The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Front end wobble

I have this '58 I bought and was experiencing a mad shaking at 50-55...which is as fast as I can go with a 4.10...So I jacked the front up and grabbed the tires and it has a lot of wiggle room. The tie rod ends look tight as the drag link does also. Any suggestions short of taking it out to pasture and shooting her in the head? My last two trucks I clipped and installed an IFS but wanna keep this one straight axle. Thanks a bunch and have a great day!!

Thanks for the help

King pins.

Hy bigdog58, if the stuff you checked is okay, that leaves the kingpins, shackle and spring bushings, and wheel bearing condition/adjustment, to check and repair as required, hope that helps.

All that is tight that I can see. I have it jacked up again and all looks tight to the steering box. I can move the tire back and forth and see no visual wear at the tie rods nor the drag link. Is there adjustment on the steering box? That is where it ends. Thanks for the help and hope someone can shed some light on this cause I am installing the 700r and the rear end next week and wanna cruise down the freeway without shaking.

Thanks, Steve

It doesn't take much slop in the kingpins to cause the problem you describe.

Ghostrider's and 3B's progression of culprits will most likely find the cause of the shaking. If your wobbles are vibrations, here is a helpful chart from Bob Adler .

Tim

this my help before you start taking things apart.Take the two front tires to a tire shop and have them balanced.Maybe a broken belt.yes you can adjust the steering gear box ,check the lub.let us know what ya find.How much free play do you have in the steering wheel?????.I say no more than 2" play

There could be a couple of other culprits here. It could be something as simple as an out-of-balance wheel. Just for fun you could swap the rear wheels and tires to the front and see if the condition gets better or worse. Could be an out-of-round tire. A good set of radial tires does wonders for the steering and handling of these ol' rigs.

There is an adjustment procedure for the steering box. You'll need a cheap fish scale to do it. There should be very little free play in the box. Here is the procedure.

I run a steering stabilyzer on my '53 and it really seems to help. It's a Moog SSD12 available at any NAPA.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted.

I found the adjustment screw and all is good but have not driven it yet as I am taking out springs. Is it a good idea to take out 2 or three?

Thanks again for the help.

Steve

Personally, I'd tackle one issue at a time. But, sounds like you're already in the process of removing springs. As to how many, it depends on what you're after. I've got 3 out of my '53 but the spring packs are different than on your TF. While you've got the springs apart, clean them up real good and grind any ridges smooth.I painted mine with Rustoleum, then put poly liner between the leafs before reassembly (that really softens the ride)

Thinking of just taking out two so I don't wind up with pandora's box and see the springs bend the other direction.


Steve in Idaho

There should be no play in the steering box. You can turn the side adjustment in. & you might get the play or some of it out. Make sure the wheels are straight ahead when you adjust it & check for binding. You are probably going to have to pull it out & rebuild it. That is the only way to get it right. If it starts shaking at that speed it needs a wheel balance also. Sometimes you can balance them yourself. Raise the front end up & back the brake adjustment off till there is no drag or rubbing. Give the wheel a little spin & watch as the heavy part goes down it will start rocking. When you find the heaviest part of the wheel put some wheel weights on the rim oppisite the heavy part, one on the inside & one on the outside. Then try it again. If the bearings or seals drag to much you can't use this method. You cant do the back ones like this unless you put them on the front. Adjust the brakes back up when you are done.

believe it or not, an out of round rear tire will make the front shake also.
i found this out with a 1970 mustang i had when i was a kid. made the front shake like an earth quake.
took it to a tire ahop and they trued the rear tires, (shaving them round on a tire lathe),
and it went 110mph with no shake.

leonard

Quite a few years ago I was driving along in my '58 and suddenly the front end began shaking so violently I thought the truck was going to tear itself apart. I would stop and start again and everything would be fine until I got up to about 45 mph. When I got home I looked at the front end and noticed that one of my upper shock mounts had broken. I replaced it and never had the problem again. Just a thought.

Well, I just had a chance to come in here and tell you guys what I found. After adjusting the steering box with your help and Waldo53's guide of how to do it it is now tight. After putting the wheels/tires back on the wobble is coming from the king pins the guy I bought it from told me he changed...Karma baby...

Anyone got info on replacing those with pictures...I love pictures.

