Another "truck pulls to the left after alignment" thread, need advice please! (1 Viewer)

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I’ve set up a lot of trucks with 4” lifts and 35” tires with only 3* of caster, minimum amount of toe and they all drove fine up to speeds of 85mph. That included still using the factory steering damper regardless of its age. There’s no need to be excessive with any of the factory specs with lifts of this height.
 
Have you ruled out wheels being in balance, a rotation, and maybe the steering gear?
Appointment next week for an alignment and wheel balance check from the shop where I got the wheels and tires.
 
You need to check both left and right side bearings as well as checking for a frozen/sticky brake caliper on all four wheels causing the brakes to drag.
Front left brakes and bearings checked front and rear because it is wandering to the left. Next is the right side I guess.
 
Double cardan front shaft is in and the vibration at 15-20 mph is gone, but the vibration is worse at 45-50mph. It is an "MMMMMMMMMMMMMM' and very slight up and down vibration of steering wheel.
50- 65mph is smooth as butter. Traffic would not let me go any faster this morning so I will test again at higher speeds.
---My main concern is that the kids are getting old enough to take on 4-8 hour road trips in this thing and I don't want the driveshaft to grenade due to vibrating from long road trips. I don't want a part time kit because that defeats the purpose if a magic dial and button. I just want a mild lift and the truck to drive without vibrating. Is that too much to ask??? :bang:
-picture reference for driveshaft angle.
EFCD7AA6-AEB7-4BC5-B429-2AFFF42BDAB5.jpeg
 
Mine pulls right ever since I got it. That was prior to lift, tires, and all sorts of maintenance. New tires helped for a little bit bit it always did it. I've replaced calipers, rebuilt knuckles, tie rods, you name it. The last thing is the steering box which I just finished my 105 upgrade on so I'm hoping that finally gets rid of it. It's had two alignments and everything says the truck should go straight.
 
Mine pulls right ever since I got it. That was prior to lift, tires, and all sorts of maintenance. New tires helped for a little bit bit it always did it. I've replaced calipers, rebuilt knuckles, tie rods, you name it. The last thing is the steering box which I just finished my 105 upgrade on so I'm hoping that finally gets rid of it. It's had two alignments and everything says the truck should go straight.
Have you had a chance to test drive it with the steering box rebuild?
 
Have you had a chance to test drive it with the steering box rebuild?
Nah not yet. I'm going to work on installing it after work this week. I can certainly report back once done.
 
Nah not yet. I'm going to work on installing it after work this week. I can certainly report back once done.
That would be great as this is on my radar as well.
 
The drive shaft angle looks good from what I see. Vibrations in the 40-45 mph is usually tires.
I believe this. But why then does the vibrations go away when I pull the front shaft and return with either a oem shaft or a dc shaft? Is that still a function of tires?
 
Probably not. How old is the front diff?
Front diff is original. 1997. Stock height for first 15 years. then 2" lift for the next 9 years. When I went to the 3" lift last year and 4" radius arms thats when the vibs started.
 
The out board pinion bearings are known to fail. I’ve seen a few during re gears where the pinion fell into the pumpkin once the flange was removed. And it’s likely that you won’t feel anything by hand because the bearing is it’s loosest when under load.
 
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The out board pinion bearings are known to fail. I’ve seen a few during re gears where the pinion fell into the pumpkin once the flange was removed. And it’s likely that you won’t feel anything by hand because the bearing is it’s loosest when under load.
Thanks Rick. So is it that messing with the lift height and caster has upset the bearings and now they are loose causing the driveshaft to vibrate?
 
Thanks Rick. So is it that messing with the lift height and caster has upset the bearings and now they are loose causing the driveshaft to vibrate?
Changing lift height will mess with "running patterns" of U-Joints and other rotating parts.

If you installed NEW U-Joints at the time of lift change, you may have avoided the vibrations. It is common to be running a u-joint, do a lift or spring change that changes the normal angle of operation and it changes the directional forces on the part and makes it wear differently. The old wear pattern doesn't like it and it chews it up quickly.

I didn't start having issues with my DS until I added my 2.5" OME lift. Now I'm having U-Joint and slip joint issues. I've seen this on all makes and models.

The extra vibration in the U-Joints can take out a pinion bearing. The forces change ever so slightly and things aren't happy. You may find that when doing lifts, if all rotating parts are refreshed at that time, there are never any issues.

When you cross over to the 3" + lifts, then you have caster issues as well as drive line angle issues and there is more strain placed on parts that didn't have it before.

Yes, it's possible the lift affected the U-Joints and the pinion bearings that were already worn.
 
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That’s a good amount. Most all the trucks that I referenced earlier were full builds so re-gearing the diffs were part of the job. I had a bad carrier bearing in one diff that growled at certain speeds. Not being there I can’t say for sure but it’s something keep in mind.
 
That’s a good amount. Most all the trucks that I referenced earlier were full builds so re-gearing the diffs were part of the job. I had a bad carrier bearing in one diff that growled at certain speeds. Not being there I can’t say for sure but it’s something keep in mind.
Seems like I could pull the flange and seal and inspect that bearing? Could I replace just that one outer bearing and not the inner? Or just re-torque flange nut?
DB1406FC-FCEE-405B-9A8F-4D7F57D200E3.jpeg

Edit: In post #14 of this thread it is mentioned to tighten the flange bolt 1mm. Thoughts?
 
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