Take it to a NASCAR track and teach it how to turn LEFT.
pulls to the right...still pulls to the right....still pulling to the right
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mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Steering box was mentioned above. Might pay to centre the steering box, then check if your tires, Pittman arm, steering wheel are all also centred.
It's possible previous mechanical/wheel alignment work has left the steering box output NOT centred which may have control circuits slightly open.
It's possible previous mechanical/wheel alignment work has left the steering box output NOT centred which may have control circuits slightly open.
My $ is still on the steering box being the issue. Alignment is good, brakes are not dragging, if it was sloppy suspension bushings it probably wouldn't be pulling in only 1 direction.
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Thanks to all for joining me in tracking this down. I've had the truck for 10yrs. Cooper tires. It came with 4" OME and yellow bushings in the control arms.
Update: I do notice a little less pull to the right when I'm on the left side a crowned road.
I'm gonna get the front wheels off the ground today and see if anything shows up.
If I slowly move forward 25', crown on the left, the truck goes to the right and the steering wheel
turns to the right (hands off). A little more to the right with brake pressure.
Left front camber 0.3 deg - Right front camber 0.0 deg Camber angle correct. I suppose this could have been exaggerated when I installed taller skinnier! tires (32 to 35).
And again, thanks for everyone's time. I try not to go the knowledge well on here until I'm really really stumped, which I am.
It's possible previous mechanical/wheel alignment work has left the steering box output NOT centred which may have control circuits slightly open.
Interesting, steering wheel is off center a little bit from my still unfinished clock spring replacement. One tooth on the steering shaft at most. I did not mess with the linkage to correct it since I'll reinstall the steering wheel. I don't think that's it though.
Update: I do notice a little less pull to the right when I'm on the left side a crowned road.
I'm gonna get the front wheels off the ground today and see if anything shows up.
If I slowly move forward 25', crown on the left, the truck goes to the right and the steering wheel
turns to the right (hands off). A little more to the right with brake pressure.
Left front camber 0.3 deg - Right front camber 0.0 deg Camber angle correct. I suppose this could have been exaggerated when I installed taller skinnier! tires (32 to 35).
And again, thanks for everyone's time. I try not to go the knowledge well on here until I'm really really stumped, which I am.
It's possible previous mechanical/wheel alignment work has left the steering box output NOT centred which may have control circuits slightly open.
Interesting, steering wheel is off center a little bit from my still unfinished clock spring replacement. One tooth on the steering shaft at most. I did not mess with the linkage to correct it since I'll reinstall the steering wheel. I don't think that's it though.
Re steering boxes, the other thing with them is that in the middle position (more like their middle 'zone') there will always be naturally more wear therefore slightly more play. There is no centre 'detent' position. As the wheel is turned towards either of the full-lock positions the wear is less so the steering 'feel' when turning is more 'firm'. It's always going to be more 'sloppy' when centred because that's when everything has the least amount of 'off centre' movement forces being applied.
I've had a go at snugging my rebuilt steering box up once. If you snug up too much with the steering in the middle you can make it too tight towards full left or right. The adjustment screw shouldn't be turned more than about 1/4 to 1/2 of a turn at a time.
I honestly do not know if the steering fluid used has much bearing on this. Or if the version of the steering box has any bearing on it. Most of us drive most of the time on-road and the vehicle needs to be roadworthy to do that.
I've had a go at snugging my rebuilt steering box up once. If you snug up too much with the steering in the middle you can make it too tight towards full left or right. The adjustment screw shouldn't be turned more than about 1/4 to 1/2 of a turn at a time.
I honestly do not know if the steering fluid used has much bearing on this. Or if the version of the steering box has any bearing on it. Most of us drive most of the time on-road and the vehicle needs to be roadworthy to do that.
What is the caster measurement?
How does one do that?
mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Basically, count how many turns to full lock on the left, plus how many turns to right, divide by two.
Then go to full lock one way, count half the turns back to centre. Is the steering wheel centred?
If yes, then go for a drive. Does the wheel stay centred when driving straight ahead?
If no, are the wheels pointing straight ahead?
If no, someone has taken the easy route and hasn't centered the steering.
Scientitiously? No idea
The Pittman arm and steering box output shaft have match marks that should be aligned too
I’m not sure about him but the pull I had was related to toe being out of adjustment. Removed the track rod and removed the tie rod ends. Cleans up the threads, then reinstalled with anti seize. It’s as smooth as butter now. The adjustment was easy after that. Slightly toed in too keep straight. Seems to not pull anymore...
