The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Steering Problem

I asked this same question about the same truck a few months ago, and someone was kind enough to offer advice that made sense to me.

I can't find that response in here, so I'll ask again.

The truck turns sharper to the left than it does to the right.

My "front end specialist" has tried different things, none of which work.

What's the best solution?

Zzark,

What do you mean by turns sharper? Can you turn the steering wheel more turns to the left than to the right?

Tim

Hi Tim. If I'm not mistaken, you were the person who offered me advice on this situation before.

What the truck does is turns extremely sharp to the left, but doesn't turn as well to the right.

What you told me before made very much sense.

My mechanic is tossing arrows in the air.

I think I "see" what the problem is. He just doesn't agree.

As Tim suggests, we need more info. If its a matter of how far you have to turn the wheel, you need to "center" your pitman arm. Less likely but possible, you could have a tie rod end hitting one rim preventing full travel.

get another mechanic

Doesn't the tie rod to rim dimension stay constant throughout a turn! As joker mentions, maybe you need a different maniac.


Stuart

Sounds like one of 3 possible things,
1-The knuckle stops are adjusted wrong.
2-The pitman arm is incorrectly installed.
3-there is some sort of internal damage/incorrect assembly inside the steering box.
I would be more inclined to think that it's one of the first 2.

I've seen bent pitman arms and twisted sector shafts before. Regardless, it will be in the steering box part of the system, whether someone put incorrect parts on earlier in the trucks life or there's something bent or modified,
Scott

I won't pretend to be an expert, but doesn't a 67 have independent front suspension and thus no Pitman arm?

Everything (except rack set-ups) has a pitman arm, it's the "arm" that attaches the box to the linkages,
Scott

Let me take a step back and try dividing the problem into two possible classes --

1) Static - The wheels will point to a greater angle one direction than the other. I think this has been adequately covered above.

2) Dynamic - The truck responds differently to steering inputs one direction than the other. In other words, the truck understeers a lot more in one direction than the other. This could be caused by incorrect camber/caster adjustments if I'm not mistaken.

Of course, it's easy to test which one of these is the problem -- measure the wheel angle at left/right stop while stationary.

Brian

With independent front suspenions, you can have the tierods adjusted wrong but still drive right. You can have them adjusted to far to one side, which pulls the steering box off center. A good alignment shop will center the steering wheel first before anything else. Then they adjust the tierods and camber/caster. I suspect this is the case, you might beable to see this just by looking at the threads on the tierods. Measure inner tierod to outer tierod on each side of the truck. They should be pretty close, if not, thats the problem. Joe

Okay, I didn't know it might get this in-depth.

So, let me bring you up-to-date on this truck, to the "best of my understanding".

It's a '67 Chevy C10 SWB. The entire front end and Steering Column is out of a later model automobile. Whatever the steering column came out of had Cruise Control and a Tilt-Wheel. I can also "steer it" with one finger. Very nice indeed.

My mechanic already rebuilt the front end, replacing various worn parts such as tie rods, and adjusted everything, and aligned it.

That's when I realized the problem I'm having with the steering being "out of center", or whatever the proper term is.

He thought that maybe the gear in the steering gear box might be twisted, so he put in another compatible gear box from a '73 Chevy PU. That didn't do the trick, so he tried something else, which also didn't work.

He was acting a bit befuddled yesterday afternoon when I talked to him. That's when I came in here to ask for advice again.

He's got it driving really good, believe me.

The problem I am having is that it simply doesn't turn to the Right as good as it should, but I can make a U-Turn to the left without any problem.

It just seems to me that if the Pittman arm was moved to the left on the gear a spline or two or three, that might help the problem, or even solve it.

Also, I haven't "heard" any evidence of anything rubbing while making any turns.

BTW, I plan on keeping my mechanic. He's really good, and a very good friend to boot. Maybe he's just "thinking too hard" on this one? LOL!

I have that problem on my own job on occassions.

Thanks to all for your time, the suggestions, and the advice. I'm pretty much a dunce at auto repair, but very eager to learn.

Buying this old Chevy Truck is probably the best thing I've done in years. I am "hooked"!

Turn the steering wheel lock to lock and count the turns, then turn the wheel half that amount and hold it there while adjusting the tie rods until the wheels are tracking straight ahead. At least that would make sense to me. When you go half way between lock to lock, you should also try to get the steering wheel to be in the attitude you want it for going straight ahead, which may offset the turn radius somewhat.

Baldy,

That method assumes that the stops (locks) are installed correctly. You really need to center the tires, THEN center the tie-rods and pitman arm/steering wheel.

Brian

First, get the front wheels straight, back to the end of a straight road or drive, then pull forwards lining up something in the distance. Don't look at the steering wheel! Then get out and unhook the pitman arm at the linkage. Turn the wheel to the far left, then right, then half the amount to center. You should feel a slight drag when crossing center in the gear box. Don't center the spokes of the wheel, center the box! 1/2 of the turns lock to lock! If the steering wheel is centered on the shaft, great, if not center it. Use your seat belts to tie it in place once happy with the position, don't let it turn. Now get out and check the alignment of the linkage, the ball joint should slip right into the socket. If its off, the tierods need adjusted to get it centered, most pitman arms are keyed, they won't just move a few teeth! Like I said above, the tierods can be adjusted off center but still be in spec. Joe

So Joe, you are saying that this problem cannot be solved by simply rotating the Pitman arm a spline or two or three?

Thanks for the advice, by the way. I am trying to learn.

What Joe is saying is that the pitman arm will only fit on a certain way. They are keyed to the shaft. Having said that, they can be installed either 90 or 180 degrees out, as the keyed slots are generaly placed at 90 degree intervals on a GM pitman arm. Now after reading some of the posts on the subject, it seems to me that when it was aligned, the mechanic did not take into account that the column had been disturbed and tried to set it for "strait ahead" to level the steering wheel. This is common, especially in shops that want high turnaruond on jobs, get the wheel strait and get it out. Joe's procedure would be the best way to get things centered.

Thanks Longbox and Joe, and all others. My Mechanic did tell me that the Pitman arm worked in 90 degree intervals. I've never seen one taken apart, and didn't understand that they were keyed in anyway. I understand better now.

I'm certain my guy will get it fixed. I'm just trying to learn about this kind of stuff, and am simply asking for different opinions.

Thanks a half-ton everybody!