The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk They call me the Wanderer

My 55 1st wanders all over the road at all speeds (1-50 mph). I have 15 inch radials on front and some old mud grips on back. I can't enjoy the ride because of the white nuckle driving. The truck has a 283 with original front end. I know several things can cause this but I would like to be armed with a list before I start making adjustments. I think I read that a "sway bar" would help this???

Sounds like play in the tie rod ends or steering box. The original style tie rod ends have a plug in the end that can be adlustec for play, you will need a drag link socket for this. You can get that from Snap-On. To adjust, remove the cotter pin from the end, turn the plug in until play is removed, install new cotter pin and re-lube. You will have to reset the toe afterwards as it will toe the wheels out. The steering box may also need adjustment, the adjuster is on the engine side if the box. Loosen the jam nut and turn the screw in to remove play.
Asway bar only comes into play on turns, what you are thinking of is a steering stabilizer. There is a universal one availible from Moog. Get part #SSD 12 Trail Boss. This atteches to the axle and the tie rod and is essentially a shock absorber. I put one on my '55 and reccoment it if you are not running power steering.

Your Camber might be out of wack too.

You've got a good point on the camber, but I find that unlikely on a solid axle. The camber would have to go to the negative side (top of the wheels out et the top) to do this. That would indicate a bent axle. An alignment shop that does semi-trucks may be able to straiten out a bent axle. Could also be caster which is can be adjusted with shims. Check your tie rods and steering box first and then have the alignment checked.

How about bias tires vs Radials. Sounds like he has groove finders.

Ah, but you're forgetting about the king pins. They don't last forever.

When they go it will feel like a upper or lower ball joint went bad on you.

No toe in can cause wandering, should have at least 1/8" up to 1/4". Also not enough caster will cause it too.

I had the same problem with my 57. I replaced the king pins & it solved the problem. While there may be other causes as pointed out in prior posts, king pins are certainly one potential cause.

All the advice above is good stuff to check. If you have a 55 1st with a 283, someone may have moved the steering box to put the 283 into your truck. After moving the steering box, they would have to "fiddle" with the pitman arm to re-align it with the steering arms. If that isn't right, it could cause "exciting things" to happen. You said you had radials on the the front and some old mud grips on the rear. If the mud grips are bias ply, that would cause steering issues also, (see cmayna's reply above). The two rear bias tires would react differenty to the two front radials.

Man,

Reminds me of the time I helped drive a friend's trucks home from a local ATHS show -- I ended up with the '70 IH 1-ton flatbed pulling a '30 Model A truck on a trailer. What they didn't tell me was that right before the show, one of the other guys had borrowed the Binder and had changed one of the front wheels (flat) only he had put on what he had available --- which was a bias ply tire (truck was set up with radials). So I hop in the truck and go tearing off down the road (trying to keep up with the convoy)... Yikes, with one bias ply and one radial on the front..... man, talk about "wander." It was scary at first, but I just slowed down and everything was manageable.

Also, everything else was cleaned up and put away by the time I got to the shop

John

Thanks for all of the reply's. I will start with the most mentioned and work my way down the list. I'll post the results.

Okay I got to ask this now, every time I see the subject line I want to ask it, but today is the day do you have a rose on your chest, like the song ?