Torque Steer/Brake Pull

[eizenjin91]

Have a question for y’all. Has anyone experienced significant torque steer with BP-51’s? I had standard OME lift on my 200 and everything was good. Switched to brand new heavy rear springs (drawers, fridge, rtt, 40 gal aux tank, tools etc) and replaced the shocks with OME BP-51’s. Now I get torque steer to the right like crazy under power. When just cruising along it drives perfectly straight no pulling. When accelerating it pulls hard right to the point I’m at about 1030-11 to compensate. On the flip side, when I brake hard it pulls opposite to the left side. Any idea? I have noticed my driver side pad seems a bit more worn than the pass side but not a ton. Just had it realigned and no fix to the issue. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[terdrocket]

I have experienced something similar, but not the same after I installed a TJM suspension lift. I have the heavy duty springs up front, with stock bumper. Truck sits nice and level.
I get front wheel hop with hard acceleration, when making a right or left hand turn from a stop.
I can't figure out if the new caster settings are causing the problem.

Like your problem, it is most likely an alignment issue.

 

[9780LC]

Quote....Have a question for y’all. Has anyone experienced significant torque steer with BP-51’s? I had standard OME lift on my 200 and everything was good. Switched to brand new heavy rear springs (drawers, fridge, rtt, 40 gal aux tank, tools etc) and replaced the shocks with OME BP-51’s. Now I get torque steer to the right like crazy under power. When just cruising along it drives perfectly straight no pulling. When accelerating it pulls hard right to the point I’m at about 1030-11 to compensate. On the flip side, when I brake hard it pulls opposite to the left side. Any idea? I have noticed my driver side pad seems a bit more worn than the pass side but not a ton. Just had it realigned and no fix to the issue. Any ideas? Thanks


I installed a rear adjustable pan hard rod from marks4wd, Australia to correct these issues. This corrects for the rear axle shift that's caused by lifting the vehicle. The higher the lift the worse the shift and the effects of it. This rod cleared up most of my issues. The problems are 90 to 95% gone. Several manufacturers make this rod now.

 

[TeCKis300]

This is usually caused by two thing relating to suspension geometry being at excessive angles:

1) Lift. Lift puts the CV, control arms, and tie rods all at excessive angles. So suspension travel will now cause alignment changes in toe. Along with the fact that loading the tire now causes torque steer and bump steer forces into the steering rack.

2) Scrub radius. Along with the lift, the main pressure point of the tire moves due to camber changes and hence changes the scrub radius geometry. This could also be further exasperated by running wheels with a very aggressive offset. Tire loads again, now translate as forces into steering rack.

What offset wheels are you running, along with any spacers? How much lift do you have at the front axle?

Reducing lift will certainly help this pulling.

 

[eizenjin91]

Ground to center fender measurements:

FR 38.25”
FL 38.25”
RL 40”
RF 39.75”

The lift really isn’t that high I don’t think? It’s pretty similar to when I just had my OME struts not the BP-51’s. That kind of lift/height shouldn’t cause the torque steer should it?

Rear coils say “OME 724X” on them

The wheels are method racing no spacers
0 Offset
4.75” BS

285/75R17

What are any solutions besides lowering the lift because if I lower the front much I’ll be way ass end high. Adjustable pan hard bar? Try some different alignment specs? If it’s CV angle would it pull the opposite direction left when braking or only pull right when under load?

Thanks guys

 

[indycole]

Just a thought... any chance your rear springs are on the wrong sides?

Edited to add that there is a sticker on each spring that will read "R" or "L" (or something like that). Typically, the "L" goes on the right side and the "R" goes on the left in the US.

 

[TeCKis300]

The wheels are method racing no spacers
0 Offset
4.75” BS

I'd say this is the primary culprit. 0 offset is way aggressive, if you consider the fact that stock wheels are 60mm offset. That's more than 2" of misalignment to the scrub radius geometry. That is further exasperated by the lift.

Any chance you still have the stock wheels, or could borrow some wheels to see if correcting the offset will quell the torque steer/bump steer enough to your liking?

 

[eizenjin91]

Just a thought... any chance your rear springs are on the wrong sides?

Edited to add that there is a sticker on each spring that will read "R" or "L" (or something like that). Typically, the "L" goes on the right side and the "R" goes on the left in the US.

I don’t think so? But possibly? I’m under the back right now and no L or R sticker. Just the sticker that says OME - 724X
O/N 141000

 

[indycole]

I don’t think so? But possibly? I’m under the back right now and no L or R sticker. Just the sticker that says OME - 724X
O/N 141000

Do you see an A or B anywhere?

 

[eizenjin91]

I'd say this is the primary culprit. 0 offset is way aggressive, if you consider the fact that stock wheels are 60mm offset. That's more than 2" of misalignment to the scrub radius geometry. That is further exasperated by the lift.

Any chance you still have the stock wheels, or could borrow some wheels to see if correcting the offset will quell the torque steer/bump steer enough to your liking?

Really? Almost all my experience is with solid axle front jeeps, 80, etc and wheels haven’t done anything for drivability even with a much more aversive offset and backspacing. Is the IFS geometry that much more sensitive? Short of new wheels can an alignment help to compensate for that?

 

[eizenjin91]

Do you see an A or B anywhere?

No A or B or L or R
See attached.

 

[indycole]

Strange... I've had two sets of OME springs with the exact same tag with the part number on one side and the left/right/A/B note on the other side of that label. This is definitely something worth ruling out as I had similar issues when my springs were on the wrong sides. To note I also had 4.75 bs / 0 offset wheels and happened to switch out my wheels at the exact time the springs were swapped to the correct sides. Go figure, lol.

 

[TeCKis300]

Really? Almost all my experience is with solid axle front jeeps, 80, etc and wheels haven’t done anything for drivability even with a much more aversive offset and backspacing. Is the IFS geometry that much more sensitive? Short of new wheels can an alignment help to compensate for that?

Scrub radius is a concept that affects both solid axle and IFS.

IFS can become more sensitive to this as you've found after lifting. Solid axle has mostly fixed geometries that don't change with lift. IFS obviously has dramatic changes to arm angles and such which does indeed compound the issues.

If you search the web for scrub radius, you'll see many deeper examinations of the issue.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

You've got a bad alignment brother.

My 200 bone stock, had crazy torque steer and pull. I've got the same lift as you, and I'm dead strait down the road, but it's not because of the lift, it's because I did the alignment. I recommend finding a semi-truck frame and alignment shop that does old fashioned tape measure alignments. They are generally far superior than some kid on the alignment rack at a dealership or chain tire shop. I would also recommend not chasing down different lifts, and wasting money, thinking that will solve the issue. You need a good alignment that works for your truck, not just trying to match factory specs. Just trying to save you money, god knows I've been there too.

Now if you have worn components, that wore into the factory operating angles, then yeah, those need to be replaced. But that is not the lifts fault, and honestly those components days were numbered anyway.

 

[UCrazyKid]

Alignment (castor), offset, lower control arm bushings all could lead to this. It sounds like many things were changed at once. It will be a process to narrow down the culprit. I’d start with alignment and swapping for spec offset wheels to narrow things down.

 

[TexAZ]

^^^^^^^ listen to taco. Find a shop that is experienced in off road
Trucks.
Have them set the castor higher, it will eliminate the torque/braking input.
Easy fix if you find the right shop
check the tundra conversion thread for recommended alignment specs for lifted applications