Things I've done so far... 1. removed two springs forward, three aft. 2. adjusted tow, both wheel seem to be pointed the same direction while sitting on flat cement. 3. bushings are replaced or have minimal ware 4. installed pro-comp steering stabilizer 5. rebuilt steering box 6. inspected king posts and they look good -truck still wonders a allot, especially when you take your foot off the gas... (about a degree of tow in helped quite a bit, but handles miserably with any more or less.) -truck bounces all over the place... (slightly better now after pulling springs..) Finally the questions.... How much will putting new shocks help my cause? Any other ideas what, how, who can help me? Thanks, Jim
Are you sure a motor mount isn't bad? Had an mg midget with a broken mount and did the same thing with wandering after letting off the gas.
I removed leaves from both the front and rear of my dad's '58 Chevy pickup with flipped front and rear axles. The truck did not handle right, it hit the bump stops on small dips and rode like a buckboard. I added all the stock leaves back, and the truck rides nicely now. The ride height increased slightly (3/4") but it is much more drivable now.
I don't understand the hot rod mindset of shocks, or more accurately, dampers being unnecessary. There's a reason they're there. But yeah besides shocks, see if you can add caster, check your scrub radius and also make sure your steering linkage isn't causing bump-steer.
Inspected King Pins and they "Looked" good? Is there play in them or not? Did you adjust the steering wheel tension with the scale (2lbs I believe... a fish scale will work) when you rebuilt the box?
Did you shim the axle after removing the springs??? You'll need to do that. You've altered the geometry, so you'll need to look at shimming.
Your problem is definitely shocks and caster. 1. Buy the strongest shocks sold for your truck. Look at new trucks. They place the rear shocks vertically right out next to the wheels. For my Stude truck, I made brackets to add two more shocks placed like new trucks. With four rear shocks and new rear spring bushings, it transformed the ride and handling. On the front, I bought some huge Koni shocks designed for motor homes. I had to adapt the bushings, but again, it transformed the ride and handling of the front. (As for the fiberglass front leaf springs, kids, don't try this at home ;>) 2. Buy a Shop Manual and read the section on front suspension and caster. You'll most likely need to add wedge shims to get caster toward the upper end of the spec. 3. While you're under there adding a shock bracket to the rear spring mounting plate, measure the rear axle pinion angle and compare it to the front slip-joint angle. Most old trucks have gotten out of whack and you'll probably need to shim the rear axle to get complementary angles. jack vines
i don't like to over shock, I use just enough to stop the bounce. caster, toe, scrub angle are very important and most people don't have enough caster as it makes steering heavier
Caster explained......if the axle has zero caster it will be straight up and down vertically, the truck will wander and you'll keep a death grip on the wheel as it'll go wherever it likes. It'll also steer very quickly, lean the axle back toward the rear of the truck with some shims, it will be progressively better and steer slower, track straighter, aim for about seven degrees caster and thats probably the best you'll get in terms of driveability. Remember that you've got an old truck thats always gonna drive like an old truck, never built for 100 mph passes, never built to run 70 mph all day on the freeway, never gonna drive like a modern car. That being said, you can modify it to drive better, but it'll never be perfect, sit down right here on the web, learn as much as you can about early frontends, its not rocket science. Hope you find it, let us know?
Add some caster wedges, it will straighten out. You changed the geometry of the whole truck. Just removing leafs will not effect anything but ride, IF the steering measurements stay in spec, yours didn't. You did a couple of things to it. One, the shocks now need to be shorter since the travel has been shorten due to lowering. Heavy shocks just make for a stiff ride, you want a shorter shock off something with the same basic weight as your truck. Two, you changed the length of the draglink, by lowering the front, the draglink now needs to be longer to keep the steering box centered. Steering boxes are designed with a tight spot dead center, it keeps the steering from wondering so much. Once out of this spot, you tend to over correct and then fight each time you pass across the center. The draglink has a arc it follows as the front axle moves up and down, the axle also has a arc it follows due to spring hanger location and design. GM set the draglink length to about center of both arc's for normal driving, you are now at the upper end of both arc's, much like a overloaded truck would be. Its probably still in spec but not ideal. Did the steering wheel move off center? Three, you changed the caster angle of the axle. Caster angle is the tilt of the axle in relation to the frame. Caster will need to be increased from factory spec's as you lower the truck, the more you lower the more caster you add, up to a point. Just a couple of degrees makes a hugh difference. The wedges should have the thicker part towards the rear, this kicks the bottom of the axle forward. The weight over the front axle holds the steering straight, the more the axle is kicked out, the more weight you lift as you try and turn. This is also how the truck centers itself coming out of a turn. With the axle straight up and down, the weight is right over center, this makes for easy cornering but terrible driving. Joe
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