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NON HYDRO ASSIST DANA 60 crossover people

M

Mudstud

1/2 ton status
Joined
May 29, 2001
Posts
1,475
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Location
Memphis, TN
Man , I'm tired of not being able to turn left. I have a 76 K5 1 ton with NWF crossover. Did the pump mods. I have messed with this freakin set up (adjusting drag link per suggestions here) and I can't get the freakin thing to turn left all the way to lock- far from it. Jack the front up and it'll go but on the ground it won't. This past weekend I bleed the system two different times trying to follow the directions from AGR. If I stress the system going left it starts yaking fluid out the cap.
I have the draglink going to the forward most hole in the arm. I have a factory old tube style PS cooler in the factory location that does go a lil above the neck of the PS pump.

Am I an exception or are others running into this? What am I doing wrong?

I only want to hear from people with this kind of set up. Non Hydro Assist and Dana 60s. NOT 1/2 or 3/4 ton.
 
What kind of shape is the frame in? Any braces / plates? Just wondering if you're box is deflecting.
 
Get the truck so the front wheels are pointed dead straight.

Disconect the drag link from the pitman arm. Now turn the steering wheel all the way left...then while counting turns turn it all the way right. Now go back left half the amount of turns. Your steering box is now centered. Adjust the drag link so it hooks up to the pitman arm.

Now try turning left and right...it should be equal. I don't have hydro assist, have done no mods to my box or pump either and my K5 turned as good left as it did right.

Rene
 
Trusty- thats exactly what I did. . .twice. My frame is boxed and sleeved and does not move. I figure I'm just not getting the draglink dialed in exactly right or there is air in teh system yet. I'm considering off setting the steering to one side so I can turn more left and maybe less right. I want to be carefull to not max out the steering box before the locks though. Been through one sector shaft all ready- (violent stop with wheels turned hard left).

I wish there was a way to power bleed the steering system.
 
so this box is a fresh install? Any foam in the fluid still?

Rene
 
Not exactly, same box as before, new sector shaft. When I was stressing the pump trying to turn left last time out (couple weeks ago) is when it started yakin up fluid. At that point it did have some small bubbles (not foamy) in the pump. I'm embarrased to admit now but this past weekend I never checked it for bubbles while it was hot. I was mostly working on it cold- bleeding with engine off as the directions recommend. What makes NO sense is that even now after it puked up fluid it doesn't read low. I tried rapping on all the lines and cooler to try and dislodge any bubbles while bleeding.
 
You need to bleed the system with the engine running. The pump has to be moving fluid under pressure to remove the air. Having air in the system is not your problem with not being able to turn left as far as right though. You need to do EXACTLY as Rene said. The wheels need to be pointing straight ahead AND the steering box needs to be centered BEFORE adjusting the draglink.
 
Since my system was all ready up and running mine when I started this rebleed last weekend I'm kinda coming into these instruction sin the middle of them. This is what I went by.

http://www.agrperformance.com/bleedinginstructions.pdf

It states that the system should be bleed before the engine is turned on as there are pump internals that are metal to metal and risk damage. I'm with you though, it seems like it'd have to be running to push fluid through the system. On the other hand, if you turn the wheel fast enough it will spew fluid out the top of the pump so that means something is pushing fluid somewhere.
 
Funny I just went through this a couple of months ago. I bet your jacking by the frame or front bumper so your bent drag link clears your oil pan and adjusting it up in the air. When you lower it down your drag link angle has changed and won't go to the left stop.
 
There are no clearance issues (when on flat ground) and I'm jacking it up with two floor jacks under the axle so there is no change in angles. Thats a good thought though.

Anyone else have any tricks I could try before I randomaly swap out pumps? I don't even know what year make model I'd ask for to get the right brackets for my location.

I think the best solution and solve all will be hydro assist. It'd be nice to reach a conclusion on this part of it first and the money I HAD for Assist went other places.
 
How about your springs,shackles and bushings.
Are they steady and tight :confused:
Have a friend look at them while trying to steer lock to lock on the ground :dunno:
 
:doah:Sorry I do not have a setup as yours but you should check those things anyway :wink1:
Full hydro is a great way to get rid of those problems :D
 
I could be totally wrong, :o
But the more I read your first post the more certain I am.
BC it works when jacked up.
When on the ground turn right ok but to the left it is easier to push the axle a little bit to the left than steer to lock.
I hope someone understands my lousy english:o:confused::o
 
Hmm, now that you mention the springs I have noticed something going on with the front springs since I put the crossover on. They are starting to fan out. They have never done that before crossover. I had to loosen the spring plates and beat them back in alignment. They started doing it again- slightly so this past weekend I beat them back again. I did have a shackle bushing go bad a while back and have since replaced it. I also regreased the shackle bushings last weekend. This seems to indicate I have latteral movement of the axle- possibly. . . even though I'm being very carefull not to stress the frame at full lock. Trying to avoid pushing the axle sideways w before I reach full lock on the axle or gear gear box.
 
Mudstud said:
There are no clearance issues (when on flat ground) and I'm jacking it up with two floor jacks under the axle so there is no change in angles. Thats a good thought though.

Anyone else have any tricks I could try before I randomaly swap out pumps? I don't even know what year make model I'd ask for to get the right brackets for my location.

I think the best solution and solve all will be hydro assist. It'd be nice to reach a conclusion on this part of it first and the money I HAD for Assist went other places.
Click to expand...

There is a mechanical reason not a hydraulic reason that you can't turn left as far as right. Even hydro assist won't fix it. Hydro assist might break something though if you don't fix the problem at hand first. :deal:
 
I had a similar problem with my steering... even adding hydro assist didn't fix it. Turns out my AGR box was crap. Replaced the box with a junkyard box and it works great.

You may look into that as a possibility too.
 
Ah jeeze!:doah: So you are saying you had these issues and a gear box swap solved them? I don't see how a mechanical gear box can be at fault though unless I screwed up the passages when I drilled/tapped it. I did it according to somebodies instructions on here. I have kept with this same box (4wd) and just swapped in sector shafts.
I do have several 4wd gear boxes laying around so maybe I'll try and swap one out and see if it gives me better results. I'm not looking forward to doing that AGAIN. It's not that bad I know but I've done it a bunch lately.
 
Ok, now that i know you've had the sector shaft out of the gear box it is possible that the rack nut wasn't centered when you re-installed the sector shaft and this would allow more movement one way than the other. I'm pretty positive this is your problem.
 
WTF is the Rack Nut? Would it turn one way more then the other way wether the front tires were on the ground or not? I didn't see any nut in there. Please elaborate.

I have a diagram of a box but don't see a rack nut. What's your back ground with these boxes?
 
I've rebuilt several of these boxes already. The rack nut is what moves the sector shaft. I have no idea why GM calls it a rack nut but it has the teeth that mesh with the sector shaft.

All it takes is for the sector shaft to be off by one tooth and the gear box will not allow even movement in both directioons.
 
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