plane ole d60 alignment

[RootBreaker]

ok so I searched and read through a ton of stuff but guess yall are way smarter than me as no one asked something so simple...
but I did get to reply to a topic!! hah

Steering problem

years ago I couldn't get my gearbox off so I swapped the 2wd shaft into my 4wd box.. but truck wasn't done so sat for a long time. I eventually drove it but was like the dukes of hazard steering.. back and forth to go straight...
Tried adjusting and adjusting and adjusting and could never get it to go so I removed the box, destroying the lines... put a reman box and new lines on and viola... waaaaay better, well sorta.. my
my issue is how to do an alignment...

now that my steering is tight, I drive down the road and the truck wants to go left and I apply pressure at the wheel to keep it going straight. if I let go of the steering wheel, she goes left...

when I put the gearbox on, I went left, right and counted the turns. went back to center, then spun steering wheel so it was straight.
well it is slightly off now but still...

can anyone list out the simple steps on doing this?

 

[obijuank5]

There are only two adjustments really.
Toe and center the steering wheel.

You set toe to be a small amount of change from parallel. You want the tires to point at each other and meet at one point directly in front of the vehicle making a triangle essentially.

With your large tires I would set your toe in at 1/4" change between the front and rear of the tire measured at the same spot on the tire. Lift the truck up get the tires off the ground. That will help make the adjustments easier on you. Then adjust the drag link after driving it to center the wheel.

Very basic procedure for our trucks.

 

[TreeFarm]

I personally run 0 degrees of toe erroring on the side of toe in since my tape measure isn’t perfect. I used to run toe in on everything until I bought my dodge and started messing with their shit steering and front suspension. Since then I run 0 and I love it. Toe in is used to “preload” the joints in the steering, on inverted y steering that is needed to help with the fact that the two tires aren’t firmly connected together. Our tires have a solid tie rod to connect them so with good joints there Isn’t a need for the preload. It will help if you have worn components though.

I don’t get super accurate it’s it. People take off the wheels and clamp on angle iron so they have a perfect surface to measure from. I just measure a lug on the tire a x amount of inches off the ground and be consistent. So if it’s 12” off the ground I go that high and pick the equivalent lug on all 4 sides of the tires. I make the front at back the same distance.

Remember that movement is equal and opposite. So if you want to move the toe in 1/8” total you need to move it in 1/16” because the back of the tire will move out 1/16” as well adding up to 1/8”.

Once toe is set, center your wheel.

 

[diesel4me]

Also,to center the steering wheel once the toe in is set,you adjust that by the drag link sleeve--what I do is loosen the clamps on the sleeve,then go for a short ride around the block,and see if it goes straight in the straight ahead position--if not,I pull over and turn the sleeve one way or the other,until its dialed in,then tighten the clamps..

It might be a good idea to ensure the steering wheel was not removed and put back on a few splines "off" by some previous owner ,etc--I've had more than one truck that was off that way,there is usually a chisel mark stamped in the steering colum shaft and the steering wheel so you have "match marks" to align..

 

[RootBreaker]

Also,to center the steering wheel once the toe in is set,you adjust that by the drag link sleeve--what I do is loosen the clamps on the sleeve,then go for a short ride around the block,and see if it goes straight in the straight ahead position--if not,I pull over and turn the sleeve one way or the other,until its dialed in,then tighten the clamps..

It might be a good idea to ensure the steering wheel was not removed and put back on a few splines "off" by some previous owner ,etc--I've had more than one truck that was off that way,there is usually a chisel mark stamped in the steering colum shaft and the steering wheel so you have "match marks" to align..

ill check that as my horn works sometimes and others doesn't.. so ive been wanting to take it apart...

 

[skunked]

I like 1/8th toe, zero toe will wander in my experience.

2 pieces of 4' angle iron with 4 bar clamps is what I've found works best

 

[RootBreaker]

I like 1/8th toe, zero toe will wander in my experience.

2 pieces of 4' angle iron with 4 bar clamps is what I've found works best

why 4'? I have a square tube that I can cut in half.. and I think it will be 4'... is it to have roughly 2' front and 2' back to get farther away from the rotor to be more accurate?

 

[skunked]

why 4'? I have a square tube that I can cut in half.. and I think it will be 4'... is it to have roughly 2' front and 2' back to get farther away from the rotor to be more accurate?

why cut a 4' piece in half? IMO you're asking for inconsistent results by doing that. Take a 4' piece of angle iron and clamp directly to the wheel mounting surface.

 

[diesel4me]

I made a crude toe in adjusting stick from two lengths of EMT conduit,a 1" piece and a 3/4" piece I had lying around,they slide inside each other,and I cut a slot in one end of the 1" piece and use a hose clamp to hold the two pieces at the right spacing apart to measure toe-in..
I put the conduit across both front tires about half way up,on the outer edges of the sidewalls,extend it till it fits snug,clamp them togther,then remove it and put it across the front of both tires and measure the gap,that will be the amount of toe in...adjust the sleeves if needed separately to get the spec desired,then adjust the drag link to center the steering wheel..
Might not be high tech,but it works for me,my tires don't burn off the outer edges of the tread..and no tire squeal going around corners,that is a tip off the toe in is way off..