The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline All new but still handles bad

So good to hear you got it fixed. Enjoy!

twotone,

I suggest you replace your front tires being they are so old and not round anymore.

I had my bias ply tires trued and balanced. It made a great improvement on the feel and handling of the steering. Cost was $25 per tire and included spin balancing on the truck.

A 265/70/17 wide tire seems a little on the wide side for OEM rims. That tire needs at least a 7" wide rim. It's probably bulging in the center of the tread, giving you the balloon effect. Not to mention, you have load range D or E tires on a half ton truck. I would expect it to bounce all over the place.

I used to run a Volvo VNL with Super Singles on the back. It would do like you describe your truck is doing, wander all over in the truck grooves. I was either driving on the shoulder or on the yellow line. Michelin X-ones solved that problem, because they flex more across the tread area.

I'm going to suggest a narrower, softer tire, and it will help immensly.

Wayne and Whitedog, I'm not running the stock wheels or tires. The wheels I'm running are nine inches wide, same as the tread width of the tire. I believe a 265/70/17 would be absurdly too wide for the stock wheel.

Hi, Folks. I seem to have the same problem with my '59 Apache which has all manner of new equipment installed. Mine has power steering and '85 Cadillac cross-steering linkage on its solid axle. I had removed the axle some time ago to have it fitted for new right and left bearings at a machine shop. I simply put the axle back on without regard to whether it was original front/back orientation, assuming that the spindle bosses were parallel, caster-wise, to the vertical axis itself. Anyway, the rig is all over the road even though I have caster-wedges on it.

My question is: Did I make an incorrect assumption about the spindle bosses always being 'straight-up' if the axle was 'straight-up' caster-wise? OR is a caster built into the axle which makes the spindle at an angle to the rest of the axle, thus making it important how you orient the axle when being replaced?

Yeah, I know about making assumptions! Does anyone know if spindles are parallel to the vertical axis of the axle or not?

Thanks,
AK

Left and right spindles are the same, everything is controlled by the axle and caster shims.
The way to make sure the axle is in correctly is to install it with the line-up holes for the caster shims to the rear of center.

So, you're saying there is no built-in tilt of the king-pins relative to the axle itself. Well, no use in removing the axle to inspect same. Could excess wheel travel right/left caused by a too-long pitman arm on a PS unit cause the problem?

If your pitman arm is too long your drag link is not going to be level or parallel to the frame. This is going to cause poor steering geometry and sloppy steering, especially on uneven roads.

Update time:

I switched out the 2° caster shims for a set of 4° shims as suggested buy Drapal in another thread. It made a considerable improvement. I have far less wander on even the worse roads and bump stear is improved. I've noticed no increased effort in slow speed steering.

If your copying and pasting from a word processor, switch to 'using HTML and UBBCode' at the bottom of the page.

Apache Kid: The Camber is set in the axle. The Caster is set with shims and Toe in is set with the tie rod. Camber tilts the wheel in and out top to bottom. Caster sets the angle that the wheel steers through and Toe in allows the outer wheel to track properly in a turn. Hope this helps clear up some confusion. On a motorcycle the caster is the "rake" angle. You can see it from the side. The tubes push the front wheel out. On a shopping cart the caster is what makes the front wheels come to center when you change from beer to ice. Hope this is helpful.:)