Thanks again for all your help Stovebolt guys

Steve in Idaho

P.S. I found the site regarding the replacement of the king pins through the internet from a stovebolt entry. Thanks

here is a tech article right here on this site.

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/kingpins.htm

have fun...

leonard

That's a very good article, except..


One of mine took a 15 ton press to get out, the other took 12. Both sounded like someone shot a shotgun in the shop when they turned loose.

For what it's worth, rebuilding the king pins and replacing all the spring bushings, wheel bearings, etc made a huge difference in my truck. Well worth the effort...

glad to hear it all came together well for you. nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you do something yourself.

leonard

That's half the fun of running these old trucks - making them like they were when new.

I've had some help with some of the "projects", but even then, always been involved.

You guys are A OK....I found that sight before and it helped a lot when I adjusted the box but need to do it again...still have some play in the front. I took it to the transmission shop today to have the 700r and the 12 olt 3.73 posi installed. Quoted me $500 to do all the work including the new shifter and I said well ok. Sounded like a great deal to me. Oh...and the drive shaft was included. Cecked with a local rod shop and he was trying to break it off in me. Well, thanks for all the help guys with the truck stuff. By the way, found an intake off a 67-68 VETTE/CAMARO and put that baby on and she purrrrrrrrrrs now.

Thanks, Steve in I-DA-HO

Good info, I've been fighting my steering on my 56 for about a year now. Have balanced tires, new tie rod and ends, new drag link, new wheel bearings and one new spindle and king pin on driver side. New spring shackles and bushings. I did try adjusting the steering gear a little at a time with the front wheels off the ground. It took a couple of turns before I felt any tension, and thats where I stopped. It still has about 6" of play in the steering wheel and likes to wander all over the road. From this discussion it seems like my steering gear box needs rebuilt or replaced. It sounds like a pain to do it, but I guess thats next. I'm hoping that this truck will drive decent some day, or maybe I'm fooling myself and this as good as it gets. Let me know if you have had success with rebuilding the gear box on these. Thanks!

Rebuilding the steering box isn't too bad to do. You'll want to have the manual handy, though. Hardest part is finding gaskets. I made my own from a sheet of gasket material, but I suppose one could use rtv as well.
One question, you replaced the tie rods, modern style or original style? If it's original style, they do require a preload on them to take the slop out. The plugs need to be tightened to fully compres the spring, then backed off, 1 full turn I think (the manual will say for sure). I ran into that very problem with mine. Re adjusted the tie rods (and reset the toe) and that corrected it.

First of all thanks for all the help!!

I am pretty sure someone already sent me the tech article of adjusting the steering box "correctly" but for the life of my I cannot find it anywhere.

Does anyone in here have the tech article they can send me?

Thanks again,

Steve in Idaho

Thanks for the reply LONGBOX55. My original tie rod was bent pretty bad so I replaced it with a 1" heavier version and new style ends.
Bigdog58, here is link to a site that may help. Its for a 52 year but looks the same process as whats in my 56 manual for adjustments. I think they used this manual box for quite a few years.
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/booklets/5220mtsindex.htm

Thanks Waldo...where do I get the poly liner? I live in Idaho.
All I did was take out the springs to get a feel of how much of a drop axle I wanted to order from Sid. When it gets here I will then take it apart and clean em up nice.
Thanks, Steve

Hey there...

Just a piece of advice for ya regarding the steering box adjustment. I just re-adjusted mine and it is SWEEEEET now.
I half way did it before and this time I followed the directions to a tee. In search within stovebolt, type bigdog58 and go to 1/29/2009 and print out the exact directions. I failed to adjust the worm gear prior to adjusting the lash and all it did was tighten it up but not take the play out. I now have zero play. Make sure you follow the instructions. The only thin I did not do this time was take off the draglink but had tires off the ground.

Hope this helps you out!

Steve in Idaho

I went with new a whole new set up from Speedway to go with the dropped axle I got from Sid. I also built a drag link with moog parts. You will have to cut a little off each side plus the adjusting sleeve but worked out great!! The part numbers you will need are:

269-2231 *
269-2427
269-1118 *

I bought two from Kragens and the other from Autozone. They were a BUNCH cheaper than NAPA. Hope this helps someone down the road....research already done and they work great for adjusting the steering wheel to straight.

Steve in Idaho