78 K15 odd steering issues

[Pizza_Man]

Well the truck is a 78 K15 short bed. Dana 44 and 12 bolt. It's lifted about 6 inches on 33s. And the steering is terrible. There's not really any slop or anything obvious. At a stop the wheel can be turned and I've already replaced the power steering pump. But the turning radius just flat out sucks. My 71 k5 with 36x16.5x16.5 bias ply tires can out turn it greatly. Even my friends 97 dodge extended cab long bed on 37s turns way sharper. So what can I do to fix this?

 

[nvrenuf]

What steering pieces does it have to compensate for the 6" lift? (dropped drag link, steering block, etc)

 

[Pizza_Man]

It has the raised arm for a 4 inch lift and a reenforcement plate at the steering box that gets really close to the pitman arm (within 1/4 inch) but it doesn't touch

 

[nvrenuf]

Does it turn a lot sharper in one direction over the other? That could be drag link adjustment.

 

[Pizza_Man]

It doesn't turn sharply at all haha, but no each direction is about even and the steering wheel is pretty much straight. Think it could be the steering box itself?

 

[nvrenuf]

If you have no wobble, pops, creaks, groans, etc and it just has a poor turning radius, it sounds like a truck that's lifted without any offsetting steering parts (and the drag link adjusted evenly).

You might try adding a 2" dropped pitman arm to see if it improves but that could be too much. Generally, most folks have the best results with slightly less steering parts than lift (ie; 6" lift vs 5" steering).

 

[nvrenuf]

One more thing, you might try to find a similar truck to drive and compare the turning radius. Don't compare the pick up to a K5 (especially an early K5) as they have a tighter turning radius.

 

[Pizza_Man]

It does pop and creak, and it seems like when you turn the front end goes up or down a bit. And it turns worse than my buddy's 77 k10 with a 14 bolt and a 3/4 Dana 44 with 37s and an 8 inch lift.
We were thinking of dropping the truck down to a 4inch, and maybe pull the swaybar. Do you think that would help correct the radius?