Quick steering question

My stock 60 f100 has started acting strange while making right hand turns. It feels like the steering wheel is being pulled to turn sharper into the corner. It only does this on right hand corners. I notice it most on mountain roads at around 35mph.

My question is.... I need the term for this action so I can do a proper search and understand the cause. Thanks

 

some folks would call it over-steer, but I think oversteer should be reserved for when the rear end feels loose or even drifts outward.

I think I'd say the front end crabs inward or something like that.

Does it roll freely? A dragging front brake can create pull.

Power steering ? Some of them (at least rack and pinions) have a hydraulic "bias" that very occasionally needs to be adjusted for a equal effort left and right.

I'd expect to find loose components, or maybe real excessive toe-out. I have had seized ball joints or king pins do some pretty strange things too. And I wouldm't necessarily ignore the rear suspension if the steering wheel pull is slight.

 

Manual steering, other than this new tendancy to want to steer into righthand corners it drives normal. The pull is only felt in the steering wheel, the first 15-20 degrees or so of steering wheel rotation has normal resistance then it feels like the resistance is gone and wants to turn more into the corner on it's own.

I will search over/under steer. Thanks

 

Sounds like something might be broken - you had better check the suspension and steering out thoroughly....

 

Tough to say without seeing it.

I would get someone to rock the steering wheel back and forth in the straight ahead position, while you really look close at every moving part. Not very far each way, just see if there is slop at any possible place if there is too much free play at the wheel.

Then I would grab each tie rod end and push/pull it to see if one is real bad. If it had a lot of slop it could try to steer itself, because of the ackerman deal; The truck should have slight toe in when straight, but ackerman makes the wheel toe out on turns. So if there is a lot of slop in one joint, it could be trying to toe out even more.

There is a lot to check besides that. Even radials coming apart inside can do strange things. Loose U bolts on the axle, broken main leaf on a spring, even check those things on the rear end.

Find out what's wrong before you crash it.

 

Check the bolts that hold the steering box to the frame.

 

The truck is parked until I find and fix the problem, so no worries about crashing it. I have done a visual check of the suspension and frame from one end to the other and can find nothing broken, cracked or bent. I'll have to get someone out here to turn the wheel while I look for movement in places it ought not to be. I hadn't thought about a tire coming unglued, I'll check that too.

Thank you all for your thoughts, Mark

 

Sounds like a good time for a trip to a reliable front end specialist..........

4TTRUK

 

Your steering box may need adjustment. The box is designed to have more steering resistance in the center, and less resistance as the more you turn it.

If it's loose in the center, it may be very sloppy in the turns.

 

Did you check the king pins/ball joints?

 

I borrowed my new neighbors wife for a while ( I hope he don't mind ). I told her I needed her body for a while to turn my wheel, you should have seen the look on her face.....

With the wheels on the ground and the steering wheel rocked side to side everything is moving as it should. My truck has new ( 6 mo old ) spring eye bushings, tierod ends, kingpins, and new wheel bearings.

With the tires off the ground I did feel a hitch in the steering when I spun the steering wheel lock to lock. It wasn't there before. As most of the steering and suspension are new, and the steering gear is probaly the original, I think it's a good time to check it out further.

 

I am sure you already loked at this but have you checked the air pressure on all four tires?

 

That I did, that was the first thing I did. While the tires were off the ground I checked them for any lumps, bumps, and excessive run-out. All was good.