The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 46 1/2 ton front suspension

I plan to give my truck some love in the steering and suspension up front. Any input or experiences with kits, parts, pieces, upgrades? Mine is all stock and I have no desire to change that other than making it safe and ride straight.
Thanks for any input.
Bob

Moving your post to driveline, where it'll be more on topic.

I'm sure someone will chime in on suggestions. I might recommend checking for wear on the steering arm balls for wear. They will flatten out and get loose.

Start with king pins, they should turn smooth with some drag, no up and down movement, no side to side movement.

Tie-rod ends, if you want the stock look, take yours apart and check for egg shaped ball ends and grooved ball shanks. The cups tend to cut into the shank of the ball when they ride sideways over the years. Think about going to the sealed type tie-rod ends, they are a drop in replacement. New ball and cup ends are also available if you need to replace them, separate parts are also available.

Draglink ends need the same check as tie-rods, pull apart for a cleaning and inspection. There is a procedure for adjusting them, so get a service manual.

The steering box, its best to remove the whole box from the truck for a proper cleaning, adjusting, and lubricating. Again see the service manual. Use only a grade 00 or 000 grease in steering box. These are self leveling, they turn liquid-like when moving around, yet are thick enough not to leak out, when stopped, they flow back to level. New rebuild kits are available. The '46 gear box is a recirculating ball type, so lots of moving parts.

Leaf springs should be removed, disassembled, cleaned, inspected for cracks, and have the bushings replaced. It's no good to have the steering tight if the springs are moving around. All parts are available from various venders.

King pins can be a fight to get out, some come right out, others require a press, be prepared for both. These will be the biggest of the jobs so start there. I had to get oversized pins as my axle bores were egg shaped, you may or may not need reamers. Cylinder hones, wire brushes, torch set, heavy hammers, and possible press. Pulling the whole axle out helps if you have a way to hold it while working on it. It will be loose anyway if you work on the springs.

This might give you some idea of what's involved, parts are available, just shop around for the best price, they all come form the same place.

Wow Joe! Thanks so much. Just what I had hoped for.

Just to put my 2 cents in, I'm in the process of replacing the front springs on my '46 half ton. I had cracked leaves, so I was lucky to find the issue when doing an inspection rather than on the side of the road.

There are a lot of alternatives out there, and I am sometimes suspicious of the knowledge of the people I've spoken with dealing with some vendors. A lot of people seem to be selling generic springs (and other parts) for timespans of vehicles, like '36 to '46 1/2 ton. The spring rates on those years are not the same - those springs are not interchangeable. I am also concerned with substandard outsourced parts. I have had poor luck with some offshore parts in the past - if I can, I prefer to but American. As I understand it, the problem with many replacement springs is that they are not necessarily the same as the OEM in terms of how they flex under load. After looking at a lot of alternatives for springs, I decided to pay more for American quality from OEM patterns, American labor - I'm good with getting what are essentially OEM 1946 springs, except that the steel is probably better quality. I also feel good about spending my money with a Detroit vendor. Your mileage may vary...

I was able to disassemble the front end this past weekend. King pins ordered due to a bit of play in them but not horrible. All of the tie rod ends are in fantastic shape. It's possible they were done once in the past I suppose. Shackles are worn a bit so they are on order along with new spring stack U bolts. The tie rod had a bit of a bend in one end of it so I straightened that out when I pressed out the king pins. Today I'm going to remove the leaf springs and pressure wash all of the thick buildup off of them so I can actually see the spring leaf's. It's amazing the amount of grease impregnated dirt and grime that is built up on the components. Quite a job just to expose some of the nuts and bolts!

David thanks for the input. My springs appear to be in good (unbroken) shape. Still getting the last bits of grease, dirt and rust off of them but the edges do not show any cracks. I do hope to use the originals. Fingers crossed.

Old springs with a little sag from age makes for a softer ride. These trucks were not designed originally to be run empty. New springs are pretty stiff in order to handle a load.

Finished the job today and got “Tina” back on her front wheels. All seems good. I’ll double check torque specs over the next couple days and make sure it’s up to snuff.