steering wander issues

[hillbillygmc]

Hey guys. Hoping I can get some help here. I just got my truck back on the road (an m1008 clone. it was an 84 K10. I bought a used set of m1008 axles of an 86 CUCV). The problem is that it wanders like crazy. Steering feels waaayyyyy too loose and sloppy. Everything looks tight. I have 6" of lift, all springs and it rolling on 37" wranglers. I have the steering block to correct the geometry. Also have a dual stabilizer installed. Not sure what's going on. I heard that a panhard bar may need to be installed. If so, any tips on making and mounting one would be great. If not, then any advice to fix the problem would be appreciated.

 

[Iceman3005]

It wanders due to poor steering geometry, this is more pronounced when you lift it. You will need to do a cross over steering setup to elimenate this problem. http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/Dana60crossover.htm there's a link to one comany that sell a kit.

Also bad spring bushings, worn out upper king pins, worn steering box, frame flexing, etc can also lead to sloppy steering.

http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm this will stop frame from twisting(flexing).

http://www.jegs.com/i/Borgeson/153/000935/10002/-1 Your stock steering shaft can also lead to wander, replace it with this.

 

[hillbillygmc]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I was hoping that I could get away without having to buy the crossover steering kit.....at least for awhile while I saved up the money.

 

[scottladdy]

+1 on all the advice mentioned above. How did the truck handle before the lift? That will assist in identifying the cause of the issue.

Check to make sure your frame isn't cracked as well. A known issue with these trucks is that the frame can crack at the steering gear mount location. Since you added 1 ton axles to a 1/2 truck, this is a possibility. The K10 frame is might lighter duty.

Did you check your toe?

 

[hillbillygmc]

It handled great before the axle swap. Before the swap, I was running 33's though....now there are 37's on it. The frame is fine. The toe? No, I didn't check. Don't know what to look for.

 

[scottladdy]

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

 

[Skinny]

Add wheels to the list...what type of rims are you running? Are those 37's HMMWV takeoffs? You have a perfect storm happening here. Large lift, poor steering geometry, larger wheels etc.

Be prepared to spend money

 

[hillbillygmc]

The wheels are aftermarket 16.5's.....crager I think. After a little more digging online, I adjusted the sector shaft bolt on the steering box and it helped out ALOT! It's now drivable. Still needs attention but it's much better. Now it just feels like it's a tad out of allignment.

 

[Skinny]

What backspacing?

The steering wheel being offcenter will not really affect anything, that is just a draglink adjustment. The steering box being offcenter which on a Chevy K10 I think is impossible because every part has a master spline so you should be good to go there. I would spend the $60-80 and have it put on an electronic alignment rack to see what the numbers are. Good to eliminate any caster, camber, toe issues along with seeing if the truck is straight.

 

[hillbillygmc]

What was happening was that the steering wheel had too much play. I had to turn the wheel a quater turn before the wheels moved. Screwing the sector shaft bolt on the box adjusted the ring gear to engage with less play. Lifting the truck pulled the gears in the box away from eachother just enough to cause problems. Still not handling great, but it's so much better now. Backspacing? I'm not sure but whatever it is on the cragers, it was the same on the stock m1008 wheels. I made sure of that before I bought the tires and wheels. Yeah, that's my plan......taking it to a garage tomorrow to see whats up with the alignment.

 

[Skinny]

Do a quick precheck for play in anything else like balljoints and bearings. If you have any freeplay, the alignment check will be useless. If it's a wheelbearing, snug it up and go. You can worry about servicing them later just get rid of the play.

 

[hillbillygmc]

Everything else seems tight. Real tight! I replaced all of the balljoints ang bearing when I did the swap.