pulling hard!

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:40 am

well, i finally got her on the road after a few dead months, and now she is pulling hard to left whenever i hit an uneven spot in the road or brake. i dont think that it is the brakes that are causing it, because it does the same thing when driving along without touching the brakes. i have a 4.5" drop axle in the front and didnt reinstall the sway bar. do you think this could be the problem? she drives straight and all until you hit a bump or a uneven spot in the road, then it pulls to the left like hell. any thoughts?

digdoug · Post by **digdoug** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:17 am

It sounds like you have bump-steer,caused by your drag link not being level.You can correct it by bending your steering arm down,or by building a droped (_/- )drag link,In your case,straight would be better than the stock link.You might even need a reverse drop,if that makes any sense. The ends of your drag link need to be in line with the ground.

Doug

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:33 pm

thanks for the response. i messed around with her some today, and it looks like the tie rod is actually hitting the oil pan. i think that i need to find a front or rear sump pan.

cantspel · Post by **cantspel** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:52 pm

I'm having the same problem with mine. I don't understand with this set up what causes the bump steer. It seems to me that the drag link socket at the pitman should just rotate when going over a bump. But I can assure you that with what I have in the pictures below, this thing is a death trap to drive. What needs to be bent and why? Thanks guys

michael · Post by **michael** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:42 pm

If the height of attachment of the tie rod to steering knuckle can be modified, that would solve interference and bump steer, right? I've made steering arms for various 4x4 rigs that virtually eliminated bump steer. They were raised as opposed to lowered, but I think the theory would be the same. Made tie rods and drag links from CroMo as well. Any decent machine shop can make a tie rod and/or drag link reasonably. Not everyone has the matching right and left hand taps on hand, which may drive the price up. Call around for estimates.

Just thinking out loud, so keep flames on low if this is way out in left.

cantspel · Post by **cantspel** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:45 am

I guess I can bend the drag staight and shorten the steering arm to bring it into a parallel alignment. But thinking of an IFS, I still don't understand why the bumpsteer occurs on an I beam front end. Toe doesn't change over a bump, so it must just be knuckle push on the box that gives the feelng????
Also if I shorten the steering arm, I will be changing the leverage on the linkage. So I guess I can expect some increase in steering effort as well?

digdoug · Post by **digdoug** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:26 am

Here are the basics; you do not want to shorten the Pittman arm,as that will change your ratio,and you wont be able to turn all the way.
1 The best solution is to have the steering arm(this is the curved arm thet bolts to your spindle,and attaches to the front of your drag link)bent down the 4.5" to match the axel drop.The best place to have this done would be the shop that dropped your axel.This is assuming that when bent,the steering arm doesn't hit the axel.
2 The other way to solve bump steer is to rebuild your drag link.As Michael stated,they do this to 4x4 trucks all the time.What you are after is a link that is level on both ends and has the curve in the middle.The picture cantspel posted is a great example of a lousy drag link geometry.Notice how the end is at a angle and the middle is level.That is a recipe for bump steer.

Good luck guys!

Doug

michael · Post by **michael** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:21 pm

Is the bending of used steering components an accepted practice? I would be sceptical of the integrity of anything bent, especially regarding stress fracturing. Just curious.

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:28 am

can someone post a pic of what it looks like in its stock form. i cant seem to remember and am having a hard time getting my ADD brain around this!

digdoug · Post by **digdoug** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:55 am

Here is a picture of HighDesertDodge's steering.He is useing a toyota box,but he is useing a stock drag link.Notice how the ends of the drag link are level,and it bends down in the middle. With the dropped axel you would want the ends level and it bending UP in the middle.

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:54 pm

so..it should look more like this?

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:56 pm

if so, how long does the level section need to be? is a couple of inches enough before you start your bending or does it need to be considerably longer?

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:04 pm

or would even this be ok?

digdoug · Post by **digdoug** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:45 pm

cheapshot wrote:so..it should look more like this?

Yep,thats it!

cantspel · Post by **cantspel** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:53 pm

I'm not sure either or those will work. They look like they will both hit the tie rod when the arm swings forward. Maybe I should bend the knuckle down and run the drag link under the axle???

cantspel · Post by **cantspel** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:10 pm

On second thought, I think I'll just play around with a coat hanger to get a shape that clears the tie rod then transfer it to my link. Thanks for the help guys.
Hey cheapshot, did you get your oil pan cleanance issue resolved?

CLIFF · Post by **CLIFF** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:50 pm

please keep us posted on the draglink modification and if it helps the bumpsteer problem. I lowered my truck with drop springs but I allways wanted to flip the springs to get it lower.
Cliff

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:30 pm

where did you get a set of drop spindles? as for the oil pan clearance, i need to find a new pan, that should take care of it.

cheapshot · Post by **cheapshot** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:32 am

sorry, i thought you said spindles, my bad. i took the truck down to the hotrod shop this morning and we heated and bent it level, and that took most of it out. its not all gone, but it is a hell of a lot better. some of my problem may be bushings and such, but again, the truck is almost 40 years old, so what can i expect.

MountainMoparRobin · Post by **MountainMoparRobin** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:20 am

Guys I hate to tell ya's this but the drag link is what connects the tie rod ends, but at least your able to communicate and understand each other, when I do the power steering swap, if I use the toyota box I'm having the pitman arm shortened and the two pitman arms 1/2's connected, and at the same time drop the front end also, but I may not go with the toyota box, instead I may go with a 80's Dodge box, and mount it in front of the staight axle, (just the same as the 80's trucks) and turn the steering arm (what you guys referd to as drag link)to the front, this type of power steering upgrade would also eliminate the bump steer you have encountered. The only additional part would be an extension, easily purchased from Borgenson

Cliff did you get the Springs from http://www.eatonsprings.com????