Help help help (1 Viewer)

[Upth80]

Hi everyone new here I have a 96 80 series gxl auto running a 4” lift with 35s

Things I have done
5deg caster plates
Adjustable Panhard bars
Brake lines
and all sway bar extensions.

Deal is

My 80 series has a bad death wobble at times and 99% of the time the wobble is slightly there

The steering wheel feels real loose and crap


The front end feels s***
off-road and on road feels every bump and feels it hard

It feels like im
Riding in bricks.

the steering wheel has been put out of balance and I dno why it’s not straight no more.

the rear end feels exactly the same.

I dno how to check the tie rod ends
The wheel bearings are new.

My front wheels size angled inside like pointing in not straight!

If I hit a bump I feel it in the wheel and threw out the whole car it’s not a comfy ride at all.

I got my mate to wiggle my steering wheel left to right when cars off and I can hear a knocking sound.
The front wheels looks like there jolting when turning like that jump a tad. I can feel a knock in the steering box arm also along the front tie rod bar and the dampner and if I rock the car side to side it feels like the wheels are a little loose but I’ve checked bearings and all seem fine.


Please what do I do it’s driving me mad


What could it be.

Iv checked for cracks around steering box there ain’t none.
Panhards have no cracks.

 

[dallen341]

is the tie rod bent? Tie rod is the rod that attaches one knuckle to the other.

 

[jpoole]

is the tie rod bent? Tie rod is the rod that attaches one knuckle to the other.

This sounds likely but I'd guess you have multiple issues.

You are on the right track with laying under and inspecting the steering while a buddy rocks the wheel. I'd repeat that and check:

• Input/output shafts on the steering box to get a sense of how much slack the steering box is introducing to the system. You can potentially take some out with the adjustment screw on top of the box. This won't fix many of your issues but could help a few.
• For slack at all joints. Sometimes you can see if a tie rod, for instance, is loose and other times is harder to see visually. You can place a hand on the joint so that it touches both sides of the joint and if there is slack in the joint itself you'll feel it as the steering wheel is rocked back and forth.
• For loose nuts on the bottom of your steering knuckles. Torquing these is a good idea even if they aren't visibly loose.
• While under there I'd also check for any bent front-end components. Rods should be straight, arms should match side to side, etc.

After that I'd lift the front tires off the ground (one at a time is fine) and check for bearing play. You may have loose wheel bearings and loose trunion bearings.

After checking the front wheels for bearing play I'd check the rear as well.

Then I'd inspect / replace all of the suspension bushings. If these are worn you can have wandering / tracking issues, etc. regardless of how tight everything else is.

After all is tight I'd take it to a good alignment shop to get the toe set properly/etc.

From there you can get into troubleshooting lift induced issues like caster issues and start installing corrective parts/etc. A 4" lift can be done well and result in a solid handling truck or can cause all sorts of steering and tracking issues.

Along the way you may figure out if your spring rates/shocks are correct for your trucks weight, if your tire pressures are correct, etc. and if there are ways to improve the feel of the ride along with the drive ability of the rig.

I may be missing a few steps and you'll have to read up (plenty of info here on the forum) on these areas to learn more specifics but unless any of the above areas have been addressed recently your rig may need attention in all of them. My 200k+ mile 80 had problems in all of these areas (except the lift induced problems) when I got it and it was on stock tire size, no lift and hadn't been wheeled.

Good luck and do this soon before you have an accident!

 

[BILT4ME]

Lube your shafts
Check your nuts
Wheel bearings are too loose
Rubber bushings are shot
Truck has been beat on.

 

[Heckraiser]

Front tires pointing inward sounds like a bent tie rod or tie rod ends adjusted way out of wack. They should point inward, but only like 2-3mm (i.e. not visible).

Wobbling/knocking when turning the wheel back and forth could be the tie rod contacting the front suspension arms (what kind of caster plates do you have?), could also be bad drag link ends.

Steering wheel out of straight also points to a bent drag link, bum drag link ends or poorly adjusted drag link. So basically all the joints in your steering system could be suspect.

If you have new wheel bearings, did you do them yourself? Good chance they are not fully tight. And with big tires/lifts they can sometimes loosen up after a few hundred miles down the road. Check the wheel bearings and make sure they're tight. Quick/easy way is to jack up a front tire, grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock and wiggle it. If it moves at all, your wheel bearings need to be re-tightened. This may be something you'll have to check periodically forever.

Lots of other things could be contributing: bad bushings, bad shocks, etc. Just start inspecting everything one item at a time until you've gone through the whole truck. If that doesn't fix it, then burn it to the ground.

 

[Upth80]

is the tie rod bent? Tie rod is the rod that attaches one knuckle to the other.

I haven’t checked to see if it’s bent mate I will check today anything else I can check

 

[Upth80]

Front tires pointing inward sounds like a bent tie rod or tie rod ends adjusted way out of wack. They should point inward, but only like 2-3mm (i.e. not visible).

Wobbling/knocking when turning the wheel back and forth could be the tie rod contacting the front suspension arms (what kind of caster plates do you have?), could also be bad drag link ends.

