Steering swerving

[rancherrob]

So after 1.5 years on the jack stands, I finally have the whole under carriage and drive train rebuilt and put back together. She is finally back up and running! In the process I also upgraded to the 46" tires. However, now she swerves all over the road. If she starts to drift to the right a little, she quickly starts to swerve harder right. So you correct with a little left wheel turn and then she veers left and swerves that way. It's like it is a side to side see-saw ride. I'm afraid to drive her anywhere. I checked over the suspension and steering linkage and all seems good and tight. Drag link was a little loose at the pitman and so tightened that up and re-greased it. But she still swerves. Anyone have any ideas? Could it be the larger tires or maybe she needs an alignment or something? Alignment wise, I measured between tire nubs and there is a 1/4" difference from front of steering tires to rear of tires. Is that significant?
Anticipated thanks for any advice or experience.
Cheers,
Rob

 

[m16ty]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a tapered spring pad between the axle and the springs ( I could be thinking about something else). If that's the case and it's installed wrong, it could adversely affect the caster angle.

I've heard tell of other deuce owners having a "squirrely" feeling when switching to larger tires. I don't think it's as bad as you describe though.

 

[Woodsplinter]

This issue has been covered in several threads, but it basically involves removing the metal shim between the front axle and springs and turning it around.
There may be some other shimming required but I haven't done it and can't remember the details.
Search for related threads and you should find what you need!

 

[KsM715]

That 1/4"difference, is it a 1/4" closer at the front of the tire, (toe in) or a 1/4" farther out?(toe out) If its toe out it will make it squirrely like that. I would check that first before you start messing with that shim.

 

[Volfe]

M16ty.. I'm working with RancherRob and I have drove it as well, it's kind of all over the road on asphalt.. not so bad off road.. what is this "tapered spring pad between the axle and the springs"..

 

[fsearls92]

Start with a simple solution, check your tire pressures. Mine swerved all over the road too when I first put on the 395's. The tire shop had them all aired up to sixty psi. I played with the pressures alot until I found the perfect driving pressures. I set the front at 35 psi and the rear normally at 25 psi but will pump it up to 35 psi if I am going to be hauling anything. This fixed it perfectly and now no more swerving. When I sat down trying to figure it out, i first had to realize that the 395's are a 14 ply rated tire, while my ndcc's were only an 8 ply tire.

 

[russ132]

I have to agree with fsearls92. I was having very similar steering issues when I switched to larger tires. Terrifying... I was given the advice to air down the tires and that corrected the problem. My personal preference is 45 PSI all the way around. Good luck and I hope this simple fix helps.

 

[rrrr]

I have a thread that covers this in detail. Tire pressure I have is 50 front 45 back. You'll need to adjust the toe. I had the same problems unitl I did these two things. That solved much of the problem.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/66228-395s-hubs-my-deuce-what-i-think-about-upgrade-13.html

edited for link information on what I did and I ment toe in

 

[gringeltaube]

Radials should run paralell (zero toe-in) and caster angle be at least +4º.
Check this post to see what others have done to completely cure the problem.

G.

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Radials should run paralell (zero toe-in) and caster angle be at least +4º.
Check this post to see what others have done to completely cure the problem.

G.

I read the posts that you showed. How did you remove that angle eavenly across that surface? And if that's what the shims look like how does fliping them help as it looks like it would give negitive caster? Just fliping it would be alot easier but if it's not going to solve the problem I'll try grinding that angle down. That mod is on my to-do list this week. Thanks.

 

[Kohburn]

in the graphic the front of the vehicle is to the right rather than the left. thus positive caster. flipping just gives a much more significant change.

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Thanks, I missed those bold letters in the drawing.

 

[3dAngus]

I missed if it was a M35A3 with power steering, or a M35A2 without.

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Mine is a M35A2 without p-s.

On a side note, 3dAngus it just hit me where I've seen your new is from. Or am I just the last one to catch the South Park referance?

 

[3dAngus]

You're not the last one.

I'm riding 395s and feel a bit of play in the steering. Nothing to difficult to deal with. I've topped 70mph with them and they do better if I keep the rpm above 2000 rpms. I have about two inchs of play in my steering wheel, which I would like to remove if possible. Worst speeds of all is 35-45 mph at less than 2000 rpms and of course, on a thin narrow road without a shoulder.

Looking forward to hearing more replys to your thread.

 

[Ford Mechanic]

WOW man talk about a job!!! I would rather have to take the tires off again than do this! Make sure you bring a big breaker bar or ratchet, and a 2nd person would be nice to keep the socket on the nut instead of falling off every time. That 2 1/2 ft 3/4 drive set that i have just ain't cutting it.