Front End Help

[3rdmdqm]

The strangest thing happened while driving today. I was out and about, no issues. Had backed into several driveways to park visiting various places and to turn around. When leaving to park for the day I was driving down the street at low speed and the front end started pulling, first to the right, then to the left. I thought maybe the tire had gone flat so I stopped and checked. Tires are fine, all bolts are tight, wheels look good. Nothing looks loose or out of place. Started off again and then it started again. Felt almost like it had power steering that was trying to engage then disengage. This was intermittent, but then I started hearing a noise like something was winding up, sounded kinda like a generator gone bad or something. Steering wheel started to jump left and right intermittently. Was able to limp to my parking spot and get her parked. I have no clue what this could be? I had issues with the sprag not engaging and got stuck in the mud during the inclement weather. Could the sprag be trying to engage intermittently while driving? One side then the other depending on which way I'm turning? I'm afraid to drive it due to the unpredicatable pulling. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for the help and any advice. I'm perplexed.

 

[wb1895]

Just a thought but were there any ruts in the road? I have noticed that my deuce pulls right or left pretty hard if the road is bad. Of course this wouldnt explain the whining noise that you heard.

 

[3rdmdqm]

No road defects, smooth asphalt pavement. I thought ok, maybe a tie rod came off or something but everything is tight. Then I though maybe a wheel bearing gave out, but that looks ok too. I am lost and it is intermittent.

 

[gringeltaube]

I would jack up one front wheel and check for correct sprag adjustment and front axle operation (see: View topic - Sprag Adjustment :: Steel Soldiers :: Military Vehicles Supersite)

If all appears normal remove front propeller shaft and do a short test drive, including sharp turns; best if it was on the same road again. That will tell if something is wrong either in the front axle system or in your TC.

G.

 

[Barrman]

I agree that you probably have "wind up" on the front. However, check your dog bones on the rear. If one is off, a rear axle walking around could make you think you are having steering issues. At least that is what I thought when a dog bone let go on my Gasser M35.

 

[ICFDeuce]

I had same problem felt like a flat tire steering wheel shaking all the. Ended up being my bearings on the front were shot. Shake the front end left and right see if it moves.

 

[3rdmdqm]

My truck has Gremilins or something. Today I went and jacked up the driver side tire. It did not let loose or spin or anything when it cleared the ground and there were no noises. I was able to freely spin it. Then went through the sprag adjustment procedure with tm in hand, first in reverse then in 1st. Everything checked out, was able to rotate in the reverse direction in reverse and it would not spin forward, able to rotate it forward in 1st and it would not go backwards/reverse. According to the tm this meant it checked out ok. Went for a drive. Everything was fine. No noise, no jerking left or right. Nothing. I am completely baffled by this. If it was a bearing it would do it all the time correct? The only thing I can think of is when I stopped to talk to someone on the street, the truck began to drift forward while I was preparing to proceed and put it in gear. This was on an incline and dummy me put it in reverse instead of forward gear by mistake, but I quickly got it out of reverse and put back in 2nd gear to continue on. Problem started immediately after that. So I'm guessing that must have had something to do with it and it has worked itself out. Only other thing I can think of is after driving all day, something got heated up and it didn't like it. Or she was just mad at me cause she was dirty. I washed her today before the drive and now she is driving nice. So I am baffled but for now it seems to be fine. I just don't want to go some distance and the tcase get warmed up/hot and this starts again if that's even possible. Thanks for the info on the Sprag adjustment! Was able to print out and go from there.

 

[3rdmdqm]

To continue with the Gremlin theme, before winter storage I drained the radiator and flushed the system. When I filled everything back up I filled it pretty close to the neck (I know, too full). While driving when it got up to about 190-200 degrees I saw water/antifreeze shooting out the left side of the hood through the hole in the drop down access panel. Long story short, water was blasting out of the radiator cap, which was on securely. Checked the overflow tube which had been intentionally plugged with body putty. Reamed this out to clear it and found that the reason this was plugged was because the overflow tube was rusted out where it meets the fill neck so no overflow could escape. I'm assuming I had filled it too much and the overflow had no where to go. Truck never overheated. Today when driving nothing leaked out and it stayed about 180 degrees. Must have spit out the overflow amount it didn't like and now its fine. Unless there is another issue like the thermostat not opening but if that were the case wouldn't the engine overheat? I think this truck is playing mind games with me.

 

[BEASTMASTER]

strange things happen when you bend the elbow too much. ha ha.

 

[AMGeneral]

You explained it ,you went to reverse and then to second,it didn't select the forward sprag,it was still in reverse sprag mode when you started driving forward,ALWAYS start off in first gear in a sprag equipped truck.

Basically the sprag was wound up and trying to turn the front wheels faster than the rear.

 

[cessnatwin]

I gotta agree with AMgeneral!

 

[gringeltaube]

.... and I beg to disagree....!

1) if the reverse sprag really stayed engaged 3rdmdqm wouldn't be able to move more than a few feet before something was gone south. And if so he would have noticed it immediately or later while testing the sprag adjustment.

2) by default the front sprag is the one that's always engaged, via the internal coil spring. That is: shifter in any forward gear or N! Only when shifting into reverse the rear sprag can engage as soon as dogs are aligned.
Exception of the rule: shift rod not working properly... (see: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/32130-shifting-sprag-tc-how-works.html)
According to the OP's test results, this doesn't seem to be the case.

3) Read (and understand) the book: ..."the transfer gearing is designed to drive the front axle slightly slower than the rear axles and this difference in speed is taken up by an overrunning sprag unit on the front output shaft during normal operation. When the rear wheels loose traction, the sprag unit automatically engages, causing the front wheels to drive the vehicle also."


G.