I know there are a couple different brands of the adjustable bars,,, but 300 is sounding outrageous. Isn't the stock one under 200? I got new heavy duty coils on the front, replaced every steering component on the front, had 2 alignments, and it still pulls to the right. I was told by the first alignment shop my stock bar was fine and centered my axle. I should've double checked their work, but instead I turned a blind eye to the axle position. My bad. It looks about an inch off. First question on the steering,,, if my axle is that far to the passenger side,, that could cause it to pull to the right... Right??? Sux that checking the axle position isn't a part of the alignment. So with that said,,, if I buy the adjustable one, I'd be scrapping the stock one. I'm thinking about cutting the stock one,, and making it the length I need. In my mind, as long as the angle doesn't hit anything, and my lengthening job is strong enough,,, what down side is there??? I've got heavier springs on the front and I was assured they won't relax, and I've got no plans to lift the truck. I can extend the bar by cutting it,, welding a smaller bar on the cut ends,, then sleeve the whole thing and weld the sleeve. I'm sure I can make it plenty strong enough. And prob for about $10. Anyone have anything I'm not thinking of,,, besides if its done with a shotty weld then it could break. Lol. No shotty welds here guys. Lol. I guess I'm assuming the stock bar is forged btw.

Don't get me wrong,,, most of you know I'm not a ghetto rigger,,, if I gotta buy the adj one,, then fine,, but why if I can get the desired effect for basically nothing??? Thoughts????

 

Do you trust you life on your welding? If the weld were to fail
the front axle would go where is wants to go. Even if that is into
on coming traffic without so much as a by-your-leave.
Mune is offset a bit because of the leveling kit. I don't have a wandering
problem. I do need to do a steering box but that is just slop.

Sean

 

Lengthening the bar shouldn't be an issue.


Cut a 1/4" thick pipe with an ID equal to OD of the bar. Drill 2 thru holes on opposite ends. Cut the bar and slip the pipe on.

Then Lengthen the bar with a solid bar the correct length, fillet grind the edges for better penetration. Weld and grind flush. Pull the pipe down over the weld and weld both ends and plug weld the drilled holes.

Good to go for $10.

Josh

 

If you lifted the truck the stock track bar will pull the axle to the driver's side, not the passenger side. I recall that your coils put you about at stock height again. It takes a couple of inches of lift before the bar moves the axle very far. Maybe redo your measurements? Rear axle canted can make it pull.

Brian

 

If I recall, wasn't this truck hit in the rear? I'd ck to see if the frame was diamonded by a good body shop that has a data liner or along that type of machine to make sure it's square. Then if its good I'd go thur the work to stop the pull, but a good front end shop should be able to correct that. I used to do a lot of 4x4 front end work it's not rocket science, just geometry

 

Oh crap,,, duh,,,, lol. The ball joint is attached to the axle huh???

I've had the frame laser checked, and 2 alignments. Wtf would cause my axle to be pushed to the pass side? I've emailed the ins company about the inability to get it to track straight. Who knows what will come of it.

 

That's what I was curious of if the track bar was pulling the axle out of alignment and it was causing the truck to "dog leg."

 

The real reason the track bar is there in the first place is to keep a constant relationship between the chassis, where the steering box is mounted, and the axle. That is so the drag link, which connects the steering box to the steering knuckle on the passenger end of the axle, has a constant relationship and the truck does not wander. As long as that relationship stays constant the track bar is doing it's primary job. Keeping the axle centered is actually impossible, it will always move side to side as the ride height varies with road movement, load, etc. - that is just how a track bar works, the end moves in an arc. Pull to one side is a function of probably three/four basic things. The first is castor. Castor develops a self-centering effect that is stronger as the wheel turns from straight ahead. Each side is adjusted separately on our axle. They can be tweaked by a good shop to compensate for road camber. Normally you will drive in the right lane, with the most road camber. If you castor is on the low side, or less on the right side you could expect road camber to pull you to the right. Recommend getting the adjustable camber/castor adjustment slugs and adjusting to the high end of spec. if not a little over that. That's reason one and two. Third cause will be having the rear axle canted in the chassis. That makes it steer the truck and you have to compensate with the wheel. Fourth cause is not having the steering box centered. The steering box has a built in center point and the power steering boost is designed to find that spot (sad way of describing it, I know). If the steering box is off-center it will try to pull towards it's center point, and cause the truck to pull to one side. Final reason is usually tires. They will cause pull. I rotated the tires on my truck a month ago and picked up a slight pull to the left where there was none before. I expect that it will go away when I rotate the tires again in 20K. All this assumes your front end is basically sound, brakes not dragging, which with your truck I have confidence is the case.

