The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Stock value vs. modifications

I have 49' 3600 with a purely stock front suspension right down to the lever action shocks which have given up the ghost. They've leaked out so I can't imagine they are very effective anymore. I'm day dreaming about making my truck friendlier to drive and my question is how you all feel modifications can affect a trucks resale value. My truck only get's summer weekend drives mostly to car shows. I have the usual bump steer issues for the technology back then. So I started thinking of different scenarios.

Simple:
1. Convert lever shocks to gas by adding the rail mounted towers for a later model truck and check the adjustment on the steering gearbox to help out.

On the extreme end:
2. Swap the front end for the mustang iis
3. S10 frame swap.

I don't wish to change out the 235 and it's stock 4 speed. It runs just fine and strong. All of the swap out scenarios I read up always refer back to the truck having an SBC or the likes of. And of course options 2 and 3 domino into other areas, steering box, column, change outs or modifications. Power steering? etc.

Some people will say the trucks more valuable closer to stock when it comes to re-sale because the new owner has a blank slate to do what they want. Others might value it higher if someone else has already done the heavy lifting to upgrade it.

What's everybody's thoughts and suggestions?

"I have the usual bump steer issues for the technology back then."

Maybe it was usual/normal on a 3600, but I have not had that problem on 48-55 1/2 ton Pickups, Panel, or Suburban.

What are your "usual bump steer issues"?

Have you replaced any worn front-end parts?
Have you adjusted/replaced all front-end parts?
Have you adjusted the alignment as described in the Shop Manual?
Have you adjusted the steering as described in the Shop Manual?

Might your tires be over-inflated?

On the Panel/Suburban a steering "damper" was stock equipment.
It can be easily added to a 3600.

One of the culprits in bump steer is the drag link (sometimes called the steering connecting rod). Ideally it should be parallel to the ground...parallel meaning parallel from the pitman arm to the steering arm. The reason? Because if you imagine a circle with a dot at 90 degrees, moving in an arc from that 90 degree point up or down a bit will produce a smaller motion at the steering arm than a dot at say 75 degrees or a dot at 115 degrees. Let's look at a crude drawing I made below...click on it and hopefully it will get larger. The red oval shows what happens if your bar is parallel. Movements up/down cause a deflection, but you can see it is a small one. Now look at the arc of the circle inside the green and blue ovals. It changes and gets larger. The end of your drag link is following around that circle by definition. And even a bit of movement up/down moves the end of your drag link further in or out if you aren't parallel...and this is part of what is causing your truck to steer itself every time it hits a bump.

First I'd suggest going out to see how far from parallel to the ground your drag link is. You may be surprised. You may also be surprised to know GM knew your drag link wouldn't be parallel. Take a look at the second image. That is from the Shop Manual covering your truck. In the upper corner, you can see GM drew the drag link at an upward sloping angle of about 75 degrees or 15 degrees off of parallel. And in the suggestion section, GM doesn't mention "make certain your drag link is parallel with the ground."

Next I'd suggest considering purchasing a sway bar. This will tug on the opposite end of your axle whenever one end is pulled up or pushed down, making sure each side reacts to a bump in relatively the same way. The sway bar's main function is to reduce body roll when you're going around curves, but in the case of a straight axle it can help with other handling issues.

And of course do all the things mentioned earlier...the more "like new" your steering/suspension is, the better it will work.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input so far. I do need to review the factory specs on adjusting the steering. I've put about 500 miles on the truck since I restored it but haven't revisited the adjustments yet. I failed to mention I do have a front sway bar. I put new springs in the tie rod ends and the king pins/bushings were replaced. tclederman you mentioned a steering dampener. Do you have more info I can look into? Also what things can be done to bring the drag link into being more parallel? Pitman arm change if available? It won't be until next summer when I dig into it. Covid shut down all shows here this year so I barely drove the truck and my shop is occupied by my current restoration project of a 65' olds 442. Winter is setting in up hear so the 3600 is back burnered till next year. Just thinking ahead....

The steering damper you refer to is the steering “damper” (anti-sway) bar that I refer to.

If you have an original one, are the rubber bushings in good shape (firm)? Replacement bushings are available for the original units.

A little looseness or mis-adjustment in many front-end places/parts can cause problems in steering/tracking.

If it were me I'd keep the truck as stock as possible. You can rebuild your lever shocks, make all of the adjustments to get the front end back to "like new" condition and then have years of good service. It's always cheaper and faster to go back stock...

If you really want tube shocks find a later model year donor for the upper and lower attachment mounts.

Mike B

All of the sway bar bushings are new 500 miles ago. I like keeping as stock as possible. Just my preference plus it makes for good conversation at car shows. The older crowd gets a kick out of seeing a stock truck as they remember them from the days of their youth. Does anyone know of someone who can rebuild the lever shocks. I took them apart when I was restoring the truck and examined the internals and refilled them but they leak and by now I'm sure are just acting against the internal springs but no hydraulic cushioning from having leaked out.

You can alter somewhat the height at which your axle sits in relation to the frame...meaning lower or raise it a bit, but there are limitations to this. No, there were no shorter nor longer pitman arms available and if there were, this change will make the steering behave very differently (and possibly dangerously). Shorten (or lengthen) the pitman arm and you instantly change the whole steering wheel to turn ratio. That is to say you instantly make it so that a small turn of the wheel translates into a greater or lesser steering movement of the wheels. The steering knuckle (where it attaches to the drag link) possibly could be bent, but not by using heat. This would not be easy given the thickness, etc of that part.

BZTguy,

If you are keeping your truck down for so long, be careful about using fuel with alcohol in it, long term storage leads to stuck valves and bent pushrods. Many gas stations also sell non-alcohol fuel for a few cents more than regular. Farm communities have these stations. Aviation fuel is also good to use, just costs more.

Ed

Excellent advice.

Boat yards/storage-areas also often have non-alcohol fuel.
SUNOCO sometimes has it more often than other brands?

If you are on a long trip, do not worry about it (too much). The problem is if/when your truck is inactive and the gasoline "sits" for long periods.

Also, be careful with new fuel-injection lawn mowers - non-alcohol fuel is required (and often, running the fuel until empty is required).

For anyone searching for non-ethanol fuel in their locale, check this out. The map function is more helpful than the listing. Ethanol-free Gas Station Locator

In this area (north of Dallas), there weren't too many options that were very close until this last year (a couple up on the Oklahoma border, about 40 miles from my home base). Two new Buc-EEs, one on on I35E (Denton) and the other on US75 (Melissa, just north of McKinney), have added recently 92 octane ethanol-free gas.

Doug

Are you running Bias ply or radial tires?

That is a handy list, Doug

However, it does not list the Sunoco stations that sell Ethanol Free gasoline in my area.

Tim, the website updates frequently, but is reliant on people providing input on stations in their areas, since the offerings at various stations aren't static. The website works sort of like Waze for updates. If you are so inclined, you can add your favorite stations through the pure-gas website.

Cheers,

Doug

Thanks, Dr, Doug - I did not look at the top menu - I just searched the list.

Tom I'm running radials. The stations around me sell non ethonal fuel. It cost a bit more but it's worth it. I also add a stabilizer over the winter. Routine for my neck of the woods.