Slick 60's

I was out driving my 62 today, and noticed that it is very hard to steer in a straight line. In fact sometimes it actually seems to "trip" over itself and jerk to the left or right. Mind you this is on the freeway, not while accelerating or braking. I'm still not sure if this is caused by simply large trucks blowing by me, or ruts in the pavement or what. It seems too often to be external causes though.

Question being: Are these old straight axle front ends (think thats what theyre called) known for being hard to drive? Does this sound normal, or do I have a problem?

Ripsnorter,
You say that you were on the freeway? If you were , were there any eroded wheel tracks in the roadway? Straight axle trucks do have a tendency to jump one way or the other in rutted surfaces ,they want to climb up out of ruts in a hurry , they git skittish down in the bottom. If you have any play in any of the front end suspension/steering parts, that just compounds the skittish problem.
Bill.

yeah there definately were ruts from the big rigs, and that could have been the problem, however no vehicle i've ever had went quite that nuts in ruts. the whole front end just felt like a ticked off horse that didnt like you telling it where to go. Ok it might not be that bad, but its definately worse than any other vehicle i've had. on the backroads without ruts though I dont notice it. so maybe that is the problem.

My guess is you have play in the steering or it is out of alignment. My truck drives fine down the interstate even though I have a good amount of play in the steering gear. All my other parts are brand new though. Maybe you have a worn tie rod end or king pin that's loose. I would thorughly examine the front end componets and make sure there good. After all, these trucks aint exactly new.

What kind of tires are on the front?

I had the same trouble with my 62 when I was running 6 ply tires. Switched to radials, and that took care of it.

check your king pins as well for wear and make sure they are greased well also have you done any mods to the truck raise the rear lower the front if the king pins get standing to straight up and down instead of leaning back this will also make the truck hard to steer

I learned to drive on a '66 Dodge with a straight axle. My Dad owned that truck for about 5 years, and it would go straight down the road usually , but ruts or washboard, or especially railroad crossings were quite thrilling, to say the least.

I wonder why the 2- 4x4's I owned later, one Ford and one Chebby, which both had straight axles, never had those problems. Is it the extra sprung weight of those 3rd member front ends that eliminates those problems? You rarely hear 4x4 guys complain about that, and always seem to hear it from the 4x2 guys. I wonder what the difference is.

Like Mike said, Could be the difference between bias ply tires and radials.

Tire swaps and checking for worn supsension and steering components are great places to start.

After that if you want to improve things for more modern driveability, two simple things.

Add caster. Simple 2* caster shim available at your local four wheel drive shop will suffice. Thicker part in the rear will add a bit more caster and help the wheels track straighter.

Steering dampener. Also available at a four wheeler supply will help calm down any wheel kickback and generally help smooth your steering response.

These guys have some great suggestions but one of teh most missed issues on straight axle trucks are leaf spring eye bushings. Bad bushings combined with non-radial tires will make one of our trucks wander like a drunkard! Hawkrod

thanks folks for all the suggestions.

Not sure what tires are on it to be honest. I don't really want to do any serious work to the truck as I'm still planning on doing a frame swap to a more modern 4x4 3/4 ton a few months down the road, but I'll check out the king pins and bushings and give that a go.

As far as I can tell the ride hasnt been modified at all, in fact from what i can discover the truck is almost completely stock and original except for wheels and a little bit of handwriting from some little kid on the visor. I'm glad to hear that its not just my rig that has these problems in ruts though.

Hawkrod wrote:These guys have some great suggestions but one of teh most missed issues on straight axle trucks are leaf spring eye bushings. Bad bushings combined with non-radial tires will make one of our trucks wander like a drunkard! Hawkrod

i agree with this 100%
when i got my first slick before i put it on the 4x4 frame, it did the exact same thing,there were little or no bushings remaining in the holes.

when entering the city of Wasilla on the Parks hwy, you have to go up a big hill that is badly grooved from tiny front drive cars spinning their studded tires on the way up, full size trucks do not fit the ruts and even new ones ride like you are drunk.it was so bad for my slideback when i had it i had to drive with one side in the middle and the passenger side almost or on the shoulder.

Roger the spring bushings.
My truck tracks like its on rails.
Of course, the front sway bar doesn't hurt.
U@ss

My Uncle Skip sway bar has made my truck into a cornering machine. Helps alot on the highway too!

Hey Skip.

You need to patent that name "Uncle Skip Sway Bar", heh.

Do I get a % ???



Richard.

Tires are Radials by the way. Just happened to notice today.

I'm putting the truck up on the rack tonight to do the rear brakes and going to check the bushing and king pins as well.

ripsnorter,

Take the advise from elpolacko.........

I've added the steering damper already - which probably cured 50% of the whip......I'm in the process of installing the 2 degree caster aluminum shims....(by Lakewood)

The wandering is most likely cause by the fact that the axle is straight up & down - 90 degrees to the roadbed. When you install the shims you'll get back the stability youre looking for.

Wider tires, from the originals, also adds to the problem.

Try these 2 suggestions first. I think you be happy.

The last item could be the adjustment in the steering box its self.

PAUL aka/ PACO

wide tires are an issue.the trucks came new with tall skinny tires, and do ride better with them.

62 UNI wrote:ripsnorter,

Take the advise from elpolacko.........

I've added the steering damper already - which probably cured 50% of the whip......I'm in the process of installing the 2 degree caster aluminum shims....(by Lakewood)

The wandering is most likely cause by the fact that the axle is straight up & down - 90 degrees to the roadbed. When you install the shims you'll get back the stability youre looking for.

Wider tires, from the originals, also adds to the problem.

Try these 2 suggestions first. I think you be happy.

The last item could be the adjustment in the steering box its self.

PAUL aka/ PACO

I am curious why you say the axle is straight up and down? Ford installed these with caster and camber built into the axle so adding shims would only be neccessary if something was wrong or damaged. Just curious why you would suggest doing something like that instead of checking the truck out and fixing the problem the correct way? I prefer to fix problems rather than mask them with a shotgun approach to repairs. If you can't find anything wrong with the front end you should take the truck in and have a qualified alignment shop check the alignment and adjust if it is needed. I have actually have very few straight axle trucks that had lost their caster or camber alignment as the axles are very strong. Now, if you have swapped axles from another truck or lowered your truck then you do need to have the axle adjusted but shims really are not the correct way to do and a qualified shop should be handling the adjustment. Hawkrod