I am curious - how exactly are you measuring that the axle is not centered? Have you done that same measurement on other trucks to see how they are set up?

Edit: I went out and looked at my truck. I found that a dead easy way to measure is, with wheel dead ahead on smooth level pavement, take a tape measure over the center of the tire and measure through the coil spring to the face of the chassis on each side. I measured to the outer shoulder of the tire. My measurement was 19.5" chassis to the outer shoulder of the tire tread, within 1/16", on both sides. My truck is stock as stock can be, suspension wise, with a new track bar and newish stock size tires, stock suspension height. FWIW, I thought that might help you in some way.

Brian

 

Great info Brian,,, excellent description. I've had two alignment shops that came highly recommended,,, and I figured, and asked to specifically check the camber adjustment sleeves and if I need them changed,, then do it. But I wasn't impressed with both shops. I actually stood under my truck watching the second shop and after I replaced both tie rods, I aligned the truck with kite string. I expected him to readjust the tie rods,,, not so much,, he said they were good n only adjusted the drag link. That was a wasted $90 for sure.
I have since been doing 1/4 turns both ways on the tie rods on get on ramps n driving to the next exit n adjusting again trying to get the truck to track straight. I've also made a point to spend a min in the left lane on every adjustment. Toe out helps the most,, but I can't get it right.

I wasn't aware there was a definite center point in the gearbox tho. I've tried to close up the drag link and it didn't change the pull,,, just the steering wheel,, obviously. I'm really thinking that something didn't get put back right when I had the rear leafs replaced. When I get home I'm gonna go back to the frame shop n just pay them to fine tooth comb it. It's gotta b the rear pass wheel is closer to the front than the rear driver??? I'm thinking out loud here. It sux that I've replaced everything in play,, and some part of it is beating me down. I have about 20k on the truck since the rear ender,,, n no tire wear,,, so I'm prob just being picky,, but it tracked fine before. It's frustrating. I'm actually in Ripon ca now hanging out and headed to Bakersfield, then Barstow, then across 40 back home to kc. Does any of you have an alignment shop that's worth a damn??? I prob should just do a new thread asking that. I've paid for two alignments, and I feel I've thrown enough $90 away. Hell, I can do all the adjustments. But how would I adjust the rear axle?? Don't the leafs sit on the center pins n that's where they go???

 

I will either shoot a video or some pics. I'm going off of the vertical lip on the fender down. My truck might be a bit higher than stock with the hd coils.

 

If the rear axle is out it's usually because the frame is bent in some way, but it's just a matter of measuring the wheelbase on both sides and seeing if it is equal. If it is, good, if it isn't then you have to find out why. I have played with toe a lot on race cars and if the car is basically right, toe has no effect at all on pull to one side. It has a lot of effect on turn-in, and transitory understeer/oversteer, but it you are worried about those you are driving a whole lot faster than I would on a street... But no real effect on pull. When you get to a shop, ask them what the actual castor numbers are on each side, and compare to spec. Being in spec is where most shops stop, you need to get past that, you want the castor at the top end of spec, or a little over, and equal on both sides. A real shop will probably cost more than $90...

BTW, even on my truck that has never had the front sheet metal off or worked on, if I go off the fender lip my axle is not centered by about 3/8". That is why I went to the chassis/frame rail to measure. I wouldn't use the fender as a guide to centering the axle.

Brian

 

Caster angle effects steering and not pulling. The caster angle determines how much effort is needed to steer and the return to center after a turn.

Toe-in/out most Definately effects pulling.

Josh

 

Here you go, wheel alignment 101. The castor section specifically mentions pull as one symptom, the toe section does not. I haven't been playing with solid front axle trucks for very long but I've been engineering race cars for 25 years and some of the basics transfer pretty well... We use differential castor angles to make the car want to turn left on oval tracks. Makes them roll in the corners better, but you have to turn right to make them go straight.

Wheel Alignment Explained

Brian

 

Here's my numbers at the last alignment

 

Probably take you more seriously if you could spell CASTER correctly.

And it does mention if the caster is DIFFERENT on each side, not if the the angle is the same for both sides.

And if the left wheel is 0 toe-in and be other 1/2" toe-in, you better believe it will pull the the left.

Josh