Steering wheel out of straight also points to a bent drag link, bum drag link ends or poorly adjusted drag link. So basically all the joints in your steering system could be suspect.

If you have new wheel bearings, did you do them yourself? Good chance they are not fully tight. And with big tires/lifts they can sometimes loosen up after a few hundred miles down the road. Check the wheel bearings and make sure they're tight. Quick/easy way is to jack up a front tire, grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock and wiggle it. If it moves at all, your wheel bearings need to be re-tightened. This may be something you'll have to check periodically forever.

Lots of other things could be contributing: bad bushings, bad shocks, etc. Just start inspecting everything one item at a time until you've gone through the whole truck. If that doesn't fix it, then burn it to the ground.

I checked wheel bearings all seem
Ok. Tie rod ends I have no idea how to check. What else could be bent mate I just purchased a new steering box and gonna fit that to it aswell as a new dampner

 

[Upth80]

I checked wheel bearings all seem
Ok. Tie rod ends I have no idea how to check. What else could be bent mate I just purchased a new steering box and gonna fit that to it aswell as a new dampner

I checked wheel bearings all seem
Ok. Tie rod ends I have no idea how to check. What else could be bent mate I just purchased a new steering box and gonna fit that to it aswell as a new dampner

The wheels don’t appear straight it’s like the they sit angled abit and not dead straight

I checked wheel bearings all seem
Ok. Tie rod ends I have no idea how to check. What else could be bent mate I just purchased a new steering box and gonna fit that to it aswell as a new dampner

Caster plates I have 5deg plates in it

I checked wheel bearings all seem
Ok. Tie rod ends I have no idea how to check. What else could be bent mate I just purchased a new steering box and gonna fit that to it aswell as a new dampner

This sounds likely but I'd guess you have multiple issues.

You are on the right track with laying under and inspecting the steering while a buddy rocks the wheel. I'd repeat that and check:

• Input/output shafts on the steering box to get a sense of how much slack the steering box is introducing to the system. You can potentially take some out with the adjustment screw on top of the box. This won't fix many of your issues but could help a few.
• For slack at all joints. Sometimes you can see if a tie rod, for instance, is loose and other times is harder to see visually. You can place a hand on the joint so that it touches both sides of the joint and if there is slack in the joint itself you'll feel it as the steering wheel is rocked back and forth.
• For loose nuts on the bottom of your steering knuckles. Torquing these is a good idea even if they aren't visibly loose.
• While under there I'd also check for any bent front-end components. Rods should be straight, arms should match side to side, etc.

After that I'd lift the front tires off the ground (one at a time is fine) and check for bearing play. You may have loose wheel bearings and loose trunion bearings.

After checking the front wheels for bearing play I'd check the rear as well.

Then I'd inspect / replace all of the suspension bushings. If these are worn you can have wandering / tracking issues, etc. regardless of how tight everything else is.

After all is tight I'd take it to a good alignment shop to get the toe set properly/etc.

From there you can get into troubleshooting lift induced issues like caster issues and start installing corrective parts/etc. A 4" lift can be done well and result in a solid handling truck or can cause all sorts of steering and tracking issues.

Along the way you may figure out if your spring rates/shocks are correct for your trucks weight, if your tire pressures are correct, etc. and if there are ways to improve the feel of the ride along with the drive ability of the rig.

I may be missing a few steps and you'll have to read up (plenty of info here on the forum) on these areas to learn more specifics but unless any of the above areas have been addressed recently your rig may need attention in all of them. My 200k+ mile 80 had problems in all of these areas (except the lift induced problems) when I got it and it was on stock tire size, no lift and hadn't been wheeled.

Good luck and do this soon before you have an accident!

Thanks mate I plan on doing it all today tonight may be a long night I may pull the whole front end down and replace all
New bushings and if a bars bent replace that also.

Ill
Keep u updated on how I go

 

[Upth80]

Front tires pointing inward sounds like a bent tie rod or tie rod ends adjusted way out of wack. They should point inward, but only like 2-3mm (i.e. not visible).

Wobbling/knocking when turning the wheel back and forth could be the tie rod contacting the front suspension arms (what kind of caster plates do you have?), could also be bad drag link ends.

Steering wheel out of straight also points to a bent drag link, bum drag link ends or poorly adjusted drag link. So basically all the joints in your steering system could be suspect.

If you have new wheel bearings, did you do them yourself? Good chance they are not fully tight. And with big tires/lifts they can sometimes loosen up after a few hundred miles down the road. Check the wheel bearings and make sure they're tight. Quick/easy way is to jack up a front tire, grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock and wiggle it. If it moves at all, your wheel bearings need to be re-tightened. This may be something you'll have to check periodically forever.

Lots of other things could be contributing: bad bushings, bad shocks, etc. Just start inspecting everything one item at a time until you've gone through the whole truck. If that doesn't fix it, then burn it to the ground.

100% if it don’t fix it I’ll burn it

 

[BILT4ME]

Place a long straight edge on the length of the tie rod in four places around the rod. This will show if bent.

If no long straight edge, can use a string stretched end to end. Probably need two people to do this.