Would this make me steer when I bump?

You know, now that you mention it...that does happen when I turn.

 

yep. the steering arc(s) are causing issues.

if you look at it, the way the pitman is bent, there are 2 arcs-the "normal"arc, and the "abnormal" one caused by the bend. these two are gonna interfere with one another at specific points and cause the spindle to move at different speeds as the pitman travels back and forth.

Call Fast Eddie at c.p.p. and see if they can get you the shorter pitman arm- it will quicken steering, and probably tame alot (but not all) of the road fight.

 

I just measured my pitman arm and the length is 7 inches. The one from cpp is 4 inches. I also measured the distance from the frame rail to the steering arm...5 inches. Then measured the distance from the frame rail to the point where the pitman arm meets the drag link and if I had the 4 inch arm they would both be 5 inches. This would put my pitman arm parallel to my frame. Looks like I'm gonna be ordering a pitman arm.

 

sounds like a plan. let me know how it all worked out.

 

The shorter pitman arm may help, but the root cause of your problem is still the drag link and the leaf spring are moving in two different arcs. Therefore as your suspension cycles, it causes the steering arm on the spindle to be pulled back and forth, known as bump steer. The real corrective action you need is to do a cross-steer conversion. Make the drag link go across to the passenger spindle, and then the tie rod comes back to move the driver's side. If my rough estimating is correct, your existing steering box will work, it has the correct rotation for cross steer.

 

i dont understand why he would have to do a full changeover to cross steering. the power steering conversion is still using the stock steering geometry, it just lets you use the later gm power steering pump. i dont think ive ever seen or heard of someone fabbing up a cross steer system for an older 2wd truck. it sounds like it would be a lot of work to set up. (steering arm on passenger side spindle, tie rods, panhard bar, and maybe a new mount on the driver side spindle). it would be cool to see this set and hear about its pros and cons though.

 

my dumb 2 cents.. is the pitman centered? wheels are going straight but the gearbox is pointing to one side or the other??

 

Spent the day yesterday installing the shorter pitman arm from CPP and a font sway bar from CPP. Made a hell-of-a difference in the way it tracks on the back roads. Almost no bumpsteer and she's "tight" .

 

One more item to check. If you have more than one u-joint in the steering shaft, make sure they are in "phase". That can make a difference and help fine tune the front end.

 

thats great you could get it fixed. does the sway bar make a big difference? and was it any harder to install since your truck is a little lower?

 

Sway bar makes a big difference on mine because some of the leafs were removed from the front making things a little bouncy and loose. Only reason it was hard to install was because of less space under there to work

 

Years back I researched this same similiar set-up offered from a certain company. The question I had was that in ever article I ever read on steering set-ups the steering box is always suppose to be on the opposite side of the axle that the shackles are on, In otherwords if the steering box is behind the axle centerline then the spring shackles should be in front of the axle and vice versa. The guy I was talking to told me I was full of B.S cause his Jeep came from the factory that way. The next day at work I looked at a fellow employees Jeep and sure enough, the steering box was in front of the axle and so were the pivoting spring shackles. So I took the Jeep for a drive and have to report that it was the worst handling rig I'd ever driven. Still not sure if that was the reason but it seems to make sense.

 

bingo

 

I'm looking to lower an F-100 with the solid axle, and I have a general question:

If you use a shorter pitman arm, doesn't that reduce your range of steering?

 

Most posts seem to center around the short drag link. This can pose a problem with large amounts of suspension deflection.

You can plot this on your kitchen table. Place a large sheet of poster paper down. Measure the center ball length to center ball length of the drag link. Draw a horizontal line on the paper. Use this measurement as the radius of a circle, choose a point on the line and make an arc equal to the length of the drag link center measurement on the paper extending 3" above and below the line.

At the point where the arc tangents the horizontal line draw a perpendicular line to that point . The distance that the arc line is away from the perpendicular line is the distance that the steering arm is moving and thus causing the wheels to turn during the upward or down ward travel of the suspension. Ideally it should be almost none.

If you have a plot that trails away from the perpendicular very quickly you will have to redesign your steering.