Steering and Drag Link Question: 1975 Blazer

[BloodMoon]

You could, but you really should find out what the real problem is instead.

When I get home I can take some measurements to see if one side of the axle is closer/farther away from a fixed point on the truck. that should tell me if the axle has relocated itself at some point right?

I tried to look up some past threads regarding this issue, I did find some info; but I am going to have to look it up again to figure out how to fix the axle location pin; if that is my issue.

I will let you know what I find!

 

[BloodMoon]

When I get home I can take some measurements to see if one side of the axle is closer/farther away from a fixed point on the truck. that should tell me if the axle has relocated itself at some point right?

I tried to look up some past threads regarding this issue, I did find some info; but I am going to have to look it up again to figure out how to fix the axle location pin; if that is my issue.

I will let you know what I find!

Alright!

So I got the measurements and some pictures to show how I measured:

I lined the 2 rivets of the tape measure up with the edge of the leaf spring's eye and measured a straight line to the forward edge of the outside (closest to the wheel) U-bolts.

Passenger side = 20 1/8 inches:




Driver Side = 20 1/8 inches:







Both sides measure at 20 and 1/8 inch.... So I'm lost.... unless the entire axle moved forward equally on both sides....


Any other ideas I can try?

 

[blazer74]

I think your chasing a ghost IMO, my steering acts the same way. Slow at first then faster, could be to prevent quick oversteer.

If you centered your steering box before you hooked up your steering shaft you should have equal turning. With the wheels straight your steering coupler where it attaches tho the box should have a raised line straight up, assuming the box is at center.
You should get approx 1 3/4 turns of the wheel in each direction, that is the way my 74 is and is equal. When I'm cruising my steering wheel is slightly to the left.

Now due to the lift obviously steering geometry has changed hence needing steering correction, dropped or raised arm. That may not be enough to get back to correct geometry like stock and a horizontal drag link. Mine still has an angle with steering correction too and always will.

I had to shorten one of my drag link ends to get my steering back close to center. See how much thread you have not in the sleeve and thats how much you can shorten it. Don't shorten it any more than you can screw it in the sleeve.

That should get you close to equal steering if you choose that route and is only my suggestion from my experience. IMHO!
I would think if you had something broken you would know it.

I know others have been thru this and not speaking up.

 

[Fred_M1010]

One thing I did not think of, is that with a dropped pitman arm, your front DLE moves more backwards, because the angle of the steering box.

I'd guess that's probably why you need to shorten the drag link...

 

[ccarley]

Let's break this down a little.

The drag link adjustment is to make the steering wheel straight. If the steering shaft is installed properly at the box, the box will be centered when the wheel is proper. If the steering wheel isn't straight, lets fix that first.

When I was swapping steering parts, I just made sure the wheels were straight, and kept the steering wheel straight. At the end of the day, my steering wheel is still straight. How does it steer? I think it could be better. But, I do seem to have equal turns lock to lock.

There's not a whole lot to the steering on these things. Tie rod adjustment for toe, and drag link adjustment for centering the wheel/ steering box. Start there, everything has to be correct before you can "fix" anything else.

Clay

 

[colbystephens]

The drag link adjustment is to make the steering wheel straight.

Clay

With stock height truck and stock steering, this is probably 100% accurate.

But, since we're talking about aftermarket changes, I don't believe this is an entirely complete statement. If your drag link isn't right, it can cause you to turn sharper in one direction than the other despite the wheel being straight due to the steering stops in the steering box. So, when I did crossover steering, I ended up with this issue. So, now my steering wheel isn't straight but I have exactly the same amount of turning radius on each side. My wheel is off by 1/5th of a turn, so I just need to pop the steering wheel off and rotate it slightly.

 

[BloodMoon]

I think your chasing a ghost IMO, my steering acts the same way. Slow at first then faster, could be to prevent quick oversteer.

I had to shorten one of my drag link ends to get my steering back close to center. See how much thread you have not in the sleeve and thats how much you can shorten it. Don't shorten it any more than you can screw it in the sleeve.

I know others have been thru this and not speaking up.

That is how it was explained to me, so that we don't oversteer at fast speeds, it makes it less twitchy with small inputs.

When you shortened yours, did you just unthread one side, screw on a nut (do you know what thread size?) And cut a little off the end with a handsaw/sawzall, then take off the nut cleaning up the edges?

 

[blazer74]

It's been a while but I just did the box side end. That gave me enough to be close enough for me.

I just cut it with a cut off wheel and die grinder, hacksaw or sawsall just as well. I just used a file to taper the end a little and used a thread file to clean up the threads.

The nut thing is a good idea but I couldn't tell you what size.

Just make sure you don't cut off too much, I think I cut 1/2 inch by memory.