What's in a steering column?

[wasted wages]

just some more stupid questions,,,

Do you have a suspension lift and if so how much ?
Do you have a body lift and if so how much ?
Body bushings and bolts in good shape?
Could the cab be shifting on the frame ?
Did you check the studs mounting the steering arm to the knuckle?

 

[BIG*RED]

just some more stupid questions,,,

Do you have a suspension lift and if so how much ?
Do you have a body lift and if so how much ?
Body bushings and bolts in good shape?
Could the cab be shifting on the frame ?
Did you check the studs mounting the steering arm to the knuckle?

Yes, 8 inch lift, front is standard spring, rear is shackle flip and block.

No body lift. Body bushings and bolts in real nice shape.

Steering arm to knuckle is in good shape, everythings tight as it should be, bolts have been marked, and arm/knuckle relationship also marked.

 

[rufusbooth]

I even went as far as taking my drag link off of the pitman arm. Turning the wheel full left, and marking the center of the pitman arm on the gearbox, then turning the wheel full right, marking that position on the gearbox, then measured the distance between both marks, and found dead center. Positioned the steering wheel and pitman arm at dead center. Re-adjusted draglinks for this position. And went for a drive. I made it 10miles before wheel was in the 4oclock position while driving straight!

OK, this same test would be useful after the steering wheel moves. Run through the same procedure again when the wheel has moved and see where the movement happened, from the pitman arm up or drag link down. divide and conquer. Once you know which side moved we will devise another strategy to check that side.

Rufus

 

[wasted wages]

Yes, 8 inch lift, front is standard spring, rear is shackle flip and block

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the problem,,especially if you don't have crossover steering....any change in ride height as the suspension cycles is going to be translated into bump steer. just the shifting of the body weight as the truck moves backing up,,turning,, stopping etc. is magnified by the 8" springs...especially if they are soft ride...

and in your case if the steering components are all tight with no slop, the bump steer movement has to go some where.....and it is showing up in the steering wheel position.

under hard braking and and hard acceleration as the nose of the truck lifts and falls, I bet you need to make corrections to your steering to keep going straight....

My truck use to have 8" springs on it too, with stock steering, under hard acceleration from a stop the steering wheel would need to be turned at least a 1/4 of the way round to keep the truck going in a straight line...


Just my .02


.

 

[loudnslow]

Did you ever figure this out? Mine does the same. Sometimes I hear a crunch when going in/out of driveway or something like that and the steering wheel becomes 1/4 turn off.
The only real checking I've done so far was to look around where the steering box mounts, so it's possible I have cracks.

 

[jolane]

I agree, and saw this with 4" springs up front. I think things "rack" side to side because the springs and shackles don't have much transverse stiffness. I still see this to an extent even with crossover. I think it gets loaded up one way and doesn't fully return to neutral. This directly affects the steering wheel position (much like bump steer as mentioned).

I also believe this is the root cause of death wobble, and feel that a panhard bar would fix a lot of issues for a lot of people. It'd also really tighten up the steering feel when running a lift (as we all are with cross-over steering).

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the problem,,especially if you don't have crossover steering....any change in ride height as the suspension cycles is going to be translated into bump steer. just the shifting of the body weight as the truck moves backing up,,turning,, stopping etc. is magnified by the 8" springs...especially if they are soft ride...

and in your case if the steering components are all tight with no slop, the bump steer movement has to go some where.....and it is showing up in the steering wheel position.

under hard braking and and hard acceleration as the nose of the truck lifts and falls, I bet you need to make corrections to your steering to keep going straight....

My truck use to have 8" springs on it too, with stock steering, under hard acceleration from a stop the steering wheel would need to be turned at least a 1/4 of the way round to keep the truck going in a straight line...


Just my .02


.