Steering, Tracking, Drift

[Hpwr]

Hello to all, have a nice 1010 with no real issues, but one slightly aggravating one. One a straight road, (whether crowned or flat) I generally have to use a slight amount of left steering pressure / correction, if I don't a have a slight drift to the right. This is very minor, but always there and aggravating. That I can tell or deduce no tire wear and brakes are not dragging or hot after driving for extended period.

Any ideas out there???

Thanks,

Steve
Hpwr

 

[Barrman]

Start with the basic maintenance stuff. Wheel bearings, lock out hubs actually unlocking, u-joints, drag link and tie rod ends. Plus, the kingpin springs. Don't forget the steering box itself. Is it tight to the frame, is the frame cracked or is their play in the sector shaft?

If all of that checks out as good. Raise the front axle and center the steering wheel. Start the engine. Does the steering wheel move or does it jump? If it jumps, then the steering box has issues inside.

Then suspension gets looked at. Leaf spring bushings, leaf spring locating pins and leaf spring U-bolts both front and rear.

If all of that looks good. Try rotating your tires side to side. If the pull follows the tires then you found the problem. If not, then you missed it with one of the above.

 

[porkysplace]

Make sure the tire pressure is the same also.

 

[cucvrus]

My guess in this situation is an outer axle U joint that is dry and tight. I had them that tight I hung on the long end of the axle when I had the short end clamped i9n the press. It would tend to steer to the right side of the road and then the left after correction was made.

 

[dependable]

Check all of the above, also toe in adjustment of wheel alignment will affect tracking.

 

[Sharecropper]

During the complete restoration of my M1028, everything in the front end that could be replaced and rebuilt was replaced and rebuilt. New ORD springs, bushings and bolts; new axle U-bolts; new inner and outer wheel bearings; new upper and lower king post bushings; new front axle knuckle U-joints; new ORD cross-over steering; new tie-rod ends. No expense was spared and all bolts/nuts were torqued to CUCV specifications. And I still had that annoying wiggle on the highway such as was described by the OP.

Because the conversion to cross-over steering required changing the steering box from the factory 4wd to a 2wd version to change the geometry of action, I included the purchase of a new 2wd box with the cross-over kit from ORD. After the front-end rebuild was complete and I test-drove the truck, I realized I still had that little "slop" in my steering wheel. So I pulled back into my shop and reviewed all my notes and checked to make sure everything had been installed/tightened properly, which it had been. But that slop was still there, and it was driving me crazy. So after a few days I broke down and called Chris at ORD to see if he had any ideas. It was during that phone call that I learned that I could eliminate that slop with a simple adjustment in the play of the new steering box. On top of all GM truck steering boxes there is a threaded adjustment bolt and a jam nut. The "looseness" of the steering box can be tightened up, and the slop removed, by turning the adjustment bolt inwards very slightly. Here are a couple You-Tube videos which explains the process -

https://youtu.be/W5Ck4eANgII

https://youtu.be/qtXQvVNg6vI

Hope this helps.

 

[ken]

I fought this myself a few years ago. After replacing everything possible in the front axle I still had the pulling to the right. Turns out the passenger side rear leaf spring bushing was bad. This allowed the rear axle in the passenger side to move forward and made the truck pull to the right. Kind of like a forklift with the rear tires turning left to make the forklift go right.

 

[Iceman3005]

These trucks are 30+ years old. Replace everything, and I mean everything. New springs, spring bushings, upper/lower king pins, all your steering connections, new steering box, new steering shaft (I prefer the borgenson steering shaft, it uses U-joints at both ends instead of a rag joint). Then have an alignment done. I did this to both of my cucv's, what an amazing difference. Truck drove like a new car!

 

[Chaski]

There are lots of solid suggestions posted.

My input is that if you decide to adjust your steering box read the TM, some of those youtube videos are pretty far off from every single Saginaw service paper. Not saying you can't have good results that way, but it is very easy to tighten the box too much and cause excess wear in a hurry.

 

[ken]

Chaski, Do you have the complete Saginaw Manual?

 

[Chaski]

Chaski, Do you have the complete Saginaw Manual?

Yes - both short and long. They are PDF files so I am not sure how to post them.

You can download the manuals from Midwest Steering, they were nice enough to post a HUGE tech section online. The Saginaw 800 series stuff is 2nd from the bottom on the page. Might be worth adding the PDF's to the site since they are a little more detailed than the TM, and the scan quality is excellent.

https://www.midweststeering.com/service-information/

 

[Hpwr]

Thanks to all that replied, just came back from a 600+ mile trip, before I left I swapped the front passenger side tire for the spare (all five are basically new Firestone Transforce tires that previous owner had just put on it before I bought the truck last year). Pretty much fixed the problem, on roads with little crown she tracks almost perfect now, more crown and still a small amount of drift. I feel this is probably normal, but will be interested in additional comments. BTW the previous owner had also purchased and installed a GearVendors overdrive and that is one of the main reasons I bought the truck, really made the trip much more enjoyable, cruises comfortably between 70 & 75 MPH.

Thanks Again
Steve
Hpwr
KM4V