Technical Getting the front end squared away...

Looking at the first photo, the whole front end is shifted to the driver side a bit, also looking at the 4 bar mounting bolts picture they look tweaked/bent back. the axle does not look centered under the car, maybe someone hit a pot hole with the driver front tire bending the mounting bolts, busting the bushing and causing the clearance issue with the drag link and header. yes swap sides with the brake calipers, you may need longer brake lines.
Just an observation taken from the first picture, I can not tell how level the area you parked on is, but the angle of the shackles are different and the stroke of the front shocks say something is a miss.
I would jack it up and start with the leaf spring verify its center in frame, and work your way outward then verify the distance from axle to each 4 bar mount left vs right make sure its square, somewhere along the way you will find what is off.
Godspeed
MrC.

 

Heim joints brake apart, or the bolt can take out the swivel part. Aircraft heim joints are very expensive, I doubt anyone of us want to pay what ONE that size COST..

they can be from $6.00 dollars to over a hundred,each, for the same size.

 

Ya...everything is out of wack...
I have ordered the bushings and if they are here by Friday, Saturday it will be up on the lift in my shop and come apart...
I agree about starting in the middle and working my way out...measuring and lining everything up as I go...

I will also swap the calipers and put a washer on the heim joint...

I will let you all know how it went but in the mean time if anyone has any advise etc please post it...

 

I read that the drag link should run parallel with the 4 bar which is good because mine does not but I need a longer pitman arm and adding about an inch to that will get me where I need to be...
Problem is that I need to know exactly what I have for a steering box in order to buy the right arm...
Someone on here said that it is Mustang...
Does everyone here agree that that is what it is...???






My present arm is 4-3/8" and I want to add about an inch...
Or better yet...here is a link to arms at Speedway...can anybody help me with choosing the correct one...??? Please...???
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Shop/...-Steering-Pitman-Arms/12.html?NoRedirect=true

THANX!!!

 

I also believe its a Mustang steering box. Early ones had a solid shaft from box to steering wheel,

later ones had two piece with a rag connection.

Take shocks loose,
Think of the front end as parallel , exaggerate the travel. and watch what each bar does. (four bar and drag link) do they move on the same plane? or do they " fight" with each other?

 

I got to wondering about how much caster was built into the car thru the crossmember set up and when I got to the shop today I stuck the gauge on it and it looks like about 8*...

 

Bigger tires in the back can alter that.

 

Some how the photos on page one don't open anymore. Your info on 4 bar and drag link is right, equal length is a must. Think of them swinging from a fixed point (the axle end) and making a mark with loose end. The line is an Arc, all 3 links need to make the same Arc to work together properly. Unless your big into Chrome and close is good enough with the Arc theory just build your arm as necessary. Factory pitman arms are Forged Steel. They weld just fine given you know how to weld. Cut the splined end off the pitman arm and turn the O.D. round in your lath. Take a piece of 5/8" plate and cut out the new arm and boar and weld prep a hole for the splined donut. Assemble on your box with the box at center and your new arm at 12 O-Clock. Weld it up. Drill the hole for drag link at proper point, your done and fixed. Screw mail order and maybe it's right or close enough. That's what you have now,,, close enough and you don't like it. Without seeing the photos I don't know if box and frame mount for 4 bar are in line or not.
The Wizzard

 

Well....I don't weld or have a lath so mail order is what I need to do...
As far as chrome goes...I don't really give a shit...I have removed more chrome from this car than most have on theirs! LOL
Looking at the Speedway arms, they don't even have any mustang arms at all...where would I find one 5-3/4" - 6" long...
Aprox what year mustang box are we talking about...???

 

Your Mustang box is late 60's or early 70's. Measure the diameter of the sector shaft, as I think there were two different sizes. Here's a link to Pete & Jakes Mustang pitman arm: http://www.peteandjakes.com/Catalog4.aspx?pid=44

Call them to see the length, or if you need an arm for a different size sector.

 

Well...at work today I managed to pull the pitman arm off and move the drag link to the inside of it...
That gained me more than an inch clearance between it and the header...
I also put a flat washer on the outside of the heim joint
So now I have room to add an inch to my pitman for a little more leverage...
I am not having any luck finding one 5-1/2" long tho...only the same length that I have now...

My bushings are supposed to arrive Friday and if they do I will be doing all of that stuff Saturday unless the wife has other plans for me LOL

Thanx for all the help guys...!

 

I figured out why one front shock shows more extension than the other one...
Whomever installed the rear end for the other owner has the rear coilover jacked a little higher than the other one and it is pushing the opposite side front down a little bit...

 

Well....got her apart and most of the old rubber bushings were almost GONE...
At this point we're still cleaning stuff up before reassembly...
I found that one brake caliper would go on the other side easily however on the side would not because of a "nub" on it hitting the steering arm, I ground that off so now I can swap them...
Here's a picture...

Well...back at it...next step is to install the new bushings and then reinstall the 4 bars and correct the caster the best I can...

