The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts does anyone else have steering issues?

I have a clearly shortened big bolt. has/does anyone have/had issues with their truck walking when reaching speeds of over 45? my truck is scary at best with the little control that i feel that i have at speeds greater than this. has anyone with a shorter big bolt put or had to put a steering stabilizer on? -DVZ

DVZ,

What type of tires are you running, Bias or radials? Old hard Bias tires can give you a fit!

Have you checked your front suspension for worn parts...kingpins, steering joints etc.?

Mike B

i currently have radials on the front. i just broke everything down today and checked my bearings/kingpins and eveything seems to be ok. i feel that the issue may be w/ the length of my truck. or lack there of. do you think if i added 2 more tires to the back (dually), that it may help? -DVZ

i will check the steering joints this weekend. thanks for that suggestion. i didn't get to much more today than the wheels. -DVZ

Short wheel base ,lowered truck and worn parts could all cause this. My truck has a eight foot bed on it shorter than factory handles great but over 45 MPH wont happen yet.:)

Do you only have radials on the front?
Mixing tires can be a problem, you either go all radials or all belted, don't mix them.
The super short wheelbase with heavy springs is also going to buck quite a bit.

Is this the first 60 year old vehicle you have driven? By nature they don't drive like later motel vehicles. And shortening them that much messes up the steering geometry. I remember when mobile home toters used to chop them that short and they couldn't hardly keep them on the road. I used to drive 50 model pickups 80 mph and I also hauled gasoline out of Austin when 290 West was crookeder than the Devil's backbone and I used to drop off hills at 80 mph. But by the looks of that thing, I would be afraid to drive it over 40. A good puff of wind or a rut in the road can throw you off the road or into oncoming traffic.

i had to saw on my wheel until i made an adjustment to the steering boxwhich corrected it. im running bias tires and front suspension is tight. with a load on the back the front becomes much more sensitive than empty.

Don't know if this is your problem or not, first I would suspect worn out stuff...

But no doubt about it you've changed the steering geometry, do a search for "Ackerman Angle" here's a good picture
You can see that if you shortened the wheelbase that much you will have some discrepancy now..

Grigg

I wouldn't think that the length would really affect the ackerman all that much, its pretty common for hot rods to not have perfect ackerman and they cruise well over 45 commonly, perhaps you need to check the toe in of the front wheels.. dont quote me but i think it should be around 1/8 toe in...

but im still wit everyone else.. something is worn.. and I would bet its king pins...

thanks for all of the responses and suggestions. yes, this is the oldest vehicle i have driven and i know it wont handle like later model trucks. I just want it to handle a little better. I can tolerate a little scary, here are a couple of pics of my bikes so you can see that i don't need it to handle like a caddilac. tomorrow i will investigate more and see what i come up with. also i am running 4 radials, but the rear tire are different tread than the front. i know i just need to get 4 all new tires -DVZ

http://s1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee502/dvzdeathtrap/dvzdeathtraps%20bikes/

i just ordered a new king pin set. when they come in, i will install them and let you know how it turns out. -DVZ

Did the steering get squirrely after you lowered the front end? I'll bet you're experiencing "bump steer" caused by the drag link between the steering gear and the front axle being at an angle. It's supposed to be parallel with the ground. There are a few different ways to partially correct the problem, but none are easy, cheap, or completely effective.
Jerry

that is a very good question/observation. yes it did (more so). before the steering was somewhat eratic due to the fact that the guy that owned it before me had 1 radial and 1 bias on the front. there is about 1/2 inch difference in diameter on the two. they are both radial now. i will examine this tomorrow. seriously thanks alot. -DVZ