problems with straight axle bumpsteer

Listen to teddisnoke, I modeled my car after Magneto's article in HRD and I've had no troubles, even after 4500+ miles.

 

I have to admit that I haven't read all the post on here but try the simplist first and give it 1/4 inch toe out. That gives the tires a direction to go to in rebound. Just try it, don't ask about it till you do..................

Won't ruin your tires................

 

Thanks for the 411..I ordered the dvd tonite,gee maybe Steve will autograph it......again thanks for the help I gotta get this right cause I drive the crap outa my car this one will be no different.like I have said before "not drivin your hotrod is like livin with Pam Anderson and makin her sleep in the other room!" [/I]but I do understand what your saying along with others including Metalshapes who has seen it up close,not sure what he mumbled at first but it wasnt good......thanks again guys

 

Very 1st thing is to replace the bushings that have dried out and starting to crumble is shackles etc..thanks

 

Originally Posted by pasadenahotrod
"Did no one notice there IS a tierod connecting left and right wheels?
Did no one notice the linkage from the RH idler to the RH wheel is not there?
This setup is using the LH tierod from the stock steering as a drag link."

In a nut shell dude: If you could read, it said: "The easiest mod would be to retain the bottom tierod, but get new ends." So yes, someone noticed.....

AND using a short left drag link is unwise. (For several reasons others stated)

Try reading before being an asshole next time. 5,000 posts dont grant wisdom-Dude

 

You have the answers here already. Just thought I would share the easiest way to know if you have bumpsteer without jacking up the car or test driving it. Put the wheels pointing straight ahead. Put a piece of easily visisble tape on the top of steering wheel. Go to front of car and bounce. O bumpsteer the tape will not move. Slight bumpsteer it will move back and forth a little. Lots of bumpsteer and will will rock left and right most noticeably. Very few modified cars have O bumpsteer but everyone should try to get as close as possible to O. Much more comfortable to drive if nothing else.

The caster on your front is also critical for high speed stability but thats another story I am sure is archived here on the hamb. Steve

 

Dammit.

I get under your car to look at it, and you dont even listen to what I'm mumbling?

I said , your Tierods are leaking because the Hoseclamp has come undone...

 

yeah and its still there

 

Here is a pretty good link http://www.rebelrodscarclub.com/members/lonniecobb/55straightaxle.htm with pictures , I like how they use a 55 chevy steering arm to connect the tierod to the spindle

edsel

 

That looks pretty solid in design, and not too heavy. I hope the hardware is up to pulling the wheels up. I got my magnifier going again. The car in question definitely needs the modification. They almost got it paralell at the pitman arm.

 

This thread sure gets better. There is alot of great info going on it. I've learned quite a bit for myself. I don't think you can ever stop learning, even when you do this stuff all day long!! I try to learn from my previous(as well as others!) tries. Whats cool here is most will agree, the straight axle movement ain't going away anytime soon. Its just too hot right now, and all sorts of manufactures are offering up some very sweet candy for us hotrodders to chew on. But, there still are alot of old school options for the purists too.

A touch on caster: I broke down two factory straightaxles today. One a Chevy van (60's) and an Econoline straightaxle. Both had caster shims from the factory, and one had a very trippy little additional shim to take out what I think was a "twist" in the forging. The Ford shim was 4 degrees. Pretty mellow. My AWB car has about six-seven degrees. Its about the most I'd go on a full sized car. It'll flop the wheels a bit in reverse, but how many times do you drive in reverse?? Water boxes, and parking lots! I"ve heard some put up to 10 degrees, but these are on Model A's and such.

 

yeah shows what you know.I tried to tighten it up,still didnt help

 

All great info. Mine is the axle out of a 59 ford pickup I'm putting under a '55 chevy. Doing it just like described above, cross steer from original box to right hand steering arm. I have all the steering stuff out of the ford that I can adapt to the chevy, as that owner was going to a mustang II front end under his truck. So here's me going in the other direction.....

This axle is forged steel and is a bit wide for the '55 with the wheels I am using, so am narrowing it 4" in the middle, zig-zag cut across the middle and welded up slowly clamped to a heavy welding table, jigged to keep the kingpins aligned at both ends.

The kingpin bushings etc getting a complete rebuild, they were really sloppy. Was thinkin about 8 deg caster, should give decent road feel with the stock '55 chevy box. But after readin above am rethinkin that. Once I get the springs mounted in there, can take a look and figure the wedges I need to get there. Looked at Shaky Puddin, they put in 11 deg, but it is a straight line machine, I think that's too much for a road machine. A few pix here.