 

OK...got her almost back together...
Still gotta put the calipers back on and test drive it and I am sure there will be an adjustment or two to be made...
As far as the caster goes I was at 12* and right now it looks like I have about 4*...I realize that might not be quite enough but we will see how she goes down the road tomorrow and adjust if necessary...

One question...I read on Pete and Jakes that because of the crown in the road that it may be necessary to have a tad more caster on one side to compensate for that...
Any advise about that...???

 

If you are trying to reduce the steering effort at the steering wheel the caster adjustment you made will help, but a longer pitman arm will increase the steering wheel effort.

 

That's coming too...
BTW...I was born and raised in Westbrook, Me...

 

I would have like to been in Florida last winter. The snow just finished melting last week!! Did the coupe come from Maine the first time you had it ?
The longer pitman arm will make the car steer harder.

 

Ya...I did Maine summers and Florida winters from 81-91 then stayed here full time...
Summers suck but at least I don't have to shovel it! LOL
The car was built in upstate NY ...I bought it from a retired GM exec in Ft Myers, Fl about 8 yrs ago (not sure who he got it from)...kept it for a couple years and sold it to a guy here and just bought it back a couple weeks ago...

What am I missing here...??? I was under the impression that a longer arm would give me more leverage and hense, steer easier...???

 

Quote; "What am I missing here...??? I was under the impression that a longer arm would give me more leverage and hense, steer easier...???" end of quote.

Think of using a pry bar to move a Rock. It's just Math. The answer to the length of Pitman arm is relevant to the length of steering arm and how many turns of the steering wheel you want to (or can) make. Diameter of steering wheel and tires add to the issue. It's a balancing act. I think air pressure in tires comes into the act somewhere.
The Wizzard

 

Well...mission accomplished! Ya...I can still tweek it for sure but it is WAY better...

I've got 4* caster and I might add a degree or two...but it steers so much nicer that I really don't have to
It does tend to want to drift, ever so slightly, to the right just from the crown in the road...
I read somewhere that front end guys will add or subtract a degree or so from one side to compensate for that and never set up both sides the same...Who can elaborate on that for me...???

I also had 1/8" toe OUT and now I am at 1/8" toe IN...big difference

I have upped my front tire pressure to about 40 lbs as well til I can get some skinnier tires on it...

I also greased all the zerks in the front end and yes, the spindles were "thirsty"

Brake rotors swapped over so bleeders are on the top where they belong...

After thinking the pitman arm thing over in my mind I can see where that will not help matters any...

All in all I am very happy with it and really appreciate the help that I received here...thanx again guys

 

Isn't it amazing how a few small adjustments can add up to a big improvement?

Happy Cruising!

 

Yes, more caster on one side than the other is quite common. Know that as the road changes that difference may or may not work to your advantage. That's something you can mess with as you drive the car. Toe out to start with given your tire width and wheel offset may have been the biggest single issue you had. It can only get worse as you roll down the road, makes for a heavy wheel.
Once you start driving it on a hot day you may want to check air pressure again. It may increase to a point you may not like.
Ahhh, Lubercunt!!! Free Motion, that had to help a lot. Did you also check the steering box? The 2 most over looked issues on Street Rods. I don't know why that is.
I'm with you, changing either steering arm length probably won't make enough difference for your driving needs. If you were happy behind the wheel before and those are still the same parts they were a Non issue. If you like it again, leave things alone and go Burn some Rubber.
The Wizzard

 

He's gonna have a hard time running different caster side to side w/ a straight axle !!
dave

 

Not really.

My A is set up to correct for road crown, with different caster on each side.

It just takes an alignment shop that knows how to work with a solid axle.

Even my rock-rig is set up this way, as it sees frequent freeway duty.

 

As for adjusting toe for the crown in the road. I have set the toe at 1/8 inch inward then 1/2 a turn more only on the driver side tire.
I'm glad you got it all sorted out. I am curious were the link bars different lengths ride side vs left side? What was causing it to shifted over?
Godspeed
MrC.

 

I suspect that any appearance of misalignment or it being "off" is because the bushings were so bad that a couple of them were GONE...as in "not there"...

 

Nice to see a trouble shoot guide to old straight axle front ends, thank you everyone. The fancy builds on here never seem to show this information, all common sense.

 

The whole front end seems very tight except for a little bit in the box...or gear...
I have never owned a Ford steering gear that I am aware of but have had many GMs...
I remember adjusting those with some success however if you went to far they would kinda lock up or get "notchy" feeling...
I would like to try to adjust this one a little tighter....any of you guys have any advise on this...???

Also as far as identifying this one for sur here are some pictures...
The tag is gone but the casting numbers are RF D2DR 3550 AA...
I have researched it a little and it seems as tho it might be some kind of a power steering gear where the power actually came frome an attachment on the pitman arm...???
If what I found is correct they say that using this without that piece can make it a bear to steer...???

Anybody...??? Thanx!!!

 

pics not working?

 

strange...I can see them...