Yeah, I've been searching the symptoms of all the alignment specs on mud today and that's the conclusion I've come to as well, aside from something worn that needs replacing. Looks like I am in need of bringing in some Toe IN! I'm a little concerned with the rear toe as well, but I'll mess with the front first and see how that changes things.
I would question the results on that "Toe" value on the rear. The rear toe is NOT adjustable. Either they did not have things adjusted properly for the measurements or your rear wheel bearings need adjustment or your rear axle is bent. Also possible it reads that way due to lift and the offset of the track bar.
Agreed. I actually assumed, as you stated, that it probably has more to do with the 4" lift causing the pan hard rods to make the front and rear look crab like. They are for sure offset by an inch or so with the eye ball method front to rear, but I don't think that would cause an actual toe issue on the rear unless the equipment just isn't measuring the axle offset correctly? IDK, but my initial thought is to add a little toe in to the front and assume the rear toe on that readout has to do with the lift shifting the axle some and the machinery not knowing how to deal with that shift.
Since it is showing one side as positive and the other as negative, I would look at that as the "crabwalk" however, there could be an issue of loading loose bearings one direction and causing the wheels to be set in a kilter during measurement.
I for sure don't know much about this stuff, but I agree it looks like a crab walk and that basically the wheels are just about parallel in the rear, which makes me think it is just a misread from the system not understanding that the entire rear axle moved left related to the front axle after the lift, but I could be way off on my understanding.
Anyway, I assumed since they seem parallel that it is likely less of some sort of bent housing or bad bearing and more to do with the axle shift from the lift, but there is still the .13 difference to figure out perhaps... I'll update once I have the front toe in some and see if that helps at all.
Anyway, I assumed since they seem parallel that it is likely less of some sort of bent housing or bad bearing and more to do with the axle shift from the lift, but there is still the .13 difference to figure out perhaps... I'll update once I have the front toe in some and see if that helps at all.
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mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Adjust the front toe in for sure
I would ignore the rear toe reading too. Maybe take it as a prompt to check rear wheel bearing adjustment, check rear control arm bushes, and check that lower arms aren't bent from sliding over rocks etc
I would ignore the rear toe reading too. Maybe take it as a prompt to check rear wheel bearing adjustment, check rear control arm bushes, and check that lower arms aren't bent from sliding over rocks etc
Checked the front end over as best I could by myself. I started off really hopeful that the toe in on the front would help a ton, but after putting the 30" of angle iron on both front rotors and measuring the front and rear of that iron, it turns out it is already toe in approx 1/8 inch, from what I can tell anyway. The front of the angle iron reads 59 5/16 and the rear reads 59 7/16, so I left it as is. Checked the wheel bearings, trunnion/knuckle, and rocked back and forth from 3 - 9 position, didn't feel anything.
I'm lost on this one. Guess I'll take it to a shop and see if they have any other things to try. thanks fellas.
I'm lost on this one. Guess I'll take it to a shop and see if they have any other things to try. thanks fellas.
mudgudgeon
Resident galah
If you have lift, and big tires, go for more toe. I would go for up to double the normal toe
As odd as it sounds to me, I think I made a lot of progress on the pull by centering the steering wheel with the pitman arm. There is another thread on here talking about having to hold the steering wheel at the 11 o'clock position and if released, it would pull to the right significantly, and he fixed it by adjusting the pitman arm, I'm assuming centering the wheel.
To me, this seems like all it is doing is centering the steering wheel. I don't know how that would fix a pull, which I definitely have/had, but in my case it has helped quite a bit. I'm assuming that maybe while you are pulling the the 11 o'clock position, you are fighting the steering box as well? Either way, while the pull is not 100% gone, it helped by about 75% based on my initial impressions.
To me, this seems like all it is doing is centering the steering wheel. I don't know how that would fix a pull, which I definitely have/had, but in my case it has helped quite a bit. I'm assuming that maybe while you are pulling the the 11 o'clock position, you are fighting the steering box as well? Either way, while the pull is not 100% gone, it helped by about 75% based on my initial impressions.
New doesn't always mean good. You didn't have a pull before the new tires and you did after the new tires. Maybe the new tires are out of round from the factory or have some other issue with them.
