Frame bent at steering box?

[87BrnRsd]

I havent been on this site for a while because I havent been driving my truck in the last 4 years. However, I am working on getting it running again and am having a slight problem.

The frame seems bent at the steering box. The truck has about 5.5" of lift with a 4" drop steering arm. When I was driving the truck daily for 2 years (2004-2006)the truck had no problems with steering. Then I locked the front (see my sig) and started wheeling it harder. I noticed that it got harder and harder for the power steering pump to turn the tires. The last trip it made, my brother was driving to recover a stuck vehicle. He got bound up in a bad spot which caused the ears to bend and break on one of the stub shafts up front. Ever since this, the truck will not turn right.

You can turn it left all the way to lock, but when the wheels hit center you cannot physically turn the wheel to the right. Also after this the front bumper noticeably was bent down towards the drivers side. We suspected it was bent at the steering box. It appeared to be kinked down a lot more than the passenger side. We inspected for cracks but there are none. We used a winch and and anchor and got the frame bent up some. It will now turn about 1/3-1/2 to full lock to the right. When you turn the wheel to the right and the tires stop, it appears to be that the angle of the pitman arm and draglink are binding up and causing it not to turn right.

My question is how to fix this? I have the weld on ORD frame brace but I need to get it steering correctly before I put this on. Any suggestions? It looks like a larger drop steering arm could fix the steering issue. Then I would brace it with the ORD brace and hope it never moves again. But this almost seems like the band-aid idea and I really need to fix the real issue.

Anyways, me and my brother have been working on this problem for a week now and I need to get it fixed soon. Any suggestions here? We are running out of ideas.

Thanks,
Harrison

 

[Duntz00]

Probably need to take it to a body shop and have it put in a frame machine to have it fixed.

 

[87BrnRsd]

Thats what we were starting to think. I just dont have a whole bunch of money at the moment and was trying to avoid it. Im about to go mess with it some more and see what I can do. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-Harrison

 

[496truck]

First things first, did you repair the broken axle u-joints?
and
Do you still have the stock style push/pull steering?
if so
Can you disconnect the drag link from the steering arm on top of the knuckle, eliminate it from the equation. Then, by hand, turn the wheels lock to lock (obviously with the front end jacked up). Do they turn freely without binding?

 

[87BrnRsd]

Yeah the broken axleshaft has been repaired. It is the stock push pull steering system with a 4" drop steering arm. I guess its gotten its workout turning 37"s with a locked front end.

We seem to have made some progress though. The pitman arm was binding with the drag link when turning. Looking at my brother's k5 without a bent frame, the angle was way off. It was all fine until that incident where the frame noticeably kinked...what appeared to be down. Also the ORD braces didnt fit nearly close enough because of the frame.

Me and a buddy made progress though. We chained the back hitch to a tree, then attached a tow hook to the drivers side frame rail (the bumper is off) and then used is winch to pull straight on. After a bit of pulling we unhooked it to see what we had. The truck now turns full lock to both the right and left steering bump stops with no binding. The pitman arm to draglink angle looks much much better. And to cap it off the brackets for the ORD brace now match the frame and look like they can be welded on pretty easily. So all in all I think we got it pretty close. We are going to weld the brackets on tomorrow. Hopefully after all that the shop can get it aligned properly.

The next task is to get it running. Its a tbi and it currently runs like crap. However I have DynamicEFI's EBL flash system unopened in the box. Im gonna hook that sucker up and see what she does.

I'll keep you guys posted as good as I can with updates.

-Harrison

 

[ryoken]

wondered where the flock you'd been..... what'd you ever do with that red/white rig?

 

[87BrnRsd]

I dont recall ever having a red and white rig. Maybe your mistaken me for someone else?

Anyways, I used to visit this site a lot. I definitely remember your screen name. I just havent been driving the K5 for the past 4 or so years so I havent been on here much. The truck was in a state of disrepair so i was too depressed to come on here and see everyone's running trucks.

Anyways, I have always had the black 87 K5 in my avatar. My brother has a 79 and its OD green. I do recall another member from north carolina with a large red and white blazer on 40's or 42's. I cant for the life of me remember his name though. That may be who your thinking of.

Thanks for all of the input guys. I hope the redneck frame straightening has worked. Looks to me like it has but I want it to get back into alignment properly so I can drive on the street. I dont want death wobble.

-Harrison

 

[ryoken]

hmmm, I was thinking that was you.. i actually have a pic of it on the comp....

oh well, welcome back!

 

[87BrnRsd]

Yeah, thats the blazer I was talking about. It was a younger guy (around my age....I am 23) who owned it. He lived about 25 miles down the road from me. I went to his house once or twice but I cannot for the life of me remember his name. Oh well.

Glad to be back all the same.

-Harrison

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

First things first, you should really brace the frame with more than just our weld on repair. If it bent that bad, it's going to need more.

Past that, hydro assist is really what will keep that from happening again. Of course, that means crossover too, something to look into down the road.

 

[87BrnRsd]

Yeah I know what you mean. We are going to add additional bracing in that area. Hydro assist and crossover are definitely what I need because the system turns better and takes a lot of the stress off the frame at the steering box. I just dont have near enough money at the moment for that. Also, I am currently running a front 10 bolt and dont want to waste the money on that. I will wait for crossover and hydro when I get a D60. We are going to brace it additionally, something similar to your bolt on brace that you guys sell. And for the near future it wont be wheeled as hard as it was before. I just need it for the 4wd (my current car doesnt have 4x4)...and I live in the mountains where it can get snowy on the way to work.

Thanks,
-Harrison

 

[Fordum]

You might see if you can borrow a Porta-Power.
I have got one of these.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-ton-super-heavy-duty-portable-hydraulic-equipment-kit-44900.html

The quality is not super great, it is Harborfreight after all, but I have never broken it, and it has done things I could not have done otherwise.

I straightened a piece of fairly heavy steel that was bowed outward, by putting one end of the ram on the bow, and running a heavy chain from one side of the bow, across the other end of the ram to the other side of the bow.

The biggest advantage over the winch, which I have also used, is that it lets you put a lot of power right where you want it, with great control.