The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1959 Apache 3100 suspension upgrade

Hello all,

After a month or so of work, I've managed to get my new, to me at least, truck back on the road. I've gone through the brakes, and engine seems to run strong. My problem now is the front suspension. The leaves are flat, one of the ends is cracked off the middle leaf on the drivers side, the shocks don't match, and I don't think the zerks have seen any grease in a few (dozen) years. In order to get the truck running straight down the road, I am planning on replacing:

Tie Rod Ends
Drag Link
Shocks
Both sets of springs, with hardware/bumpstops/u-bolts
King-pins?

Are there any other wear components steering/suspension wise that I should be looking at/test? The steering seems to be relatively tight, the truck just bounces all over the place and seems to wander in the lane.

Thanks for the help,

Vince

That about covers it. Be sure to get it aligned afterward.

Will do, thanks Cletis.

One other question. I'm contemplating installing power-steering down the road, probably with the Toyota box. Am I buying a drag link that won't work in the near future, or can I use the new stock link with the Toy box and pitman arm?

Thanks again,

Vince

Please ask your modification questions in the HiPo shop forum. Thanks.

you may not want to run them ,but radial tires will make a big difference on the old straight axe .

The stock drag link and pitman arm will not work with the Toyota conversion.
Fred

Thanks everyone for the input. Now I have to decide whether to wait for the steering upgrade in order to avoid buying parts twice, or rebuild now to make the drive better knowing in reality PS is a year away... hmm

Vince