I replaced my worn steering box with a redhead box. Replaced steering shaft with borgeson shaft, replaced trunion bearings, and all ball joints, and went from a 33 12.50 to a 35 13.50 tire. Still need to replace leaf spring bushings, but everything else is new. Also went to a dual skyjacker stabilizer. The problem is, it just flat steers tooooooo easy now. It's actually hard to drive, because if I hit a bump, and my hand moves, the truck turns. I sent an e mail to red head about it, but haven't heard back yet. Just wondered if anybody knows how to make the steering a little stiffer.

 

Front-end alignment needed? over-inflated tires? pump putting out excessive pressure?

 

Heidts offers an adjustable power steering valve to dial in your preferred amount of assist. The hot rod crowd uses 'em all the time due their lightweight vehicles. One source is www.yogisinc.com.

PN PS-101....$85.

 

I highly, highly doubt it is the fault of the steering gear. Sounds to me like you have a combination of a few things, one of which may be that you need more caster.

 

I agree with moonley. It needs more caster. Has the truck been lifted? If so, take a look at your top and bottom ball joints. Caster is the relationship between the centers of the ball joints (If you drew a line center to center from the top ball joint to the bottom.), and the ground. If that line (when the truck is sitting level) is perpendicular to the ground, that would be 0*, if the top ball joint is slightly in front of the bottom ball joint, that is positive caster. Slightly behind is negative caster. For a truck to not feel squirrelly on the road, caster needs to be set in the neighborhood of -4* to -7 *. Anything smaller than -7 (ex -8) and the steering becomes 'heavy'. Anything more than -4 (give or take) and the steering becomes 'light'.
If your truck is lifted, degree bushings can correct this pretty good. If its lifted very high however (at least for your pinion to remain working at an acceptable level0, you have to cut the welds securing the cs the ball joints press into off, and rotate the c's to the right caster. The latter is a lot of work.
The other simple alternative would be to install radius arm drop brackets.

And by the way I am completely assuming this has a coil spring setup.

 

Not 100% sure, but I think it's an F250, unless he was talking about the rear spring bushings.

 

It is an F250, he'll need to use degree shims if caster is the issue.

 

Oops, I guess that's what I get for just skimming through the posts.

 

Great post! I love it when things are completely spelled out for newbies like myself.
thead jack over

 

I just heard back from Harvey at RedHead today. He said if I wanted to send it back to him, they could install a heavier valve in the steering box.

Also, yea it's a 250. "Leaf springs". That's another issue. It is lifted some. It was originally a camper special, so I put on a rancho 4" suspension lift. Now that my bushings are getting worn, I'm having trouble locating new bushings for those springs. Rancho discontinued them, and can't even tell me what size I need. I did take one out and measure it though, so I've got some dimensions to go by.

Thanks for the tips. Might want to try the camber idea. Be easier than sending my box back to RedHead, then waiting to get it back.

 

jeffs bronco graveyard sells the leaf spring bushing kits. I can't imagine the rancho springs would not accommodate the generic daystar aftermarket ones that fit 99% of leaf springs on the market.

 

Caster is what you want, don't get it confused with camber.

You can also correct caster up to 1.5 degrees (more than you think, magnified by larger tires) by inserting caster correcting bushings. Moog part number for the 1.5 degree bushhings is K936. Here is a link if it works (says Dodge but is the same for all Dana 44): 1983 DODGE W350 PICKUP Caster / Camber Bushing These will add or remove caster/camber without affecting pinion angle.

 

what do those bushings look like? I'm having a hard time visualizing how a bushing would adjust camber in a truck with a leaf sprung straight axle.

 

There is a picture at the link I provided. It is a two piece bushing with a sleeve inside that can be rotated, the hole through the sleeve runs at an angle and forces the ball joint at an angle, which in turn pushes the top of the wheel in that direction.

 

you got your positive and negative backwards there king, good post otherwise.

If the top ball joint is behind the lower, it is positive caster, and causes the wheels to gain negative camber as they turn. in doing so it helps the front tires return to center, while zero caster will let the tire spin freely around the axis, and negative caster will make the tires act as if they want to fall on their sides

its been a few years since i looked at my highboys alignment specs, but if memory serves me right, it was calling for 6 degrees positive caster.