The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Steering link question

My 1952 Chevy 3100 wanders a lot, especially at highway speed. It is generally stock except for the drivetrain. 1956 235 6 cylinder, 4 speed tranny, open drive shaft.
The steering box was overhauled years ago by someone in town.
I think the drag link tie rod is too loose and plan on replacing to a new style tie rod system. Brothers trucks has tie rod ends with ball joints. P 98 catalog.
The drag link for that year is old style tie rod end. The newer Drag link with the tie rod ends is for 53-54. Advisor at Brothers does not know if that one (OFDL354) can be used on my 1952 pickup.
I assume the ball on the pitman arm would need to be removed to accommodate the newer drag link style.
Does anyone have an answer to this question.
Is it acceptable to modify my steering linkage in this way? I do not want to modify my pickup more than necessary.
If someone has advice on how to change linkage it would be appreciated.

The new ball style ends are a drop in replacement once the original ball studs are removed. The arms have an hour glass shaped hole so when they peen over the end it can't pull through. To remove them, drill a small hole to start and move up the set, I believe the maximin is 1/2". Have the new ones on hand so you measure them, also, be sure start out in the center. Once the peened material is drilled through, you will need to drive out the remaining stud, it's best to have them on the bench and not try it on the truck. The replacements will seem loose in the hole till you tighten down the nuts. For my '37, I had a short threaded bar made by my uncle out some pretty good material, he put left and right threads on it so the tie-rod ends would thread on. I use it for my draglink, for one it really tightened up my steering, and two, it let me adjust the length so the steering box is dead ahead straight going down the road. If you go with the new draglink, don't adjust the steering wheel on the shaft if it's not center anymore. The gear box has a tight spot dead center to help keep the truck from wandering around, once you come off that, you be making corrections all the time to keep it straight. The draglink must be the correct length, either from design or from adjustability.

Thank you so much, Joe. Will let you know the results. may be a few weeks.

You may already have done this but please make sure your caster angle is correct. And along that line, please understand if you're running larger wheels/tires (from a diameter standpoint) on the rear than the front, your caster angle will be wrong...it will be too low because you've caused the rear to be higher than the front. A too-low caster angle will make your truck easy to steer but it will wander around like crazy and the faster you go the worse it will get...every time. So try to err on the high side if you can. If your steering box is adjusted correctly (many simply aren't), your drag link and tie rod ends are snug and your caster angle is correct (2 to 2.5 degrees positive is very good and 3 is excellent but will make driving around in parking lots harder---the shop manual calls for 1 3/4 +/- 1/2 degree), your truck should drive pretty nicely. Personal note: I've run mine at 1 3/4 degree and it will wander, but it stops doing that at about 2.25 degrees. More caster will cause your wheels to want to run straight and true and not wander but it will make it harder to turn because you're lifting the front end each time you turn the wheel. Please let us know if you don't understand that. Also, you'll hear people tell you your drag link ought to be parallel to the ground and this is true...but it doesn't happen in the AD unless you have pretty worn out springs. It slopes upward from the pitman arm to the steering control arm by an easily visible degree if your springs are new or not worn and sagging. Good luck!

Tires (Bias vs radials) and toe-in can make it wander as well as any worn parts in the steering system (king pins, tie rod ends, wheel bearing adjustment etc.).

Mike B

Very good information on the caster, I have 4 degrees in mine due to tire size and how the springs set. I had to adjust the draglink when I changed front and rear springs, just the hight different pulled the steering box off center. Anytime the front axle is moved, either up or down or forward / backwards, the draglink to pitman arm length changes. Any change in this length will move the steering off center, some more then others. You can tolerate some, but too much will cause issues.

Changes in tire size will affect the amount of "trail" in the front suspension even if you increase the tire size by the same amount front and rear. Trail is the the distance from the theoretical point at which a line drawn through the king pin hits the ground ahead of the point at which a vertical line dropped from the spindle hits the ground. This is usually on the order of a few inches. Larger tires will increase trail and make steering feel heavier but more stable. Increasing caster will do the same thing for the same reason. That said, the truck will have a greater tendency to follow ruts.

Also changing the offset of the wheels will affect steering. Chevrolet has traditionally used a positive offset of 25mm (1") give or take depending on year and model. This results in the center of the tire being at or very near the the point at which a line drawn through the king pin hits the ground. That produces acceptably light and stable steering with the load center under the king pin. Changing to a zero offset or negative offset wheel to accommodate wider wheel/tire combinations will make the steering less stable and heavier as the center point moves outboard from the point at which a line drawn from the king pin hits ground, particularly on rutted roads. There are no aftermarket wheels I know of with the proper positive offset. I'm looking for a set of factory wheels for my '98 Suburban to correct this very situation.

Jon, (and others that are most helpful),
I do understand caster, toe-in, toe-out, and camber, for that matter.
What I do not grasp is how these, other than toe, can be measured in my
driveway on my pickup.
It is my understanding that camber adjustment requires axle
bending but read something about shims somewhere.
Thank you everyone for the helpful info I asked for. You are all
top shelf.
Incidentally I got my new tie rod ends last night. Now to take
the old stuff off & proceed.
Thanks to all for making this a great site.

Caster changes are made with tapered shims between the axle and the springs. Here is an example, https://www.truckspring.com/steering/alignment-shims-wedges.aspx If they are missing, add some, if you have some, make sure they are pointed the right direction.

Before one starts buying parts, with engine off, get someone to turn the steering wheel back and forth, not side to side, while you observe each joint in the steering assembly and note which are the sloppy joints.

Ed

Oh! Oh! Engine and sheet metal are on and truck has been running.