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- #101
I put fluids in it this morning and backed it out of the garage. Only put about 17ft on it currently. Hoping to put some miles on it this evening or Tomorrow.
NC LX becomes NC LC
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- #102
Yes I did. Now that I’ve put some miles on it, it does feel better. It’s hard to say how much that made a difference. I swapped the box and the pump at the same time. Steering feels better but I still don’t love driving it over 55. I need to dig deeper into how much play is acceptable vs worn parts that were reused in the reman steering box.
I think the real problem is I drive my wife’s 200 and then drive mine. The 200 has ruined me.
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- #103
New SS showed up yesterday. Last piece of the puzzle. Officially on a spending freeze.
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- #104
Not going anywhere for awhile so Deep cleaning the interior, a little sound deadening and maybe some power wire run to the back.
That garage is magnificent!
Correct me if I am wrong, but you don't appear to be correcting for caster. Driving with zero or negative caster will present as sloppy steering or excessive play. It may be time to look into some caster plates.
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- #107
Zero caster? Hmmm... if I remember correctly my last alignment was zero on one side and .02 on the other. I may have over looked something simple.
Thanks for the thought, I’ll find my alignment sheet and double check.
Caster
I believe caster should be +2 - +4 degrees. I think you need offset bushings or plates (I prefer plates). With all the other good stuff you have done, that truck should drive like it is on rails once the caster is corrected.
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- #109
I have a set of land tank brackets somewhere. I may have may have gotten my numbers mixed up on what is acceptable. I hope it is something like that that I missed. Someone is gonna get a nice 80 if I can’t figure it out, with a lot of nice parts. If I don’t enjoy driving it I have no use for it.
I’ll go see if I have any paperwork in the folder you gave me when we bought your last one. It has plates and feels better than my stock ‘96, although I know the 96 is still all original and also that you replaced other items on your old truck. I think maybe you duplicated a lot of it on the new one?
I can tell you that my 80 drove like a race car when it was stock. After OME 850J / 863 lift and 35’s it was a complete nightmare. Negative 3 degrees caster measured at the driveshaft flange. Offset bushings got me back to 0 caster but the truck was still a terror to drive. I went back to OE bushings and Landtank 2.5” plates and my caster is now 2.3 degrees. Truck drives okay but I wish it were better. Based on my lift, I am in between 2.5” plates and 4” plates. I should have gone with the 4” plates, but they require a double cardan front shaft and I didn’t want the extra expense. With your truck being part time, you could easily get away with 4” plates and no double cardan shaft. Win-win.
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- #113
Went to back the 80 out and it’s dead. Looking for the battery charger I found the 2.5” plates. May just put them on and see how it handles.
I think I remember with the previous 4” plates the tie rod was hitting the radius arms. I need to take better notes.
With running the 2” springs I was hoping it would be easier to get it to drive like a “race car.” I’ve ridden in stock 80s and they handle they Hwy at 80 (downhill) safely.
I think I remember with the previous 4” plates the tie rod was hitting the radius arms. I need to take better notes.
With running the 2” springs I was hoping it would be easier to get it to drive like a “race car.” I’ve ridden in stock 80s and they handle they Hwy at 80 (downhill) safely.
Are you sure the tire rod was hitting the radius arm and not the sway bar? I’ve seen the wrong swaybar drop brackets cause this. If you had drop brackets for a 4” lift but only had a 2 then this would happen. Usually with a 2” you don’t need swaybar drop brackets. 4” plates shouldn’t cause the tie rod to hit the radius arm, they only move the arms a hair more than 2” plates. As far as handling goes, that hair makes a big difference.
I've got offset bushings but still planning to go the stock bushings and drill the mounts to weld plates after alignment like a few others have done. (take out front bolt, add temp bolt and nuts from top, get alignment, drill and weld plates to match)
Planning on sticking to my 2"ish lift height for a long time so having it set by the alignment shop and locked in there sounds ideal.
after the lift it wandered. The bushings helped but I'm thinking it could/should be better too.
Planning on sticking to my 2"ish lift height for a long time so having it set by the alignment shop and locked in there sounds ideal.
after the lift it wandered. The bushings helped but I'm thinking it could/should be better too.
The plates you used before must not have been Landtank plates. The 4" Landtank plates reposition all four axle bolts and not just the front two, effectively rotating the axle on its intended axis. This alleviates the TRE rubbing issue as well as prevents the springs from rubbing against the bump stop towers. Other brands of 4" plates only reposition the front two bolt locations. The 2.5" landtank plates only move the front two axle bolts but no TRE rubbing on those because the smaller amount of correction does not cause any interference.
I have heard of people specifically having TRE rubbing with the Dobinsons 4" plates.
Fixed it for ya. Yeah, but it eventually self-clearances!
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- #119
The post card I’ve been waiting on is coming today.
Amish text message?
