck, it appears the driver side wheel sticks out farther by about an inch and a half. Any one know a good EB mechanics near OC California.

 

[gravylakeseb]

Entire front axle assembly gets pulled over to the drivers side if you did not do anything with the track bar to allow for the longer length needed to keep it centered. The added height requires changes to the track bar and/or to the top mount hardware; such as an adjustible length track bar, drop bracket, etc. Even maybe a drop pitman arm. I did put in a drop bracket to move the front suspension back to the right.

Steering changes regarding accelerate/decelerate sounds like torque steer to me. My 1973 has lived with that after I installed a detroit locker in it. That makes trailer towing a really different experience.

I put in an entire 1977 disc brake axle assembly (hub to hub) a few years back after my son wiped out the stock one jumping it on the Pismo Dunes. I had to get a special tie rod assembly from WH to make it work; but now I'm real shy on the thread depth of my tie rod ends. I'm in the process of putting in a drop pitman arm now.

 

[KTM2FORD]

installed, new drop pitman arm and drop bracket. reused existing stock track bar (non-adjustable) also installed new WH steering linkage with 3 way adjustments. (drag link, and both tie rod ends). these were all adjusted by the alignment shop. also had the steering box rebuilt.

 

[gravylakeseb]

Wow, sounds like everything was done right. Far as I know, only the wheel toe-in is readily adjustable by normal wheel alignment. Did the shop give a print-out of the caster reading? I had to add the max degree radius arm bushings from WH to get back some caster to diminish the tendency to go right or left on slight turns. I also just added one leaf in back for a one inch lift, so the rear sits lower than the front, in order to also help with the caster.

Sorry I don't have any other ideas.

 

[ENDLIFE]

I had the same issue with a 5.5 inch lift. To cure it I used the adjustable track bar for about 8 years, but being a little too hard on my rig on the trail required changes. I went to heim steering and a WH track bar riser , I quickly found out I needed to go back to a stock track bar. One of the two options would help getting your axle centered, but I highly recommend the riser and stock track bar.

 

[DirtDonk]

Hey KTM, sorry to hear you're having some "drama" after the install. Can you post up some pics of the linkage setup from the front? Or e-mail them to me at paulb@wildhorses4x4.com if you don't use an online image hosting site yet.

First off, what year EB is it? This can actually make a difference with our linkage, as you do NOT need a dropped trackbar bracket with a '76 or '77 EB with this setup.
If a '75 and prior, your use of a drop bracket is correct. However with certain variations, they're not perfect. The theory is that they put you back where you were stock, but that doesn't always put the axle perfectly centered.
That said, it should be close enough that you would not see the driver's tire sticking out farther than the other, like it sounds like you can see on yours.
Might be worth taking some quick measurements to see just how far off your axle is. And you can't use the body as a guide here unfortunately. You have to compare the axle location to the frame.

The linkage does allow for some issues because it's double-adjustable. What you want to see is the tie-rod centerlink rotated so that the pad where the lower draglink end mounts to it is angled upward at approximately a 45° angle.
If I remember correctly, search out some of the threads by member savage. He did the swap and I believe has some good pictures here showing proper orientation.
Hope I remembered that correctly.
On our site, it's a little easier to see the angle on the '76/'77 conversion linkage here: http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Tie_Rod_Drag_Link_3way_Adjustable_7677yr
Notice the slight angle on the tie rod. This allows for better alignment with the trackbar, less overall angle of the draglink, and usually less bumpsteer or other fun stuff.

As mentioned, toe-in, and even tire pressure can be at least partial culprits here too. Not that either would actually "create" a condition of bump or torque steer, but they can aggravate and exaggerate it very much!

Good luck. If any of this doesn't make sense or sound right, give us a call tomorrow and we can walk through some different ideas on the phone.
But a pic would help greatly too. Something from the front showing knuckle-to-knuckle.

Paul