The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk steering issues

after sitting a spell my 51 gets hard to turn and holds where i turn it untill i drive it a spell.with that said it also wanders on certain bumps or grooved road.all is original ecept for the king pins.what does my shoping list need to include?im new to frontend work..thanks ron.

Slow..Rider,

I usually get into trouble with front end advice, but what the hay! Not many things on the front end would get 'arthritis' from sitting awhile, so my first thought would be old Nylon bias tires.

Zero toe-in could aggravate wander, as well as too little positives caster. Neither of these would develop after the truck sat for a spell...they would be constants.

Maybe you could raise the front end of the truck and check for any binding in the steering box or various joints. You indicated the king pins were new, but check them, and give everything a couple of shots of grease.

If everything is free and not binding, I think the alignment shop might not be a bad place to visit.

Make sure you have lube in your steering box too...old ones tend to leak after years of working and it might be dry and in need of adjustment.

Stuart

If I understand you correctly, when it has been sitting a while and you turn the steering wheel, it is hard to turn, while driving and tends to stay turned. This is serious stuff as you have something seizing up in the front end. First thing I would do is puts lots of grease through the steering joints and make sure your steering box is full of fluid. Then see how things are.

Ihave near new radial tires with no sign of uneven wear and truck has been recently lubed.the wander has been costant and getting worse over the last year.Not sure where to start replaceing stuff.

Check the toe-in first. It can slightly be affected by wear of things like the wheel bearings, tie rods, and spring eye bushings and shackles. Also check the steering box.

I cured my wandering problems by replacing the spring eye bushings and shackles in addition to the kingpins. The shackles were really sloppy and every time I hit a bump the alignment would be slightly differant.

Slow..Rider,

Is your 'wander' actually play in the steering wheel? Caster can dramatically affect how a rig steers, but wouldn't normally change, or get worse over time.

I don't know if this is a valid thought, but maybe after sitting for awhile, a brake drags and pull the truck to one side until it loosens up.

Stuart

Go to a good front end guy and have him check it for worn parts and proper alignment. The hard steer after sitting is a new complaint to me, never had that one told me. Could be tires buuuuut don't think so.
Do you have grease worms? Maybe they ate all the grease up in the tie rod ends? Huuuuuum!!??

I have three running old stovebolts. The two 1954s (one ton truck and one ton bus) steer very easily. The 1953 3600 pickup steers like a truck, very hard to turn, and seems to have flat spots in the steering. The front springs appear to be flat. I will grease everything up and fill up the steering box with 90 gear lube.

I thought I could take the front springs off a spare 1954 one ton and put them on the pickup, but they are different sizes.

This is a great forum!

Binding & hard steering is generally in the kingpins. Don,t trust these lube shops. Jack up the front end & take a grease gun & make shure grease goes through all 4 fittings. Move the wheels back & forth & grease them again. They should be easy to turn back & forth through the total travel. Looseness is generally in the steering gear box. Have someone move the steering gear back & forth & watch for looseness in the gear & rest of the linkage.

Could have something failing in the steering box and/or column too,
Scott

The old style ball tie rods can wear egg-shaped and bind up, especially if they are caked with old grease.

Slow..Rider,
You have gotten a lot of good advice. What width tires do you have up front? WIDE tires will make it hard to steer. But you have other issues that need to be fixed.

JIm Lee,
Some one will correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think you want to put 90W gear lube in your steering box.

49 Chevy truck---you are right. Before I read the forums, I jacked the truck up this afternoon. their is no slop in the king pins. I got out the 90W oil and took the bolt out of the steering box, stuck my finger in it and came up with grease. I made the decision NOT to put 90W oil in there.

While the truck was jacked up, I noticed there is a hard spot when turning the wheels by hand, it is right in the center. I will grease the front grease zerts tomorrow.

This is a good forum, I get lot's of advice.

If the hard spot is on center, the sector shaft may be adjusted too tight.